As someone who worked on design teams at places that owned the fab and placed that don't, owning the fab is better. The result is much better when the designers can influence the process.
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iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Use 20-Nanometer A8 Processor From TSMC
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As someone who worked on design teams at places that owned the fab and placed that don't, owning the fab is better. The result is much better when the designers can influence the process.
One reason for 1GB RAM
One reason why Apple is delaying more than 1 GByte of DRAM. JEDEC just certified LPDDR4 DRAM in late August 2014- EETIMES 26 August 2014 story; EETIMES 2 July 2014 story on LPDDR DRAM discusses important tech to deal with for reliable device release. Transition from LPDDR2 to LPDDR3 applications may be skipped as LPDDR2 technology may obsolete LPDDDR3 too quickly. LPDDR4 will allow 2GByte DRAM for the same power (as 1GByte of LPDDR2) with much faster transfer rates. So iPhone 6S/7 and iPadAir/Mini 3- 2015 for 2Gbyte/LPDDR4 DRAM probably/possibly?
One reason why Apple is delaying more than 1 GByte of DRAM. JEDEC just certified LPDDR4 DRAM in late August 2014- EETIMES 26 August 2014 story; EETIMES 2 July 2014 story on LPDDR DRAM discusses important tech to deal with for reliable device release. Transition from LPDDR2 to LPDDR3 applications may be skipped as LPDDR2 technology may obsolete LPDDDR3 too quickly. LPDDR4 will allow 2GByte DRAM for the same power (as 1GByte of LPDDR2) with much faster transfer rates. So iPhone 6S/7 and iPadAir/Mini 3- 2015 for 2Gbyte/LPDDR4 DRAM probably/possibly?
In general at these mass volumes Apple has - probably larger than Intel at this point - building chips yourself will save you money.
I wouldnt know, r&d ,massive investments for eacht new generation,... only pays itself when you can massivly produce them. More then what apple is doing now. And if you have issues you still need to buy from others.
A lot easier and probably cheaper for apple to let others take the risks
I am curious why the paltry 1gb of RAM? Particularly when pushing 64-bit?
It's basically a $1000 phone and the 1gb of RAM is likely to either force Apple into compromising future iOS updates, or make the device obsolete sooner than we'd like.
See this discussion for more detailes:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-iphone-ios-ram-memory,27476.html
I have ordered an iPhone 6 Plus, but am wondering if it was mistake.
It's basically a $1000 phone and the 1gb of RAM is likely to either force Apple into compromising future iOS updates, or make the device obsolete sooner than we'd like.
See this discussion for more detailes:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-iphone-ios-ram-memory,27476.html
I have ordered an iPhone 6 Plus, but am wondering if it was mistake.
From my understanding it's not just licensing, GloFo share the same 14nm process with Samsung's direct help and they are fully synced, and the rumor was GloFo will dedicate a whole lot of capacity just for Apple's demand. The advantage of this is that Apple can have one design but still have the assurance there'll be the back up fab to help you out if there's shortage in capacity or any delay in one facility.
This is pretty smart move from GF and Samsung, and probably a necessary one given how much they were behind TSMC in the market. From the rumors it may just pay off big with Apple and even Qualcomm allegedly considering the migration.
It seems current Apple tries to stay away from owning a manufacturing facility at all cost. They refuse to have their own factory even in the USA, and as it's been known, instead of buying asapphire manufacturer they cut a large deal. Ditto for RAM, Flash memory, displays, etc, and I don't see them buying a fab anytime soon.
Absolutely - they'd rather do some sort of joint thing where Apple pitches in for capital (and perhaps owns the equipment), TSMC owns the physical plant and provides the labor, and Apple gets to control the process parameters. But if TSMC (or someone else) won't agree, a fab may make sense given Apple's volumes. They can amortize the tooling over multiple generations, eventually. If the theory I've reported on (that ARM will work its way into macs in the next couple years), the first year's allotment goes to Mac, then in year 2 it's iPhone/ipad and in year 3 apple tv, and eventually watch. Keep four lines going in the same fab, and they'll always be busy. Start with 16nm for iPhone/iPad while working on 10-12nm for Mac (which will take longer).
The Verge noticed some lag in the 6+ vs the 6.
No matter, I wasn't interested in carrying an iPad mini in my pocket anyway.
It's pretty nice. There's enough room in my pocket for another inch or so. I know it's a personal thing, but I'm very happy with my 6+.
You are right. For a $1000 device, it's ridiculous.
It's Apple's goal to make your device obsolete as soon as possible, so you consider buying new. It's their goal to withhold features and stretch out the incremental hardware upgrades over as long time span as possible. All to maximise profit.
