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

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,955
38,653


Apple planned a major generational update for the iPhone 14 Pro's graphics capabilities, but was forced to scrap plans for the new GPU late in development after "unprecedented" missteps were discovered, according to The Information.

A16-iPhone-14-Pro.jpeg

In a paywalled report, The Information claimed that Apple engineers were "too ambitious" in adding new features to the graphics processor designed for the iPhone 14 Pro, including features like ray tracing – a lighting technique to achieve a further level of realism in games. This meant that iPhone 14 Pro prototype were found to draw much more power than expected, impacting the device's battery life and thermal management.

According to several individuals that claim to possess first-hand knowledge of the incident speaking to The Information, Apple discovered the flaw in the iPhone 14 Pro's GPU late in the device's development cycle, meaning that it had to hastily pivot to revert largely to the GPU from the A15 Bionic chip from the previous year's iPhone 13 lineup.

The incident is reportedly unprecedented in Apple's chip design history and is responsible for why the iPhone 14 Pro shows only small improvements in graphics performance compared to the leaps made by previous iPhone generations. The error resulted in Apple restructuring its graphics processor team and moving some managers away from the project, including the exit of key figures that apparently contributed to Apple's emergence as a chip design leader.

The report goes on to reveal how Apple's chip design team has been forced to contend with a loss of talent in recent years, with the company having lost dozens of key people to various silicon design companies since 2019, as well as interpersonal feuds and lawsuits with chip startups.

Article Link: iPhone 14 Pro Faced 'Unprecedented' Setback Leading to Removal of New Graphics Processor
 
Last edited:
Wow, this news is rather shocking to me. After several years of enjoying a Bionic series that "just works" and soundly beats the competition at being reliable, efficient and top of benchmarks, it didn't occur to me they'd produce one that threatened to sink an entire generation of iphones this way.
 
This sounds like the development cycle for everything I’ve ever worked on… “Hey here’s a great idea, it’s going to be amazing, the team worked really hard to complete the design, it’s ready for production, oh shoot we just got some numbers in and it’s going to be too expensive/inefficient/risky, scrap that, just go back to something simple and we’ll figure that part out next time.”
 
The framing of the issue as "setback" and failure is so sensationalising, not making it clear that part of research and development HAS to involve experimentation (DUH!) and various trials and errors. I wouldn't necessarily call it a "setback" which is too sensational and tries to capture the audience's mind in a particular way. Boo!

Anyone who has done any serious research and development will recognize that testing, development, and various failed approaches is part and parcel of the work.
 
Well, so nice of them to revert and not pushing forward that idea. Perfecting one new major feature is the key to "just works" ideology.
‘Just work’ like the crash detection triggered in rollercoasters or maybe like the new HomeKit architecture that removed access to partner and flat mates so now they can’t control lights and speakers?
 
I wonder if this is a sign that the next MacBook Pros will feature much more advanced GPU chips bringing them up to speed for use with graphic design software and apps like Unity. That would be exciting
I use After Effects, Cinema 4D, and the entire Adobe suite daily on my MacBook Pro and it’s incredible.

Can’t comment on Unity, but the Unity real-time renderer in Blender works fine.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.