I'm convinced you mean "Gate, Gate", or, to be precise, "Gate²"
Think.
About.
It.
OR...
Could it be... "Sili-Gate"?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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iPhone 6s Uses Different-Sized A9 Chips From Samsung and TSMC
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I'm convinced you mean "Gate, Gate", or, to be precise, "Gate²"
Think.
About.
It.
OR...
Could it be... "Sili-Gate"?
Why? Do you have a Samsung phone? If so I would return it also if it didn't have a Samsung chip.
So this is completely incorrect. Two manufacturers with different processes aren't going to use the same mask sets at all. They aren't electrically equivalent, but they will be logically equivalent. You will have slight variations in all devices because of the different processes, and this needs to be accounted for in the circuits, which changes layout completely. Devices themselves have completely different dimensions, from the silicon up to metal layers. They might not even have the same number of metal layers. They are going to be completely different layouts.
Source: 15 years of DSM IC Physical design, including as a consultant. I've designed supercomputers as well as lead consultant on the Xbox360 GPU (which was manufactured by TSMC).
Yeah there's slight variation in chip power consumption on any process but the difference isn't very large, it can't be or Apple would have to lose some of their claimed battery life for false advertisement.. The chips are binned to within certain specifications. But we're talking about a 9% increase in die area. That doesn't just disappear into variance. If the A9 were about half the iPhone's power draw, 5% would be over half an hour. So it is significant.
Apple could mitigate the difference several ways. The TSMC process could be advanced enough that it can keep pace with the Samsung process. They could also bin the TSMC process for the most efficient chips and mitigate the node difference. But as to the former, both of these processes seemed to have barely made it to bulk production in time, so I wouldn't expect either to be perfectly tuned.
The operative word here is could. Nobody has yet confirmed that the phones with tsmc chips have worse battery life, performance, overheat etc.
But that's within the same process. It is conceivable that someone could get a 16nm TSMC chip that is actually more efficient than a 14nm Samsung. Both Samsung and TSMC have pretty mature processes. Intel sells chips at different clock speeds based on how they are binned. Apple has a single speed, likely set at a conservative point so that they avoid warranty issues.
The display is likely a far bigger draw on power. The cellular radio is another. Given that we're talking about 8-10 hours of battery on moderate to heavy usage, there is no way a 5% difference in the processor draw would be over half an hour.
Apple doesn't even tell you how much RAM is in the phone, do you really think they're going to tell you who makes the various components? They don't even publish fairly basic things like clockspeed, the only thing they say is "2x faster", they never tell you actually how fast it is.
Hate to break it to you, but you probably have all kinds of Samsung stuff in your house
Samsung is fine as a supplier. I just don't care for them as an OEM. Heck, GM supplies BMW with transmissions. I'm not buying a GM car.
Maybe this is stupid of me (and it probably is since Apple would know better than me), but would it have killed them to limit one to the 6s and the other to the 6s plus? Are production numbers vastly different? They have to know that these tears owns were going to happen immediately after the devices hit the market. What am I missing?
You are missing that it is entirely irrelevant if their performance is near-identical
It doesn't matter to them. They didn't think it'd be a big deal, and frankly it isn't. It sounds like a lot of people are complaining but 99.9% of people don't care which chip they have in their phones, whether they know about the two manufacturers or not. In the scheme of hundreds of millions of units sold, a few thousand overreactive keyboard warriors who post on MacRumors doesn't even register on the outermost periphery of Apple's radar.
To add further to your point, even if the performance is different, it's still irrelevant as long as both meet / exceed their advertised processing and battery life standards.
I honestly think this is plain and simple marketing reasons. They don't want to plaster these specs on their site for people shopping to do direct number comparisons (which don't mean much anyway) between their device and a competitions.
That is a good point. Still had me wondering if both models exhibit these differences and if so how that is a benefit in terms of manufacturing.
Agreed
The info is definitely worthy of reporting, but I don't care which chip is inside my 6S. They're both A9 chips and my phone is lightning fast. That's all that matters to me.
It'll be funny and slightly ironic if someone finds a way for us to check which one we have and a bunch of people are actually mad because they don't have the Samsung chip.
There shouldn't be any real performance variations between the two, so I don't see why they would need to separate different makes between the 6S and 6S+. In fact, I think that probably would've caused more of a conspiracy.
As entertaining although factual as this discussion is going most of the time, I did not want to say anything.
Although just because "Apple" did this, does not mean you got a dud device.
