It probably is at most a standard LCP18xx slightly modified by NXP so Apple could fit it directly on the chip (position of inputs and stuff like that maybe or something like that). I'm pretty sure Apple didn't make the modifications (if any) as Apple has a tendency to print their own designation on the chip if they do. This serial is at base still the NXP designation. So in that case it wouldn't justify the M7 name.
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A7 Processor Manufactured by Samsung, M7 is Standalone Processor From NXP
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It probably is at most a standard LCP18xx slightly modified by NXP so Apple could fit it directly on the chip (position of inputs and stuff like that maybe or something like that). I'm pretty sure Apple didn't make the modifications (if any) as Apple has a tendency to print their own designation on the chip if they do. This serial is at base still the NXP designation. So in that case it wouldn't justify the M7 name.
It's for more than just exercise. The API allows distinguishing which *kind* of motion. Such as vehicle, bicycle, walking... For example the maps app uses it to tell when you move from vehicle to walking and will automatically switch from driving directions to walking directions.
It's also used to allow the phone to better moderate battery life by understanding what the user is doing. Logging motion can be used to determine if the phone is being left sitting around and some services can reduce battery usage (if a phone is sitting still on a desk, thy can reduce cell network ping frequency - for example).
Don't knock the technology yet - see how people use it...
Or maybe they are simply playing the "transition" hand to get better prices out of Samsung, in that case they are each other's.
I'd say this is the one best reason why Apple always seems to be shopping around. They know Samsung is the go-to company if you want a lot of chips with the highest quality yields, but that won't stop them from trying to get a discount every chance they get.
Sure, the might go to TSMC for some things, but they'll still be using Samsung for a good while yet.
It's interesting to see how some people try to make everything black vs white, good vs evil.
The relationship between Apple and Samsung is quite complex and subtle. Decisions are made by many many people, and even within a company there is usually some disagreement for any chosen decision. To even treat Apple or Samsung has a cohesive and single entity ignores the fact that there are many many conflicting interests from different stakeholders.
So I don't find it a bit surprising where the legal and marketing departments of these two companies will fight each other in ads, sue each other over patents, etc. while other parts of the company are signing multi-billion dollar contracts for services and goods. Maybe it's just me, but I think some people are making this out to be a bigger deal than it actually is. Suum cuique.
The relationship between Apple and Samsung is quite complex and subtle. Decisions are made by many many people, and even within a company there is usually some disagreement for any chosen decision. To even treat Apple or Samsung has a cohesive and single entity ignores the fact that there are many many conflicting interests from different stakeholders.
So I don't find it a bit surprising where the legal and marketing departments of these two companies will fight each other in ads, sue each other over patents, etc. while other parts of the company are signing multi-billion dollar contracts for services and goods. Maybe it's just me, but I think some people are making this out to be a bigger deal than it actually is. Suum cuique.
Samsung Manufacturing is almost a completely different company than Samsung Mobile. People have to realize that Samsung Manufacturing is one of the best companies to take a design, and send it to them to make millions of them. They don't do design work, other than what is necessary to ensure mass production. Samsung Mobile is a "design" group that "designs" mobile devices. The reality is they work a lot like their manufacturing group. Only instead of being given a design to work with, they copy it. In the absence of the ability to copy (cough Gear cough) they make something to a spec sheet and maximize the specs for a given price range.
Chipworks site is "offline" due to traffic.
Do we know what color 5s they tore down?
I wonder if TSMC and Samsung are both making A7 chips and maybe the gold phones have the TSMC chips which could be why their supply is more constrained...
Just a wild theory...
Do we know what color 5s they tore down?
I wonder if TSMC and Samsung are both making A7 chips and maybe the gold phones have the TSMC chips which could be why their supply is more constrained...
Just a wild theory...
When has Samsung ever been accused of copying the competitions processors? Yeah, they obviously aped some of Apple's UI design, and were found guilty of infringing some of their patents, but that doesn't mean they copy EVERYTHING.
Probably, maybe and in that case, sure. They did not print it on the chip but they advertised it as M7 at their keynote.
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Apple just might be working toward two goals for the "iPhone 6" next year:
1. Get that TSMC fab up and running with a die-shrink to 20nm for the A8.
2. Consolidate all those separate sensors into the M8 motion processor.
The A7 is already enormously powerful, and the A8 will be even more powerful.
What could iOS do with all that power?
- Augmented Reality built into Maps: point your camera where you're walking and you'll see your route, store names, restaurants, etc. highlighted. Sure, it's been done before by third parties (e.g. Layar), but badly. (And walking around with that glazed-eye mouth-open "Thousand Yard Stare" like Sergey Brin wearing Google Glass is in fact one of those bad solutions.) Some of iOS' new "layers with depth" look-and-feel could make for spectacular and useful AR.
- More Siri processing on-board iPhone and iPad: not having a fast network connection means Siri doesn't work. More processing on the device itself could help in those situations and maybe reduce wireless bandwidth all the time. Could tie in with the Maps AR feature above, as in "Siri, is delarosa the highest-reviewed restaurant on this block of Chestnut street?"
