Controlled Testing Supports Apple's Claim of Nearly Equal iPhone 6s Battery Life With TSMC and Samsung Chips

[j2ee]

The GPU and CPU are both in the same chip.

In other words, you have not only a TSMC/Samsung CPU, but also a TSMC/Samsung GPU.

The current battery issue is the cpu side of the chip, this ars technica article testing focuses on the gpu side and minimum the cpu side usage, then claim the chip battery effectiveness is not that much different. I would not believe what ars technica writes amymore.

 

[linuxcooldude]

Of course! LOL Screw Apple, I still want the TSMC phone! it also runs cooler according other testers.

By a whopping 3 degrees.

 

[Aloft085]

You guys are blowing this way out of proportion. If you ever notice a difference, it'll be trivial. It's important for Apple to source chips from multiple companies, and it's too expensive sometimes for both companies to use the same manufacturing process. Just deal with it and move on.

 

[jin512]

You guys are blowing this way out of proportion. If you ever notice a difference, it'll be trivial. It's important for Apple to source chips from multiple companies, and it's too expensive sometimes for both companies to use the same manufacturing process. Just deal with it and move on.

says the person with a TSMC chip LOL

 

[j2ee]

There's really no issue as long as they're meeting their spec. I'm still happy I have a TSMC chip though, lol.

Apple just said "up to ??? hours" for some tasks in general in spec which means Apple doesnt promise anything about battery at all. How to meet a spec when there isnt one?

 

[NickD73]

This is madness. Ill wait till 7s. Maybe they'll have all the glitches figured out by then. Or then again maybe Apple will be the next RCA or RadioShack by that time. #BatteryLifeGate

 

[Carotdo]

in term of battery performance..my new ip6s+ with TSMC chip outperformed my ip6s+ with Sammy chip. don't ask me why but from my personal experience I can see there is a huge difference in battery duration... the Sammy chips drained so much power to the point that I had to carry a wall charger at all time

 

[ulyssesric]

Just admit it there is a difference even if it's big. Apple can't deliver products with different guts inside. Just not fair to consumers. I'll pass the generation. iPhone 7 where are you?

If this the first time you realize that electronic components are manufactured by different venders ?

Apple, as well as all the other consumer electronics companies, delivered products with different guts inside, since 1980s. Take iPhone 6s for example, you'll have LCD screens from LG or Sharp, memories from Samsung, Hynix or Micron, and flash from Foxconn or Pegatron. According to statistic, there are total 284 different versions of iPhone 6s. Colors, carriers and flash sizes are not counted.

And of course, components from different vender will have slight difference in performance. Good luck pick the strongest combination.

 

[j2ee]

You guys are blowing this way out of proportion. If you ever notice a difference, it'll be trivial. It's important for Apple to source chips from multiple companies, and it's too expensive sometimes for both companies to use the same manufacturing process. Just deal with it and move on.

The problem is one uses 14nm while another one uses 16nm, it is not even the same design, the problem is samsung uses non mature 14nm tech so heat and energy are wasted much faster while cpu is intensively used.

 

[JimmyHook]

There is no problem. It's funny I see so many posts starting with "The problem is...". Can't you read??? Ars tested. It's fine. I'd buy a Samsung chipped iPhone in a second if I needed another one. Next...

 

[MrGuder]

The fact alone that Apple responded to this news makes me think something is still fishy about this and there is still a possibility that the Samsung chip is throwing lower battery results. It may be just a few phones but how can we know for sure unless more testing is done.

By the way...what chip is in my iPhone 5??

 

[ryanissamson]

I love Apple, but I'm a bit surprised at how many people are cheering and wanting to stop looking into it. Regardless of the device or company, if there's an issue, I want it smoked out and made right.

 

[Iphone10]

Last week Apple addressed concerns over battery life discrepancies between the TSMC and Samsung A9 chips used in the iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus, suggesting a real world battery life difference of only two to three percent between the chips despite Geekbench battery tests that had pointed towards a bigger gap.

