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iFixit and Chipworks Provide Inside Look at iPad's A4 Processor
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Really whose job is this? X-rays of the chip? Teh fact that it works is not enough. Gotta know how.
Check out Chipworks' site...they're primarily involved in intellectual property issues. It certainly helps in patent litigation if you've torn things apart to see what's in them.
Show me an Intel chip that can do what this can in the same power envelope?
Seriously, Intel are crapping themselves at all these ARM-based designs.
This may be part of the reason why Intel-Apple relations have cooled (along with the obvious nVidia reason).
Business as Usual
As stated in the opening article..."There's nothing revolutionary here"
What do you expect, it's made by Apple.
As stated in the opening article..."There's nothing revolutionary here"
What do you expect, it's made by Apple.
I have my money on never and honestly I don't think Apple has any plans of rivaling Intel. Anyway, I really don't get why Apple is making their "own" chips. Wouldn't it be cheaper to ask for custom mods from heavy weights?
If they do, it's time to short AAPL.
Maybe they have, but just haven't been getting what they want? Or maybe they got tired of paying Samsung et. al. for custom mods just to watch Samsung turn around and sell the customized versions to others at market rates? If Apple is going to foot the bill for customized versions, why should their competitors enjoy the benefits at all? That's one of the problems with asking the heavy weights to do something expensive/special for you. Just look at what happened with Sony-IBM-Microsoft and the Cell-Xenon.
Good One
Ha ha! That's good.
I was not smart when I sold 1,500 shares of ARMH at $ 5.28 last year. I put it all in ABK and lost most of it. I now own 12 shares of ARMH and wish I had lots more.
What a R3tard.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Ha ha! That's good.
I was not smart when I sold 1,500 shares of ARMH at $ 5.28 last year. I put it all in ABK and lost most of it. I now own 12 shares of ARMH and wish I had lots more.
Sure, thats called vertical integration but it doesn't explain why their doing it. As far as I know there are no hold ups in chip production. I was under assumption there is lot of competition in mobile chip market. So, to my original question, is Apple really saving money with this?
From wiki:
-Lower transaction costs
-Synchronization of supply and demand along the chain of products
-Lower uncertainty and higher investment
-Ability to monopolize market throughout the chain by market foreclosure
They can ask ARM to build them a custom Cortex A8 and be completely at Cortex's beck-and-call......
or they can buy the A8 chip design, mod them on their own, and then get TSMC to print them.
It removes a dependency on an external party. Look at how the iPad was delayed because of their screen manufacturer...
There are both money and control issues at play.
They want to rely on external parties as little as possible.
I'm not sure why Apple just doesn't TELL US what components are in their mobile devices, just like every single other device manufacturer is willing to do.
I DOES matter - would you buy a laptop without knowing the processor / RAM / etc?
Tony
Apple has been trying to steer the consumer into focusing on the performance, functionality and experience of a device as opposed to the spec sheet. At the end of the day, the specs don't matter, what matters is the quality of the experience.
Look at how the iPad compares to the JooJoo. Despite lower HW specs, the experience of the iPad is far superior.
I agree that specs matter with a Laptop, but only in so far as your experience and knowledge of Windows/Linux/OSX translates that into the quality of the experience.
LOL! Actually, the x-ray view looks like it would make a terrific quilt pattern.
Ah -- someone beat me to it!
Thank you!! I've been racking my brain trying to recall what it was that cross-section reminded me of, and you nailed it, it was frogger!!
Vertical integration works best in static industry that is not so dependent on technological innovation. Dynamic industry needs to invest in technology and R&D all the time so therefore vertical integration can easily become a burden and still you can be easily left behind in tech race. Even the dedicated semi firms have trouble of staying with Intel so it can be a real challenge for a company trying to reach vertical integration in computer manufacturing. In reality Apple can't become independent in ARM chips since it doesn't hold the IP. Therefore, I'm still pondering what they really gained with it. Anyway, P.A. Semi was cheap so perhaps the cost of acquiring it was less then developing required chip(s) with other partners... Anyway, you have a point in your argument but I don't agree on removing the dependency.
Try as you might, you'll never be able to find the magic.
Bah, your just old and Jaded
. There is plenty of magic to be found when using one. It's the UI. It has drastically shrunk the gap in what you want it to do and how you do it. The larger screen makes it far more instinctual than an iPhone ever was. I have shown it to people that struggle to use an iPhone and they understand and use the iPad like a pro in seconds. I have been truly astounded at how quickly these people understood the device.