For example and it could become true, displaymate tears apart the new iPhone 6s models and find out some of them have a Samsung, IPS lcd panel, some have an LG IPS lcd panel. OH CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! Sue Apple, turn them in and now the suck.
In reality, companies due this all the time with different parts from different manufactures although in the same devices.
To include and its one my biggies (the PANEL LOTTERY) in any tv, phone, tablet, refrigerator, washer and dryer now and you get the point.
Unfortunately due to the PANEL lottery there is huge differences sometimes between the two that are suppose to be the "same" when sold either it be an LG panel or Samsung panel in that new smart TV from guess who, SONY! (these are true realistic examples)
Intel makes the same exact wafer as they call them when it comes to slicing and dicing into a cpu you install into a PC or anything that takes Intel. THE EXACT SQUARE on the WAFER will not be 100 percent like the next EXACT SQUARE cut from the same WAFER in all the same way.
"God" made man in his own image which meant perfection. (this is for those who believe, if you do not thats cool too)
Unfortunately before electronics were invented, we screwed up perfection. Now from the grand scheme of things and my own personal spin, YEAH it sucks, YEAH I suffer from OCD and PTSD, I hate it when I have to pat down every device or electronic piece of technology and guess what it never meets my perfect standards so I end up returning it and thats a bad thing to due for many different reasons and I admit, I may have a problem in that department.
Sometimes we just do have to let it go and be happy with what we do have and in our society today with the new generations and older expect quality and perfection, maybe the root of the problem is, heck we did not need it in the first place.
Right now I am going through hell with wife and oldest son about having a phone whom does not use it as a phone, is using it for all those things adults should not use it for, let alone your own teenager.
Another fight about it tonight, gets no where, he wont give it up, I cant force him, mom lets him keep doing what hes doing and its a distraction that right now is "how I see it" ruining his life and he just started school and is already behind with only 2-3 weeks in. Grandma gave it to him, Mom said it was ok, I never had an option to make a choice about it as dad because I found out it was a hidden secret because of course I said no!
Now I am every label a teenager can come up with, mom sides with son, dad as man cant be a man, dad or anything. In Washington I cannot even touch him.
World is coming to an end and well bigger things to be worried about than phones and chips inside!
Although just because "Apple" did this, does not mean you got a dud device.
For example and it could become true, displaymate tears apart the new iPhone 6s models and find out some of them have a Samsung, IPS lcd panel, some have an LG IPS lcd panel. OH CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! Sue Apple, turn them in and now the suck.
In reality, companies due this all the time with different parts from different manufactures although in the same devices.
To include and its one my biggies (the PANEL LOTTERY) in any tv, phone, tablet, refrigerator, washer and dryer now and you get the point.
Unfortunately due to the PANEL lottery there is huge differences sometimes between the two that are suppose to be the "same" when sold either it be an LG panel or Samsung panel in that new smart TV from guess who, SONY! (these are true realistic examples)
Intel makes the same exact wafer as they call them when it comes to slicing and dicing into a cpu you install into a PC or anything that takes Intel. THE EXACT SQUARE on the WAFER will not be 100 percent like the next EXACT SQUARE cut from the same WAFER in all the same way.
"God" made man in his own image which meant perfection. (this is for those who believe, if you do not thats cool too)
Unfortunately before electronics were invented, we screwed up perfection. Now from the grand scheme of things and my own personal spin, YEAH it sucks, YEAH I suffer from OCD and PTSD, I hate it when I have to pat down every device or electronic piece of technology and guess what it never meets my perfect standards so I end up returning it and thats a bad thing to due for many different reasons and I admit, I may have a problem in that department.
Sometimes we just do have to let it go and be happy with what we do have and in our society today with the new generations and older expect quality and perfection, maybe the root of the problem is, heck we did not need it in the first place.
Right now I am going through hell with wife and oldest son about having a phone whom does not use it as a phone, is using it for all those things adults should not use it for, let alone your own teenager.
Another fight about it tonight, gets no where, he wont give it up, I cant force him, mom lets him keep doing what hes doing and its a distraction that right now is "how I see it" ruining his life and he just started school and is already behind with only 2-3 weeks in. Grandma gave it to him, Mom said it was ok, I never had an option to make a choice about it as dad because I found out it was a hidden secret because of course I said no!
Now I am every label a teenager can come up with, mom sides with son, dad as man cant be a man, dad or anything. In Washington I cannot even touch him.
World is coming to an end and well bigger things to be worried about than phones and chips inside!
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