iPhone 6s Uses Different-Sized A9 Chips From Samsung and TSMC

[arjun90]

I haven't read through all 15 pages of this, but all of the apps that I have for looking at system things -- processes, memory usage, etc. -- have come out with updates for iOS9, because you no longer have permission to look at the processes running on your iOS device. I wonder if that has something to do with this. They want you to know less and less.

Interesting, wasn't aware of this. Still on android

 

[guychicago]

S8001 for me

 

[KPOM]

Uh... the ratio of chips supplied by Samsung to Apple vs TSMC due to yield most definitely wouldn't impact whether a user's phone dies sooner because he happened to get the chip that consumes more power.

My point is that Samsung's yield issues may be such that they have to put out lower-binned parts that just barely meet Apple's CPU specs. Unless Apple plans to use a slower A9 in another product, an "overclocked" lower-binned 14nm A9 might perform worse than an "underclocked" higher-binned 16nm A9.

 

[Max(IT)]

Oh God... It's coming isn't it.

Exchanges for a different chip model. Complaints about battery life being different.

"My one gets 1 degree hotter than my brother's. Is this a major problem?"

EDIT:
Waiting for: http://stevejobswouldnever.com/

Grab popcorn and waiting for this new hysteria on this forum ...

 

[Wise87]

Same, this is ******** of the highest order. If Apple refuses my refund I will be contacting my lawyer.

You didn't need an iPhone anyway.

 

[KPOM]

S8001 for me

Of course, that assumes that the app is accurate and isn't just generating random results.

 

[arjun90]

Grab popcorn and waiting for this new hysteria on this forum ...

Might watch this thread rather than The Martian later this week.

 

[Max(IT)]

this is just asking for a problem. soon people will only want one or the other

Only whiners on this forum ...

WOW. Turns out my wife and I have same phone, one runs hot and has been more laggy. I bet this is the reason. How do I find out which chip we have? Will definitely return one. Why Apple would do this is beyond me.

Here we go. The first...

 

[james-jones]

My point is that Samsung's yield issues may be such that they have to put out lower-binned parts that just barely meet Apple's CPU specs. Unless Apple plans to use a slower A9 in another product, an "overclocked" lower-binned 14nm A9 might perform worse than an "underclocked" higher-binned 16nm A9.

Hard to get more speculative than that.

 

[lordhamster]

View attachment 587577

That TSMC chip son!

Geekbench =
2517
4412

here. No clue which version of the processor

 

[Max(IT)]

Is this why i've been experiencing stuttering and freezing occasionally?

6 and 6S running iOS 9.0.1. Same user content. 6S will occasionally freeze for 3-5 seconds, or stutter.

6 runs without issue.

Probably not but can't help but ask

And to all the uppity naysayers, its a simple question. Get off your high horse.

You completely misunderstood the article...
You are speaking about two different SoC (A8 on the 6 and A9 on the 6S).

That would make sense. The 6S+ has a larger battery so can handle the greater power consumption of the bigger one.

Greater power consumption? I bet the difference is negligible

 

[SlipperySlop]

I want the bigger chip. The components will be more spaced out and will breath better. Breathing is a good thing. More room to expand as they heat up and better heat dissipation. Also, a bigger chip means I'm getting more for my money and I like that. I say, "the bigger the chip, the better". Who's with me on this?

 

[Wise87]

My 6s works great, awesome battery life and no overheat problems. I could care less what's inside as long as it works.
I've also come to the conclusion that those who are so worried about what chipset they have just need to stop buying phones all together. You folks are ridiculous and have more issues going on than what chipset your phone is running.

 

[ajfahey]

Isn't it clear?
The black ones are bigger than the white ones.

Black Chips Matter!

 

[Palladium SG]

Geekbench =
2517
4412

here. No clue which version of the processor

You can use this http://demo.hiraku.tw/CPUIdentifier/

Mine's a TSMC on a 6S Plus. Surprisingly, TSMC is the larger overall supplier. You are more likely to get Samsung on the 6S Plus and far more likely to have the TSMC on the 6S.

 

[aberrero]

Kids, this is why you buy a Samsung device and call it a day.

Samsung actually used to use TSMC chips as well.

 

[Max(IT)]

Agreed. The difference in geometry means nothing about performance or battery life.
Unless you know exact process parameters, memory efficiency, etc. You know nothing.

This is a non-story unless you are really interested in silicon production.

Absolutely correct

There's also the strong possibility that the normal (statistical) process variation within each vendors process is wider than the difference between the two. Thus, even if the median TSMC chip runs hotter than the median Samsung chip, a large fraction of Samsung's chips could run even hotter than either average.

