iPad 3 set for dual core and quad core versions

As we (virtually) cross off the days until March 7th, the iPad 3 rumours just keep on coming and here's one we're quite excited about. To keep up with rivals' quad-core tablet offerings, Apple could be working on two tiers of the next iPad – a quad-core beast and a dual-core upgrade, perhaps with a smaller screen.

How do we know? Well 9to5mac is reporting that the iOS 5.1 beta includes references to two chips – the S5L8950X and S5L8945X. This could mean Apple threw one of the chips out of the equation at one point, or maybe one is just a foil to test its employees.

If the A5X chip and A6 chip both exist, we're hoping that this will mean iPad 3 models with different processors inside – and a tidy price difference too. That's enough juicy silicon news for one morning – we'll be back with more when we've found it.