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Apple Watch Uses Chip Manufactured on Samsung's 28-Nanometer Process

28nm?! Just canceled my order.

Jk, but yeah this is typical apple. Then they can tout 2x more powerful for gen 2.
 
b0nd18t said:
28nm?! Just canceled my order.

Jk, but yeah this is typical apple. Then they can tout 2x more powerful for gen 2.
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Yep I'm sure something better was available in large quantity but Tim Cook said no so they'd have something new to tout 2 years from now. Because there couldn't possibly be anything else that would make gen 2 compelling. :rolleyes:

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Tech198 said:
"Among the more interesting discoveries Chipworks has made is the manufacturing process for the APL0778 application processor (CPU/GPU) on the S1 chip. It was made with Samsung's 28 nanometer LP process, which, as Ars Technica points out, is no longer cutting edge technology."

oh well.. easy come, easy go..

I know tech moves faster than a fly, but sill *not cutting edge*

So then technically, Apple isn't really lying either, yet their not telling the truth either, since it was "cutting edge" at one point.... just not now....:D
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So was there "cutting edge" technology available in large quantity that Apple purposely chose not to put in the watch? And they purposely did that because?
 
Rogifan said:
Yep I'm sure something better was available in large quantity but Tim Cook said no so they'd have something new to tout 2 years from now. Because there couldn't possibly be anything else that would make gen 2 compelling. :rolleyes:

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So was there "cutting edge" technology available in large quantity that Apple purposely chose not to put in the watch? And they purposely did that because?
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Because they know the faithful will purchase it blindly.
The press will tout it the best watch ever (without ever using it)

And most importantly, Apple will add billions more because people are generally stupid.
 
SvK said:
So.....

You are holding a bag in your right hand while in public; You receive a text, so you use your free hand to retrieve your phone, read the text, and reply.

.......how do I do that with the watch, without putting the bag down?
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I thought all the cool kids wore their watch on their right wrist this millennium?
 
The watch's processor is more than fast enough to do everything it currently does and more. The limitation to the Apple Watch is battery power.

The screen can't stay on because of battery power. The heart rate sensor only measures every 10 minutes because of battery power. The phone has to be charged every day because of battery power. Glance views are lazy-updated because of battery power. Third-party apps are slow because everything is run directly from the phone, again probably to conserve battery.

I absolutely love my Apple Watch, and it does a ton of amazing things, so don't get me wrong. In fact, I think that in seven years watches will be more like phones in terms of use and current smartphones will be more like tablets.

However, Apple challenge for the future isn't going to be processor power for a while. It's going to be saving energy via more efficient processors and screens, better batteries, and whatever else they can think of.
 
Jason83 said:
Only those who don't realize that the Samsung that makes our chips is as a company very far removed from the Samsung that copies mobile phones.
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They didn't make the iPhone 6 chips (or all of the previous ones for that matter.)
 
My guess is the design got finalized a while ago.
And I also believe the 28nm process is more in the "tried-and-trusted"-department, so Apple was more comfortable with it.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't a single reason
 
Sandstorm said:
Every Apple Watch has a little bit of Samsung in it. Lovely! :)
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Jesus, grow up.
One of the reasons business, for all its flaws, is a more noble profession than politics is that businesspeople are willing to forget the past, to wrap things up and move on.
Do you want Apple vs Samsung to be something like Germany vs the UK, starting up again to give us all WW2 after WW1? Do you want it to be something like the French vs English Hundred Years War? What does ANYONE get out of constantly picking at these scabs?
 
mi7chy said:
You meant to say TSMC 20nm isn't necessarily lower power than Samsung 28nm and that's why Apple went with Samsung. Samsung 14nm is significantly lower power than both but it's reserved for Samsung's next standalone watch with built in cell call and data but with much better battery life than Apple Watch that requires being tethered to phone.
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'Requires being tethered to the phone" is this year's "doesn't have an SD card" and "no replaceable battery" which have the past five years' "Doesn't have flash", ie a ******** issue that no-one actually gives a damn about.