It will be difficult to test, but after a hard reset and then chilling two phones to the exactly same temperature, one could run successive identical benchmarks on both to see which one throttles the CPU first.

Absolutely correct.
I'd like to see a comparison between the two chips (I know we are not going to see an official one). I'm sure differences will be negligible in every aspect

long time lurker.

funny to see the people who bch about samsung do a 180 and play the apple lottery when they find out the samsung chip is better.

Who ?
Samsung semiconductor and Samsung electronics aren't the same thing...

Oh boy...this opens up a can of worms...

Only in a forum where users could complain for months about an iPad chassis resonating....

You could not be more wrong. They mentioned one is made by a 16nm process other is 14nm. The smaller the process the better. The 14nm chip would run cooler, use less battery and even run faster. 12.5% smaller is not insignificant.

Cooler ? I bet less than 1'C of difference
Less battery ? I would laugh at the difference
Run faster ? And for what reason ? If the chip is the same, a different manufacturing process doesn't imply any speed difference....

 

[Captain America]

You can use this http://demo.hiraku.tw/CPUIdentifier/

Mine's a TSMC on a 6S Plus. Surprisingly, TSMC is the larger overall supplier. You are more likely to get Samsung on the 6S Plus and far more likely to have the TSMC on the 6S.

I guess I'm in the minority. TSMC S8003 on my 6S Plus.

My GB score:

2491
4409


I'd like to see what someone with the Samsung chip and 6S plus gets.

 

[Max(IT)]

I'm asking, since I'm not a chip expert: Is this similar to the difference between and Intel chip and an AMD chip?

And don't I have the right to know which one is in my device?

Absolutely not.
We are just speaking about THE SAME A9 made by two different foundries.
The chip is designed by Apple in both cases

If it's "perfectly acceptable," then why didn't Tim Cook announce this when he announced the device at the keynote?

Why do we have to find out about it through the work of teardowns performed by Chipworks or others?

Cook said the iPhone 6S uses the A9 SoC by Apple.
That's entirely true.

I probably won't lose sleep at night if I don't know who makes the CPU inside my iPhone… But, if I'm going to pay upwards of $700 for a device, don't I have the right to know who the maker of the major components (like the CPU) is? …And, especially if it doesn't matter, it shouldn't have to be kept a secret until Chipworks reveals all!

I'm not asking for the blueprints for the iPhone so I can build my own—I just feel I should be able to know which company made something as important as the CPU inside my phone.

The "maker" is Apple. Period.
We are just speaking about two different foundries

 

[soms]

Guys...be EXTREMELY careful with that site. Don't just randomly install profiles without fulling knowing what they do ffs.

 

[shinkansenwarrior]

http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/1509/29/news090.html

First time post after sooo many years of serious lurking ..LOL ... I do a lot of travelling around Japan on the bullet train hence my name. Local report here in Tokyo confirming iFixit report as stating 6S is Samsung 14nm (APL0898) and 6S plus is TSMC 16nm (APL1022). Apologies article is in Japanese. Bigger chip going into bigger phone?

 

[SD-B]

Seriously, THIS thread is making you hold off buying an iPhone 6s?? Wow...just wow.

I could have given you all my reasons for holding off but to have done so would have encountered a TL/DNR response.
Some of us do like Apple products. Some very much. Some of us arent apologists for every flaw within.

Wow...just wow. Keep up with the apologist angle...it fits you well!

 

[Captain America]

Guys...be EXTREMELY careful with that site. Don't just randomly install profiles without fulling knowing what they do ffs.

I YOLO'd. Now I'm paranoid lol. Full reset in order?

Hey now's a good time to ask: if I set up as new iPhone, how can I resync all my iCloud settings and notes and whatnot?

 

[ElZamo92]

Chips with smaller process nodes are faster because they can fit more transistors in the same space. The only difference between these two chips will be a negligible power consumption delta and an even smaller temperature delta. There shouldn't be any difference in performance, unless you are running a CPU intensive application (which games are not, by the way), since the bigger one will get a tiny bit hotter, which means it will throttle (slow down so it won't damage itself or the user) a tiny bit earlier, but this shouldn't create a noticeable gap in performance.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Guys...be EXTREMELY careful with that site. Don't just randomly install profiles without fulling knowing what they do ffs.

Virus total says it's safe. I was/am still paranoid about it, but I did immediate uninstall and check that he profile is gone. It was also untrusted when I reinstalled to check (and uninstalled again).