Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Started Developing A11 Bionic Chip When A8 Chip Was Released Three Years Ago

The 1970s just called. Lee Majors wants his tech name back. But seriously, the problem with multi-core tech like this is that 90% of the current apps won't even use the extra cores, so you won't even notice the difference.

article-2455513-18B033B100000578-945_634x509.jpg
 
The keynote presentation was to inspire developers.

The A11 architecture and the sensor array are the future of Apple. This is why the GUI standards want it to be seen and not hidden. This bar will occupy the top of all of their machines because it allows for a new interface. Your Apple device will interact with your face in ways not yet demonstrated from simple commands, to learning human behaviors for AI, to deep gaming environments, augmented reality, and health. There will no doubt be a connection into medical research like HealthKit provides. Passwords are going away (I don't hear people crying for TouchID on their iMac) and the personal computer is leaping into a new level of being personal.

Imagine this tech in your living room. No more remotes. Imagine this tech in your car. No more keys. Imagine this tech in the office? Holographic FaceTime. The iPhone X stands for Experimental like X aircraft. It's the window into a new world at Apple.
 
  • Like
Reactions: needfx, pianophile, chuloo and 6 others
v0lume4 said:
I'm really impressed with Apple's approach to 2+ core chip design. Instead of trying to create a four core, or in this case a six core, chip with all six cores running at the same clock speed and largely unutilized; why not try and create two ultrafast cores for the heavy lifting, and then four additional, lower-power cores for additional and specialized tasks? It's brilliant.
Click to expand...

That's arguably something Apple didn't come up with, but rather ARM did. They call a setup like that big.LITTLE.
 
  • Like
Reactions: needfx, Avieshek and MrGimper
Andres Cantu said:
Finally the best at single and multi-core scores in GeekBench.
Click to expand...
GeekBench means nothing for Apple. It's nice to see those numbers getting bigger but it almost irrelevant for them. They have all the advantages like having the control of hardware and software and that's all that matters. No surprise that my 5 year old iMac runs like a butter on Final Cut and encodes videos on the Compressor like a snap.
 
v0lume4 said:
I'm really impressed with Apple's approach to 2+ core chip design. Instead of trying to create a four core, or in this case a six core, chip with all six cores running at the same clock speed and largely unutilized; why not try and create two ultrafast cores for the heavy lifting, and then four additional, lower-power cores for additional and specialized tasks? It's brilliant.
Click to expand...

That has been the standard for years now in lots of Qualcomm, Samsung and Huawei SoCs.

Of course they suck in comparison, but the concept is pretty established.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Avieshek
iapplelove said:
I'm pretty sure they are done with Touch ID in the iPhones forever.

Apple states face ID is the future.

At first I thought they would slip it in next year but I don't think they are looking back, not on flagship iPhone models.
Click to expand...

Only because (if the rumours were correct) they couldn't get TouchID under the glass.
Don't forget, they have just put TouchID into their premium laptop range, and it's still on the iPads....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Niklas_nick
enzoso said:
All this makes me think is imagine how advanced the tech they're working on NOW is? They're probably lightyears ahead of what people think.

I always say this but Apple knows where they're going, even though it may take years to get there. Removing the home button was something we knew they were working on for years but people still swear the only reason they decided to do so was because Samsung did it a couple months ago.
Click to expand...

The Siri voice was recorded in 2006, while the application was released in 2011, so in that case Apple was working on technology five years into the future.
 
iapplelove said:
I'm pretty sure they are done with Touch ID in the iPhones forever.

Apple states face ID is the future.

At first I thought they would slip it in next year but I don't think they are looking back, not on flagship iPhone models.
Click to expand...

I am afraid you are right but I think that is due to their arrogance than anything. Touch ID is about convenience more than it is about Fort Knox security. By the time I have removed my phone from my pocket I have unlocked it and ready to go. With FaceId that convenience is gone but apple is talking how secure it is.

I hope they continue to develop the Touch ID under the screen but they hyped face id so much that maybe they won't go to it for the next few years at least. This is so similar to Touch bar. There isn't much of a use for it but apple still doesn't provide an option to configure top of the line MacBook Pro without the touch bar.

