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They certainly won’t. They’ll want to drive Vision Pro sales first and keep the iPhone costs down as much as they can. In the future I think it’ll be a no brainer for them to add it to existing device lines once the cost is lower and R&D has been recouped.
Stereo cameras would be a nice feature for a hypothetical iPhone Ultra which has been rumored to feature camera changes. Apple need more ways to capture 3D video to feed into the VP. They can’t depend on just using the VP as the only 3D camera. Having a phone that can take the videos and a VP to view them makes more sense and is more palatable for people who want to take 3D images in various environments where you would not want to wear a headset (including your daughter’s birthday party).
 
So this is the final nail in coffin for non-pro iphones ?
Do you think that most buyers will notice or care? A chip difference like this is mostly about bragging rights for the high end products. On a year over year basis, how much difference do you really notice between the chips other than in benchmarks? Likely almost none. This is on that scale at most.
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple consolidated all silicon into the M-Series:

Mac M2
iPad M2
Vision Pro M2
iPhone ___

Apple derives savings from volume in well established production lines. An M2 chip in the iPhone Pro next year and then kept the following year in the standard iPhone while the Pro moves to M3, maintaining this lagging cadence going forward, would get all of Apple’s computers on the same chip architecture.
They do use the same or similar cores in the A-series and the M-series so single core performance is about the same. They put more cores in the M-series so those are more expensive to make, the yields are lower, and those chips use more power. Without changes to how apps are coded to use more multi-threading, there would be no performance improvement running iPhone apps on an M-series SOC vs an A-series.

The M-series also has a lot of other support chips for things like thunderbolt, PCI-express, etc that are not needed on a phone and would be just expensive dead weight.

The benefit of volume from combining the lines would probably be wiped out by the added cost of each iPhone processor which are made in much larger volume. That kind of dynamic is likely why the MBA has an M2 chip that has a different design and layout than the M2X chips in the prod devices. The higher volume of MBA sales makes it worthwhile to have a simplified SOC that they produce in larger volume at a lower price than the ”pro” chips.
 
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I wish Apple would invest more R&D into new battery tech. I think EVERY phone could benefit from a new type of battery.
Battery tech has been improving on a regular basis for the past 20 years or so. There is a lot of research into changes that make batteries have greater capacity, survive more charge cycles, weight less, use less exotic materials, be less flammable. One change that is likely coming in a few years that might be a big change is solid state batteries. They are getting closer to being production ready but there are still problems manufacturing them in volume reliably. Apple likely has a close eye on changes in battery tech and may be funding research by their battery suppliers. Apple may not build out their own battery tech as it probably pays for them to be able to buy them from a supplier rather than become a supplier.
 
N3B is a one off and won't exist after Fall of 2023 with N3P following and replacing it and N3E.


Even more exciting in 2025 is Nanosheets to completely replace FinFET.

Very informative video from TSMC: https://n2.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/N2.htm

Press release with what's coming and all the specifics: https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/3021

Nanosheets fully unifies all nodes, for all application spaces to use it alone. That should reduce TSMC's costs tremendously, along with vendors.
 
Remembering the history of custom Apple A-series chipset in each model. Indeed, we have come a long way. ☄️

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More info can be found here:

 
N3B is a one off and won't exist after Fall of 2023 with N3P following and replacing it and N3E.


Even more exciting in 2025 is Nanosheets to completely replace FinFET.

Very informative video from TSMC: https://n2.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/N2.htm

Press release with what's coming and all the specifics: https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/3021

Nanosheets fully unifies all nodes, for all application spaces to use it alone. That should reduce TSMC's costs tremendously, along with vendors.
It kind of sounds interesting but after watch that video and reading that press release I still don’t know what a nanosheet is but I expect I’ll want one. 🤔
 
Same reason they don't put an M Max chip in a Macbook Air.
Wondering if the “N3“_ factor applies to the implementation of the M3 on the Macs … N3B for first M3 MacBookAir and 13 inch MBP late this year, N3E on 14/16 MBP and Mac Studio and 27 iMac next year???
 
N3B node is not design-compatible with N3E. This means the design doesn't just "work" between the nodes. It'll need to be manually ported over, which is often very costly.

I don't think anyone ever claimed that Apple would be foolish enough to switch from N3B to N3E midway during the 15 cycle. That's nuts.

So it always made sense that Apple would be using N3B for A17. N3E is not ready for the iPhone launch in September. Lastly, it makes sense that Apple would switch to N3E, which is a cheaper node.

N3B is sort of made for Apple because Apple needs a 3nm node for iPhone 15 launch. N3E wasn't ready. N3E is really the mass market node that everyone else will use such as Qualcomm, AMD, Nvidia, etc.

Very rare Macrumors comments actually understand how these works. Also note ( For those who dont know ) without all the learning from N3B, N3E will never be a thing.
 
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Very little 3D separation going on if the lenses are directly adjacent to each other...?
Yes. But maybe you can improve the „3D“ via SW. small stereo mics also have little seperation.
 
So when the iphone 14 came out the A16 was 4nm and when it’s time for the iPhone 15 its only 5nm 😁.
So when its time for the iPhone 16 the A18 will be the real 3nm 😁
 
Strap up. This time, businesses and Wall Street will feel the pain, and us consumers and retail investors will come out ahead. If we prepare.
Wait, this time the 1% will feel the pain and the regular Joe will come out ahead?