Believe me, the number of people who were thinking "you know, I really wanted to buy an Apple watch, but I just can't get over that iPhone tethering" is not worrying anyone in Cupertino.
But sure, sure, go right ahead spreading that fantasy. Let see next year what multiple of Apple's 20 million units sold get sold in Android land because of their builtin cellular capabilities...

As for Apple's use of 28nm rather than 14nm, I think it's hardly rocket science what is going on. Apple is selling the first version of a new product. They honestly have no idea how many will ship. It's cheaper and safer to go with a process that has some flexibility in how much it can ramp up production rather than with a leading edge process where there's a whole lot more that can go wrong. If iPhones, for example, are delayed by three months because the process has a problem, Apple can weather that; but they can't weather mistakes and failures in the debut of a new product category.
 
rohitp said:
Congratulations, your new Apple Watch is already obsolete even before it is shipped to you. Enjoy! :D
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And your point is what exactly? That we should buy an MS band because that's never going to be updated? That LG, Samsung, and Moto have no plans for new HW in their watches? That Android Wear has been cancelled?

It's technology, it gets improved every year.
You're not the second coming of Gordon Moore for pointing out the utterly obvious...
 
name99 said:
Jesus, grow up.
One of the reasons business, for all its flaws, is a more noble profession than politics is that businesspeople are willing to forget the past, to wrap things up and move on.
Do you want Apple vs Samsung to be something like Germany vs the UK, starting up again to give us all WW2 after WW1? Do you want it to be something like the French vs English Hundred Years War? What does ANYONE get out of constantly picking at these scabs?
Click to expand...

For some reason people think Samsung is just this little company that has only been around for a few years. Samsung is a huge company and is actually 17% of South Korea's GDP. People need to stop with this childish behavior and so some research.
 
firewood said:
A 28-nm chip possibly has lower leakage than the newer, smaller geometry processes, and thus might provide better battery life.
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No this is not true. 14nm FinFET is lower leakage, but more expensive. 28nm was chosen because it has good enough performance with lower cost.
 
28? This explains the poor battery life.
28nm is old technology, 2 generations behind (iPhone 5s era).

I expected them to use 20nm (iPhone 6) or better like 14nm (Galaxy S6 or intel corem)
 
Last edited:
That happened to me this morning...

Solution?: "Hey Siri"...

SvK said:
So.....

You are holding a bag in your right hand while in public; You receive a text, so you use your free hand to retrieve your phone, read the text, and reply.

.......how do I do that with the watch, without putting the bag down?
Click to expand...
 
name99 said:
And your point is what exactly? That we should buy an MS band because that's never going to be updated? That LG, Samsung, and Moto have no plans for new HW in their watches? That Android Wear has been cancelled?



It's technology, it gets improved every year.

You're not the second coming of Gordon Moore for pointing out the utterly obvious...
Click to expand...


Such anger. It's a watch. It's a phone. It's not that important.
 
0815 said:
Why? Whats wrong with Samsung chips? They are pretty good as far as I know.

Is it because you don't like their mobile division? Yeah, I also don't like what their mobile division is doing, but that does not mean that all the other divisions are bad - you should see the divisions as separate companies and learn to admire quality where it is deserved (and dislike where they show bad attitude/behavior).

Just blind hate is not good.
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I think it's a reference/joke about the retina screens for the rMBPs.
 
28 nm chip??? Pffff... That explains everything!

I'm not going to throw my money at obsolete tech. :mad:

Perhaps in a few years, if the casing got thinner and prettier, and Apple finely decides to catch up with the latest CPU manufacturing node (14nm and below), I might try this wrist toy. But for now my money is better spent on other things than this dumb :apple:watch.

Funny, Apple claims to develop things ahead of their time, and yet they decided to put an obsolete chip in their latest product. Reminds me of their latest crippled Mac Mini. :confused:
 
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