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Apple to Stick with Samsung for A6 Chip Production After All?
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Quad core? Please say it isn't so. I really hope that you're right.
I'd far rather that Apple concentrated on getting the power consumption as low as possible, especially at idle or low load conditions since that's where the CPU is nowadays for a lot of apps (ebook reading, checking calendar or contacts, taking notes, playing card or board games, studying a map, etc).
- Julian
Because then they would have to pay Americans decent wages and Apple doesn't do that.
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Shutup stupid
That doesn't really prove anything.
Different people have differently sized hands. Different people hold their phones in different ways (I almost never use my iPhone with one hand, I hold it in my left and use it with my right). If that diagram proves anything, it's that the iPhone is already too large for one-handed use.
Yeah, that's just dumb.
Maybe a design/software company should toss a few billion at graphics chip production and cpu production too!
I'm sure they would have no problem keeping pace with the industry leaders in areas they have no expertise (Intel, Nvidia, ATI/AMD)....
While they are at it, they should just spend a little more to make 4G chips and their own telecomm networks. They are Apple right? The best at everything!
I definitely agree about the impracticality of the 4"+ screens (though many folks may want them).
I still think a 3.8"-4" iPhone 5 would be fantastic. A huge benefit to the larger screen (other than the obvious) would be the extra space of the foot print. Bigger batteries, more NAND, bigger antennas, bigger aperture/camera components, speakers. They could do some fantastic things with the larger dimensions.
anyhoo...I was just most excited for an aluminum back (ala iPad 2).
Stay well friend
Tell your representatives to work to reduce regulation, slash taxes, and rein in the unions, then maybe.
I agree, give me a die shrink with the A5 and extended time between charges. Most apps would not be able to use a quad core and the memory isn't here for it (gotta load those apps or threads if you're going to use them and that is power) - these aren't desktops.
I thought Samsung just built or expanded a plant in Austin this past spring (supposedly commissioned by Apple).
A billion dollar might get them the building plus the equipment needed to keep the air clear enough maybe. That's where the fun and the money expenditure starts.
Try 5 billion for a decent plant plus 10+ billion of R&D over the next 2 years. They'd also have to hire the best minds in the world (who are currently working at Intel!). Bleeding edge immersion lithography _is_ rocket science. Highly unlikely because mobile processors arent exactly a high margin business so they won't be gaining much by manufacturing their own CPUs.
Is it just me or does it seem like TSMC is ALWAYS having production issues? They make a number of chips for various companies, but I also believe they produce chips for both Nvidia and ATI/AMD, and I feel like I'm always reading about "the new Nvidia/AMD GPU has been delayed/has constrained supplies due to production issues at TSMC".
The conspiracy deepens:
The CA judge who refused Apple's request for injunction is - you guessed it! -- Korean-American!
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/10/17/2011101700515.html
In related news, PrisonPlanet reports that Samsung's senior counsel is Elvis, operating under direct orders from space aliens (and not the good ones, but the grays!)
The power consumption wouldn't be too much worse due to power gating, it's just a waste of silicon for not much performance gain. They'd serve themselves much better by saying goodbye to the A9 architecture and making the A6 a cortex A15 design. I think the dream A6 is a 28nm dual core cortex A15 design with a Rogue series GPU (ImgTec 6xx series GPU) clocked around 1.5 GHz. If we see the iPad delayed beyond March/April, I would bet a body part it's either for a retina display or a deliberate delay to make sure their cortex a15 based A6 is ready to go. (I'm not alone in this, I've seen Anand from anandtech theorize this may happen)
TSMC had a huge number of problems with their 40nm node, outright cancelled their 32nm node, and have had 28nm node delays and capacity constraints. So the answer to your question is yes.
My iPhone 5 physical-design-wishlist
A slightly larger display might be nice. And all Apple would need to do is slightly increase the size of the touchscreen so it fills the front panel edge-to-edge. There's still roughly 5mm of bezel on the current iPhone models. A "borderless" touchscreen could be nearly 4" without increasing the overall size of the iPhone 5 much if at all.