That sounds plausible, as fairness in the world certainly seems to be on an upswing! /s
 
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The "lesser" N3E node will be used for the iPhone 16/Plus A17 in 2024, while the 15 Pro/Max will get the better N3B. The A18 in the 16 Pro/Max will likely get the N3P node, which is an updated N3E.

A16 in 15/Plus = N4P
A17 (original design) in 15 Pro/Max = N3B

A17 (redesigned) in 16/Plus = N3E
A18 in 16 Pro/Max = N3P
To what extent can we infer that the N3B is going to be better than the N3E?
From what I understand, the N3B is a denser and more efficient lithography but the N3E is more mainstream, widely used and more powerful. Also, at the same computer power, the N3E should be more efficient.

I had the thought of getting the 15 Pro if cameras don’t protrude too much and it is indeed lighter thanks to titanium, although it will be very expensive. But having an exceptional manufacturing process (just like the A11, the only SoC at 10nm) makes me doubt how it will behave in the long run over the years. Although my iPhone 8 has behaved wonderfully until its end of support, to be honest.

I miss the old AnandTech, I’m sure Anand would have done an excellent analysis of such differences between the N3B A17 and the N3E 17 in due time. I guess I will have to check other technical websites once the iPhone 15 Pro is released.
 
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Can't blame them.

N3E is cheaper and more widely available.

No body uses N3B except Apple, and they have enough of performance and efficiency advantage over others to comfortably switch to N3E and still maintaining the lead, while saving few $$ in this though market conditions.
 
They certainly won’t. They’ll want to drive Vision Pro sales first and keep the iPhone costs down as much as they can. In the future I think it’ll be a no brainer for them to add it to existing device lines once the cost is lower and R&D has been recouped.

But, other family members being able to easily create and share more immersive photos and videos that look amazing on the Vision Pro ... would likely help drive sales of the Vision Pro, and new iPhones.. at the same time?

Here's the Apple iPhone Pro 3D commercial for you - "Grandma and Granddad take you on their vacation cruise, we open with grandma smiling and holding her iPhone and shooting photo, no.. video of a tropical beach. Video zooms in on a pelican diving into the water, we can hear the splash...Voiceover says, 'With the new iPhone Pro 3D, you can share all your memories in 3D, as easy as taking a photo'.. video zooms out on a grandchild sitting at a breakfast table with parents, she's wearing a Vision, and says 'So cool!'"

Now, Apple could relaunch Aperture, and QTVR ... and make the new "Aperture Vision Studio" THE tool that would allow anyone with a Mac or iOS/iPadOS device to take all their photos and videos and make them not just look great on the Vision Pro, but create interactive and immersive experiences with them... without making any near-term changes to the iPhone line.. They could make taking your photos and videos and building interactive environments/experiences with them the next Desktop Publishing.

I'd prefer that! I "shut up and take my money!" prefer that. I'd prefer a QTVR 2023 where I can take any photos and videos I have and create immersive and interactive environments with them that people with Vision Pros can enjoy. Hell, let me use the existing/legacy QTVR files I have and I'll pay double! Apple could create photo and video tools that would allow interactive immersive environments to be created with a mix of photos shot with pano rigs along with video shot on everything from GoPro Max to Insta360 Pro 2. Let me embed directional audio just like QTVR with Sprites.. Links to other content.. Honest. Shut up and take my money! Right now.

But, I suspect Tim would prefer that everyone who doesn't buy a $3500+ Vision Pro is able to share amazing photos and video with family members who do.. after buying a new $1000+ iPhone. He'd certainly prefer that you use a new iPhone rather than buying a GoPro Max and an Apple Pro App...

It's a chicken and egg problem. Apple needs there to be some really compelling stuff to look at when you spend $3500+ and strap this thing on your face... But, so far, it looks like the only way for a consumer/prosumer to make and share those compelling photos and videos in the Apple ecosystem, is to drop $3500+?

I mean, The WWDC keynote was directed at developers.. and I really hope that they all felt as horrified as I was at the thought of spending $3500+ just to have iWork/MS Office/FaceTime/Zoom... strapped to my face... I'm hoping that they come up with .. more... But, for this to succeed.. There needs to be an easy way for friends and family to easily make amazing photos and videos that they can share with people who buy the Vision Pro.

And, the faster, the better.

I suspect that Apple adds that ability to the iPhone long before bringing back QTVR and software for the consumer/prosumer to use any cameras/photos/video/legacy QTVR they already have.


Shrug.

Grumble.

Git off my lawn!


apple.com/feedback
 
The move is said to be a cost-cutting measure that could come at the expense of reduced efficiency.
Why reduced efficiency? According to this article from Anton Shilov of Anandtech (https://www.anandtech.com/show/1883...n-schedule-n3p-n3x-deliver-five-percent-gains ), N3E can be configured to provide either more performance or greater efficiency than N3B (or some combination of the two.

Indeed, the only downside of N3E is its modestly lower density, which (for Apple) should only be an issue for the Max chip, which could possibly be constrained by the reticle size. Thus, overall, the N3E process seems like it would be better even for the same price—and yet it's much less expensive.

Folks on this thread seem to be confusing cost with quality. The fact that the N3E costs less doesn't mean it's "lower-end". Quite the opposite.

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