iPhone 5, iPad 2 rumors abound: dual-core processors, high-resolution display

It’s been less than a week since the Verizon iPhone was announced, and not surprisingly, it looks like the tech world is already hungry for Apple’s next major products.

Over the past few days, details on Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 2 have begun leaking, including reports of fast dual-core processors, as well as a higher resolution display on the iPad 2 to complement the iPhone 4’s Retina Display.

We’ve been hearing about blazing dual-core processors like Nvidia’s Tegra 2 on Android phones, so it’s to be expected that Apple would follow suit for its next-generation phone and tablet. Engadget says that Apple’s new dual core processor, which will likely be called the A5 (the successor to the A4 in the iPhone 4 and iPad), spits out huge 1080p high-definition files “like running water.” Meanwhile, AppleInsider is reporting that it will also sport dual graphics processing cores — something that even powerful upcoming Android phones don’t feature.

Basically, we can expect the iPhone 5, iPad 2, and even the next iteration of the slim Apple TV, all of which would run the new A5 processor, to be faster than any Apple mobile devices we’ve seen before. That means they’ll support even more graphically impressive games than the likes of Infinity Blade, which is currently a shining achievement of what’s possible with the iPhone 4 and iPad’s current hardware. The next Apple TV will likely gain support for 1080p video as well — the current model can only play 720p HD video.

The faster CPU will likely be put to good use in the iPad 2, which AppleInsider says could sport a massively high-resolution display. The 10-inch iPad 2 could potentially feature a display running at 2048 by 1536 pixels, the site says. In comparison, many 24-inch monitors today feature resolutions of around 1920 by 1200 pixels (around the size of 1080p videos). Such a high resolution in a 10-inch display is unheard of today — but if any company could make it happen, it’s Apple. Even if the iPad 2 doesn’t reach the heights AppleInsider is predicting, you can definitely expect it to be higher than the current iPad’s 1024 by 768 pixel display.

Surprisingly, Engadget reports that the iPad 2 will also feature an SD card slot, which would allow users to plug in SD memory cards for additional memory. SD card expandability is something Android phones and tablets currently tout, but such an addition is completely out of character for Apple, which would much rather have consumers pay more money initially for bigger amounts of unexpandable storage.

Apple will change things up when it comes to network chipsets in the iPhone 5 and iPad 2 as well. According to Engadget, the iPad 2 will sport a Qualcomm chipset that can run on both GSM and CDMA networks, which would make it compatible on both AT&T and Verizon. The iPhone 5, on the other hand, will feature a Qualcomm chipset for GSM, CDMA, and UMTS networks, making it compatible with every mobile carrier at the moment. There’s no LTE 4G on the horizon yet for the devices, which means we likely won’t see it on Apple devices until 2012.

The iPad 2 is reportedly on track to land in stores in April, while the iPhone 5 is still set for the summer.