Ars Technica has now conducted controlled battery life tests on two iPhone 6s models, one with a TSMC chip and one with a Samsung chip, and its findings line up with Apple's statement. The site used two AT&T models, both with SIM cards removed and screen brightness set at the exact same level.

In Wi-Fi browsing, WebGL, and GFXBench tests, there were performance differences mostly in favor of the TSMC iPhone, but the variation between the two phones was slight. There was a more significant performance difference on the Geekbench 3 test, but as has been covered earlier, that test is not reflective of real world usage.

Aside from the Geekbench test, which saw a battery life difference of 28 percent between the two devices, the TSMC iPhone and the Samsung iPhone scored within two to three percent of each other. In Ars' opinion, in the real world, there's going to be little difference between a Samsung iPhone and a TSMC iPhone.According to Apple, the comparison of just two devices is too small of a sample size to make meaningful predictions about the performance between iPhones with Samsung chips and those with TSMC chips. As Ars points out, no one but Apple has the resources to collect enough data from enough devices to get an accurate picture of performance.

Ars Technica's findings do line up with what Apple says it has seen in both lab testing and data gathered from hundreds of thousands of customers. Apple has said the variation between the TSMC and Samsung chips it has observed is "well within its manufacturing tolerances" and is a level of variation that can be seen between devices that have the same chip.

Article Link: Controlled Testing Supports Apple's Claim of Nearly Equal iPhone 6s Battery Life With TSMC and Samsung Chips

I had a noticeable difference honestly I thought something was wrong with the phone so I returned it before all of this chip gate nonsense. There is a significant difference for me, I am also a power user. I work from my phone.

 

[cdm283813]

We got a bunch of armchair engineers in here. If you got a Samsung chip and you don't like the 2-3% lower battery life go and waste your time cherry picking a TSMC cpu. It's not my money or time. You know deep down it's eating away at you.
Why let Apple continue to get away with this practice. I have a TSMC chip but Apple should be taught a valuable lesson before they do the same thing to iPhone 7 or any future iPhone. You guys would be doing us a large favor. Talk with your wallets.

 

[smoking monkey]

Even I could tell s/he was just joking. God people on these forums take things so seriously sometimes. It's annoying to read your responses. Go away.

IF it was a joke, then it's poorly executed. Considering the poison atmosphere at the moment in the western world concerning PC language and the ferocity of the agenda, and what's being going on in the rose gold threads, it's just as likely not a joke.

As for going away. who's being dramatic now? Just put me on your ignore list!

 

[bevsb2]

I would guess that most of the millions of people with the 6S who don't follow MacRumors are unaware of or don't care about the chip controversy and as long as their phones are working as expected, are happy with them. I would also guess that at least half of the people who are following the chip controversy on MacRumors either have the TSMC chip or are happy with their Samsung chipped phones.

For the remainder of folks (those who consider themselves to be heavy gamers and/or just feel entitled in general to get the "best" chip for what they paid), I think it would be wise for Apple to quietly institute a return policy that would allow them to exchange their Samsung phone for the TSMC phone. Assuming that Apple can identify the chip by the serial number they could have a supply of TSMC phones available for exchange so that multiple phones would not need to be opened. As long as Geekbench scores show an appreciable difference (meaningful or not) some people are going to be unhappy and not let the issue go away.

 

[ulyssesric]

I'd like to see the difference running a REAL game, not a synthetic benchmark claiming to be similar to a game.
try a rather demanding game.. many thanks!!

Theoretically you'll NOT notice the difference of battery life when you're playing games. The Geekbench test is a specially designed test condition that disable / power down all other components excepts for CPU. Your network and screen are off, too. You'll NOT be able to play game under that circumstance.

When you playing games, the most significant power consumer is not the CPU, but screen and networking. And you'll NOT hit high CPU usage in any game available. A typical usage of CPU is 20% to 30% for some hardcore games; for casual games the average CPU usage is under 5%. The difference of CPU is ultimately irrelevant.