- Improved search and AI: Apple has incorporated face recognition algorithms in iPhoto on OS X, text-based search on OS X and iOS, Genius recommendations in iTunes on all platforms, and location-based search in Maps, App Store, etc. That's a lot of search heuristics experience, and it all works extremely well. And it could all be used to reduce dependence on, say, Bing and Yahoo and DuckDuckGo and Google search engines. Apple might think of a new search concept for use on-board iOS devices.
How many times have you searched for something on Google, scrolled down past the pay-for-placement spam, and found that the top search result is on Wikipedia anyway. You could have just gone straight to Wikipedia. And how useful are the 2,228,459 other results you get in 0.018 seconds? Wouldn't it be great to not even see all that spam and useless SEO garbage? All empty calories. Asking Siri questions has already eliminated much of that, but who knows? Maybe Apple could improve search beyond merely listing URLs in some mysteriously calculated order.
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I love how many people here are fighting it off as if it's a personal battle while both companies' CEOs shake hands and go home to milions of dollars from the collaboration.
Yeah but you could see how marketing wise advertising it as a M7 would be a good idea. They also could have just called it a 'sensor hub' like Qualcomm does but they decided to call it M7 so it clearly was a marketing decision. It sounds more unique/exclusive. Most of the general public will never know (or even care even if they know) if it's designed by Apple or not. All they care about is that it works. Apple rarely credits other companies in their keynotes, which is what I was disapproving off in my first post, so wouldn't put to much credit on the idea of 'they called it differently so it must be different'.
That's not what I said, or even implied. My point was that announcing it as M7 is more significant than adding custom graphics on the chip it self and say nothing about it, I mean if NXP add A1 to the part number for an Apple designated part, they may as well add M7 and an
. The fact that they did mention it, makes me want to know.
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I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your post. I agree with your statement above. If Apple didn't make any modifications to the chip themselves (which is unknown at this moment but I believe they didn't for the the reasons stated in the previous post + NXP isn't going to add a Apple logo and M7 by themselves while Apple certainly would if they modified it), like I said the marketing advantages probably outweighed the fact that a couple of people know (and care) about the fact that it's actually a NXP chip. But like you I would like to know.
But even if Apple themselves made some small modifications I still think some credit was due to the original designer.
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I mean if NXP add A1 to the part number for an Apple designated part, they may as well add M7 and an
The fact that there is no
or M7 on it only further proves to me that NXP made the modifications (if any) and not Apple. Surely Apple would have put M7 and/or on it if they redesigned it just like they do with their processors. NXP by themselves don't have any reason to do this, just their own serial number to be able to distinguish it.
I see nothing on this list that can't be done with a PowerPC G4 from 8 years ago. All of what you mentioned is software, a die shrink and shift of manufacture to TSMC is not going to really improve the performance that much. It's the A7 that really is the huge jump.
I bet that Apple could include those features for older chips in a later version of iOS.
No.
Try critical thought.
If they make NOTHING you want & you own NONE of their products... What could you POSSIBLY have to complain about?? You haven't been subjected to them AT ALL. What kind of a weirdo would complain about somebody ELSE'S things.
"Damn, I hate my neighbor's Jaguar. I mean, I don't own one... never would. Have no interest in them. Have ZERO experience with them. Anyways, I'm going to go post my hatred for Jaguar & complain about their shoddy craftsmanship (that I've NEVER experienced) on a Jaguar forum."
You do realize how stupid that sounds, yeah?
I don't care about API's linked to apps because they already have proper battery management while running in the background (besides google maps). I don't see how any of these things can add up to saving you more than 2-3% battery. That's the thing
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Do a little experiment then. Turn off the parallax effect on your iPhone 4S or your iPhone 5....and see how much your battery life increases
Lol I believe you. I turned it off right away anyway. Just like I'm never going to bother with dynamic wallpaper
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Yep. Except everyone takes photos lol. Only a few people use exercise apps.
Seriously though, besides your phone knowing when you've gotten out of your car and are traveling on foot...it probably saves less than 3% battery in all its other functions.
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Lol you have no idea how much, or how little battery it's going to save.
But nice try
I didn't right away, because I'm a sucker for cheap 3D effects like that. I swear I spent a good half hour doing nothing but tilting the screen around.
...but the moment I killed the effect, iOS7 started performing exactly like iOS6. All it took was just changing that one thing, and suddenly I'm liking the update a helluva lot better.
Nope.
A constantly scanning phone will drain by up to a 1/3rd
Most people that complain about poor battery life should be complaining about bad network signal. I was on 02 3g in the Uk and it was shocking. On EE LTE and I am getting at least 2 hours more a day.
WiFi scanning is also a big drain in the scheme of things
"Only a few people use exercise apps."
What you mean to say is "I don't use exercise apps because I am geek"
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE USE THEM!!! It's massive industry. Everyone I know uses them. Cycling apps, Running apps.
I suspect the dynamic wallpaper and motion wallpaper might suck 1% max.