Next iPad and iPhone GPUs could be 20x faster than 'current generation GPU cores'

Imagination Technologies can't shout out from the rooftops that it's Apple's favourite when it comes to GPU designs because of its tight relationship with the Cupertino company, but it's no big secret.

In fact, tech based on the British firm's licences can be found powering the graphics of many devices, from the Samsung Galaxy S and PS Vita right through to the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

Its PowerVR GPUs have been a mainstay in Apple machines for a while, offering benchmark figures that outstrip Nvidia's Tegra 2 in a straight fight.

Now, the firm has officially announced that its Series 6 PowerVR GPUs, originally revealed to us at last year's Mobile World Congress, are available for licensing, suggesting that they could be present in the next iPad and iPhone models.

If Apple does bank on the Series 6 (using the completely new Rogue architecture), expect to see some serious fill rates and whizz-bangs on your mobile (that's a technical term) in the near future.

Imagination Technologies is claiming that this new GPU "can deliver 20x or more of the performance of current generation GPU cores targeting comparable markets", thanks to "an architecture that is around 5x more efficient than previous generations".