You may refer to other good article in this forum: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-6s-tsmc-samsung-case-study.1927888/

CPU is really insignificant, in terms of power usage.

 

[cdm283813]

This is madness. Ill wait till 7s. Maybe they'll have all the glitches figured out by then. Or then again maybe Apple will be the next RCA or RadioShack by that time. #BatteryLifeGate

How is using a CPU made by 2 companies a glitch? Apple already said that there is a 2-3% difference which is not defined as a glitch. Don't be surprised if future iPhones have the same setup. Very obvious that one CPU manufacture can't keep up with demand.

 

[sanke1]

I trust more Arstechnica than you since you don't seem to know what you're talking about.

The GPU is on the same die as the CPU (NOT a separate part), you know the one SAMSUNG DID.
So, if there is an issue with the process it will turn up there too. Got that.

When building the pages, the CPU works, with modern complex pages, it can work pretty substantially.
Most of those pages have 50 links in them all being transferred/built asynchronously too.
There's a reason most smart phone stutter when loading pages (but not IOS), because it is not a trivial test.

Everything else you said is just blah blah blah.

What? Even if the GPU is on the same die, it is manufactured by 1 single company and is called PowerVR.

BTW I don't trust sites like iArsTechnica and iAnandTech and iVerge as they are heavily biased towards Apple products.

 

[LordBeelzebub]

Define 'real world'. Many users here are power users and hammering their phones with games and high cpu usage apps.

EXACTLY! Most people are power users of their smart phones, it's what the freakin things are made for and I don't know anyone who lets their phone sit in stand by most of the day only occasionally checking emails and texting. Most people watch videos, play games, and use other cpu/gpu intensive apps. So for people to say that's not an important factor or most people don't stress the hardware in there phone that way is retarded.

Furthermore, Apple used two different chip manufacturers to meet anticipated demand for this phone, you really think they won't do the same for next years model?

 

[Sgt.ThroatPunch]

IF it was a joke, then it's poorly executed. Considering the poison atmosphere at the moment in the western world concerning PC language and the ferocity of the agenda, and what's being going on in the rose gold threads, it's just as likely not a joke.

It was quite obviously a joke. That poster did not make any sexist remarks, they simply made a harmless assumption of gender. It seems as if you are deeply troubled by these forums and the agenda of the western world. Have you ever considered taking a break? Put all that energy in a cause that is worthy of it.

 

[ulyssesric]

True.
This is a big failure in testing methodology as webgl and gfx bench will stress GPU which is a separate chip called PowerVR. No wonder the differences are minimal there.

False. This is a big failure that you assume GPU is a separated part. CPU and GPU are built within the same die in A9.

 

[ulyssesric]

What? Even if the GPU is on the same die, it is manufactured by 1 single company and is called PowerVR.

BTW I don't trust sites like iArsTechnica and iAnandTech and iVerge as they are heavily biased towards Apple products.

No, the IP (intellectual property) is from PowerVR, but the one that craft the die is still Samsung / TSMC. We're talking about the die, which is one a single wafer, not the MCP (multi-chip package).

 

[ulyssesric]

The problem is one uses 14nm while another one uses 16nm, it is not even the same design, the problem is samsung uses non mature 14nm tech so heat and energy are wasted much faster while cpu is intensively used.

16nm and 14nm are the same generation in terms of silicon manufacture procedure. The previous generation is 20nm/22nm and the next is 10nm. 'Non mature' is not the reason for higher power usage. 'Non mature' will only lead to low yield, which will affect gross margin of the enterprise. And that's also the reason why Apple transferred part of the order to TSMC.

I've no evidence, but I'd guess that the problem of Samsung chip is probably inferrer design of voltage step control.

 

[kvnt]

Uhhm maybe a dumb question i'm asking now but how can I see from which factory I have a chip ?

just curious that's all

Determine which A9 chip (TSMC or Samsung) without downloading software in iPhone 6S (Plus)
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...wnloading-software-in-iphone-6s-plus.1927367/