I really love apple products but some things are super annoying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iapplelove
enzoso said:
All this makes me think is imagine how advanced the tech they're working on NOW is? They're probably lightyears ahead of what people think.

I always say this but Apple knows where they're going, even though it may take years to get there. Removing the home button was something we knew they were working on for years but people still swear the only reason they decided to do so was because Samsung did it a couple months ago.
Click to expand...

Truth. It's funny to see how many think that Apple doesn't start working on the next iPhone until they release the latest iPhone. In truth, they've a couple iterations ahead already.
 
chucker23n1 said:
That's arguably something Apple didn't come up with, but rather ARM did. They call a setup like that big.LITTLE.
Click to expand...


Wowereit said:
That has been the standard for years now in lots of Qualcomm, Samsung and Huawei SoCs.

Of course they suck in comparison, but the concept is pretty established.
Click to expand...

Ah, you don't say! I appreciate the input, I wasn't aware. Are most of the mainstream Qualcomm chips already applying this method? My current phone is running an eight core Snapdragon 810.

Are Apple processors just rebranded ARM chips? Apple has a lot of input on the design, no?

---Edit---
After further investigation, I see that ARM is a licensed technology. Even Snapdragon processors use it. Interesting.
 
MrGimper said:
Only because (if the rumours were correct) they couldn't get TouchID under the glass.
Don't forget, they have just put TouchID into their premium laptop range, and it's still on the iPads....
Click to expand...

I think that will also come to a close. We may see one more iPad but face is is here to stay.
 
chucker23n1 said:
That's arguably something Apple didn't come up with, but rather ARM did. They call a setup like that big.LITTLE.
Click to expand...

Right, it is definitely conceptually similar to big.LITTLE and Apple are "late" to adopting it. Funny thing though, Apple was killing the rest of the mobile industry even before they adopted a big.LITTLE like setup- they were doing just fine with 2 powerful wide, deep cores and beating 4 and 8-core arrangements from other vendors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: v0lume4
MrGimper said:
Only because (if the rumours were correct) they couldn't get TouchID under the glass.
Don't forget, they have just put TouchID into their premium laptop range, and it's still on the iPads....
Click to expand...

The thing is, FaceID didn't happen overnight. It's not like they decided at the last minute "we can't get TouchID to work, we'd better throw something else together fast." Now maybe they wanted both TouchID and FaceID (I'm skeptical), but FaceID wasn't thrown in just because TouchID under the display wouldn't work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: needfx, Ghost31, redmac and 4 others
enzoso said:
All this makes me think is imagine how advanced the tech they're working on NOW is? They're probably lightyears ahead of what people think.

I always say this but Apple knows where they're going, even though it may take years to get there. Removing the home button was something we knew they were working on for years but people still swear the only reason they decided to do so was because Samsung did it a couple months ago.
Click to expand...

okay
 
miketcool said:
The keynote presentation was to inspire developers.

The A11 architecture and the sensor array are the future of Apple. This is why the GUI standards want it to be seen and not hidden. This bar will occupy the top of all of their machines because it allows for a new interface. Your Apple device will interact with your face in ways not yet demonstrated from simple commands, to learning human behaviors for AI, to deep gaming environments, augmented reality, and health. There will no doubt be a connection into medical research like HealthKit provides. Passwords are going away (I don't hear people crying for TouchID on their iMac) and the personal computer is leaping into a new level of being personal.

Imagine this tech in your living room. No more remotes. Imagine this tech in your car. No more keys. Imagine this tech in the office? Holographic FaceTime. The iPhone X stands for Experimental like X aircraft. It's the window into a new world at Apple.
Click to expand...

Imagine this tech applied to a Mac or even an iPad in conjunction with a VR headset. Users will be able to manipulate 3d objects in space using hand gestures or other tools for finer control and since Apple makes the chips they'll have an intrinsic advantage over competitors.

For the first time it feels like Cook et. al. could finally deliver a ground breaking new computer hardware/software package worthy of "one more thing..." Perhaps a 3D VR followup to the original Final Cut Pro that brought movie editing to the masses.

Don't blow it, Apple. Make yourselves worthy of Jobs' new spaceship HQ.
 
  • Like
Reactions: miketcool
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back