I doubt Apple would increase the screen much beyond 3.9" though. If they thought that a screen larger than 3.5" were perfect, they would have shipped the iPhone 2G with it. 50th percentile thumb lengths and all that.
Anyway, I only want two new things in the next iPhone's physical design:
1. Polished, rounded edges on the glass panel(s). I read here that Apple has purchased some glass polishing machinery, and there have been rumors about "curved glass." I'm hoping it's just for the edges.
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/2...lass-ios-devices-for-first-half-of-next-year/
2. Smaller docking connector. How about either a MagSafe and/or Thunderbolt docking connector, Apple? If the need to sync through a cable is truly gone forever, Apple could use a straight MagSafe connector for power only. You would just snap it on without needing to make sure it's facing the right way.
Or, if Apple wants to go all the way, iDevices could be inductively charged and there would be no need for any connector. Not sure how "green" that is. I think inductive charging tends to be physically hot, which indicates wasted energy. We'll see.
A slightly larger display might be nice. And all Apple would need to do is slightly increase the size of the touchscreen so it fills the front panel edge-to-edge. There's still roughly 5mm of bezel on the current iPhone models. A "borderless" touchscreen could be nearly 4" without increasing the overall size of the iPhone 5 much if at all.
I doubt Apple would increase the screen much beyond 3.9" though. If they thought that a screen larger than 3.5" were perfect, they would have shipped the iPhone 2G with it. 50th percentile thumb lengths and all that.
Anyway, I only want two new things in the next iPhone's physical design:
1. Polished, rounded edges on the glass panel(s). I read here that Apple has purchased some glass polishing machinery, and there have been rumors about "curved glass." I'm hoping it's just for the edges.
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/2...lass-ios-devices-for-first-half-of-next-year/
2. Smaller docking connector. How about either a MagSafe and/or Thunderbolt docking connector, Apple? If the need to sync through a cable is truly gone forever, Apple could use a straight MagSafe connector for power only. You would just snap it on without needing to make sure it's facing the right way.
Or, if Apple wants to go all the way, iDevices could be inductively charged and there would be no need for any connector. Not sure how "green" that is. I think inductive charging tends to be physically hot, which indicates wasted energy. We'll see.
fear not
Fear not...I had read something recently about a kal-el chip that has 5 cores actually....(though it's being touted as a quad-core) It has an extra core that runs at super low power consumption and is used when there is low processor demand. It can turn on additional processors one at a time as needed. That would seem to help with power consumption.
But honestly, I'd rather have a faster dual-core processor than slower quad-core. (atleast, at this point)
And we should have a bigger battery if the phone is going to get bigger.
Fear not...I had read something recently about a kal-el chip that has 5 cores actually....(though it's being touted as a quad-core) It has an extra core that runs at super low power consumption and is used when there is low processor demand. It can turn on additional processors one at a time as needed. That would seem to help with power consumption.
But honestly, I'd rather have a faster dual-core processor than slower quad-core. (atleast, at this point)
And we should have a bigger battery if the phone is going to get bigger.
Going with a stable supplier definitely makes sense. With fairly defined refresh cycle timings and basically no option to go with a third-party SoC, Apple has to be use the Apple A6 is ready and available in volume when they expect it.
So are we now saying that the Retina Display will be abandoned after 2 generations? Since a 4" screen at the same 960x640 resolution is sub-Retina. This would be particularly awkward if the iPhone 5 moves away from a Retina Display at the same time the iPad 3 is supposed to adopt it.
Why wouldn't they? As a supplier Samsung has a big customer.
And Samsung has already shown just how willing they are to roll over, and then come back for more after Apple rejects their peace offering.
They can probably teach my dog a thing or two.
Theres a lot more than money involved with running a cpu plant. Apple doesn't have the necessary knowledge and experience with running this kind of operation. There is a TON of research involved and they would just end up with an inferior product.