With iPhone 6, they put the redesign in focus, with NFC and Apple Pay, and hope no-one notice the lack of RAM. Funny thing is, almost no review mentions the RAM at all. But they happily mention the CPU, because Apple talks about the CPU. Rather than being a mindless drone (not personal) that accepts this behaviour, show Apple that you don't like it, and don't buy an iPhone 6.
When they transition to 2 GB of RAM, the current devices will be leapfrogged. 2 GB of RAM enables much more interesting apps and games, iOS will take advantage of it as well.
I would expect the iPhone 6S to come with 2 GB of RAM, otherwise I don't know what Apple is doing. So it's a particularly bad time to buy a new phone with 1 GB of RAM. Even the iPhone 5 has more memory to use than the iPhone 6, due to it's 32 bit CPU.
And finally you can actually zoom on webpages without getting a crash due to low memory. And possibly don't have to refresh tabs in Safari every 2nd minute (though this seems coded behaviour by purpose). And last, I am pretty sure that Apple will introduce some kind of new multitasking with more RAM available.
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Thanks for the info. Very informative.
It seems to me that power control is still the key issue for mobiles. Developers haven't really found much in the way of use cases for all the power of the A7, so I don't think they will be caught up to a powerful A9 next year. Aside from games, I don't know which programs are using the power in the A8 now and would push an A7 to its max. But maybe we 64 GB storage being the new normal, developers will have room to make much more complicated Apps/Games and hence will then push the A8 a bit harder.
Along the same lines a bit as you hoping the A9 is more powerful. I'm hoping Apple has reached satisfaction with thinness on the 6. If they don't make the 6s any thinner, then they can use a slightly bigger battery in the 6s and then they can focus a bit on power like you want.
If Apple designs the chip, and Apple is the only one that uses it, they take all the risk. They have to design it, test it, ensure the foundry is up to par (capacity and quality). The only thing they don't have to worry about from a purchaser's perspective is the quality and capacity, and putting all their eggs (be it Samsung or TSMC) in one basket is a somewhat risky proposition, since they are a "single source supplier".
This is one nice thing about the Intel/AMD rivalry. About 10 years ago, when Intel was slipping (FP errors, just poorly designed chips), they had AMD to thank for kicking them in the butt, because if it weren't for them, management could have decided that the cost wasn't worth it to improve things. (Think "big 3 automakers in the 1970's")
As for TSMC, I think it's a good thing that they're making the chips as well as Samsung.
I own the 4.7" iPhone 6, and honestly have not seen an issue with the RAM. Would it be nice to have more? Sure, but it's not a noticeable issue like on the iPad. The 5.5" may have more problems, I don't know. I certainly wouldn't hold off on buying a 4.7" because of the RAM. The phone is head and shoulders above the 5s. You'd only be hurting yourself by waiting that extra year. You're certainly not going to make a dent in Apple's revenue.
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It's almost a certainty that the 6s will have the same form factor. So battery energy density will have to improve in order to get improved battery life. I wouldn't be surprised to see the 6s+ change somewhat, however.
They design them in the us. Building them here is trickier since there aren't a lot of us fans that would work. Globalfoundries is the best bet.
Apple would probably expect to sell a minimum of 250 million devices with A8's over the general two year processor lifecyle given that the iPhone 6 models will be next years mid range models. It's also conceivable that a variant will be in future Apple TV's and iPad's.
To me it's a slam dunk to design an optimized processor family and have various foundry partners fab them at the volumes that I mention.
A interesting reason for the current 1GB of RAM (posted above):
"One reason why Apple is delaying more than 1 GByte of DRAM. JEDEC just certified LPDDR4 DRAM in late August 2014- EETIMES 26 August 2014 story; EETIMES 2 July 2014 story on LPDDR DRAM discusses important tech to deal with for reliable device release. Transition from LPDDR2 to LPDDR3 applications may be skipped as LPDDR2 technology may obsolete LPDDDR3 too quickly. LPDDR4 will allow 2GByte DRAM for the same power (as 1GByte of LPDDR2) with much faster transfer rates. So iPhone 6S/7 and iPadAir/Mini 3- 2015 for 2Gbyte/LPDDR4 DRAM probably/possibly?"
Wrong. Microsoft and Sony are the businesses that purchased the product. The chips were never made for AMD, they are just AMD's design.
Nice try. At least spell the full word out next time, makes you look incompetent.
What... my 6 is like perfect size, I wouldn't want it any bigger - not sure if you're wanting a 6" or 6.5" iPhone lol...
I don't know man. Apple did just use 1GB... for the THIRD year.... One can always hope for 2GB though.
I remember when we tried to get the contract for ps3 and xbox360 and lost. Then management told us losing was a good thing because we would have lost money on every chip.