Apple equipped its second-generation tablet, the iPad 2, with its new dual-core A5 processor, triggering speculations that the iPhone 5 will also come with the A5 chip.

The A5 microprocessor will enhance graphics and boost application performance without compromising battery life of the potential handset. It will provide better-quality gaming capabilities and FaceTime videoconferencing that will allow it to compete with portable gaming consoles efficiently.

Speaking on the topic, Nathan Brookwood from Insight 64 said, "What it would bring to smartphones is increased [processing power] for computationally intensive applications."

The A5 processor offers twice the CPU performance and nine times the graphics power of its forerunner, A4 processor, which is found in the existing iPad and iPhone 4. Apple's A5 processor, which is based on an ARM design, features two cores running at 1 GHz, compared with A4's single 1 GHz core.

According to research firm IHS iSuppli, Apple sold as many as fifty million A4 processor-based products during last year, including the iPhone, Apple TV and iPad.

Apple chief Steve Jobs yesterday unveiled the A5-based iPad 2 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The second-generation iPad will hit store shelves on March 11 with starting price tag of $499.