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iPhone 7 Teardown Reveals 'Incredibly Thin' A10 Chip With 2GB RAM, Intel Modem
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I wouldn't want to spend $1000 on a phone that's "adequate" so Apple can enjoy higher profits.
People said that about the 6 having only 1GB. My iPhone 6 eats so much data and battery constantly reloading / rebuffering content that it forced me to change the way I use the device.
Yup, I only ever want sub-5" phones so bought an SE a couple of weeks back, seems Apple are firmly in the "up-sell" market now though, plenty of people in this thread even now going for the plus due to more RAM, better Camera etc etc. Some are physical limitations of the design, some not.
Hmmm, while I understand the frustration I doubt that denying a return policy is an appropriate solution.
And doesn't this mean that now the scalping moves back to countries with a return policy if the returns are so needed for this practice?
Where's the fix?
What's worse, no returns or having to wait for a phone?
Maybe I have differing priorities or values, but to say I lack logic is overblown.
btw: if Apple sells to scalpers, that's nothing that Apple can be blamed for.
Scalpers exist, there is VERY little you can do about it without interfering with the general customer experience.
Hell, this policy might only be a drop in the bucket for scalpers, but even if it's the solution for some mysterious reason (doubt it), that's still a questionable move.
What happened? (haven't followed that closely, because the one health app I actually use doesn't know about Apple Health's existence... ugh)
Glassed Silver:mac
Since I assume you are a developer, do you know if iOS uses the same memory compression that OS X/macOS uses?Well said that man? I've often remarked on the same myself. During development I'm often surprised by just how memory efficient iOS is, that's when I notice it most. When I'm debugging, pushing the system and monitoring it in real time. But you're dead right, regardless of what memory Apple stuff in there, there's always going to be people wanting more. Especially people on here
Honestly I'm thinking I might even stick with my ancient 6+ and its paltry 1GB of memory.
The biggest issue I see in normal daily usage with it is more refreshing in safari. Meh, I can probably tolerate the odd 1 second reload and hold out until next years big refresh of the iPhone. Because other than that it just doesn't seem to hold me back from doing anything.
One would think the A10 Fusion chip would be considered decent innovation but yet Wall Street and the tech critics act as though it were nothing special at all. The A10 Fusion processor obviously leaves the Snapdragon 820 in the dust but I guess that doesn't mean anything to the tech-heads. I guess that's how it will always be for Apple. Only consumers will be satisfied with iPhones while the tech-heads curse the company for always being behind some theoretical curve.
So, is it right to conclude that Verizon iPhone is the better, more superior phone vs. T-mobile iPhone?
Since iOS 9, yeah. Thats when Apple provided LZ4, LZMA, ZLIB and LZFSE compression.
Needless to say it can all get somewhat long winded, but if you like, you can start reading up on it here that's a good jump point to look into the libcompression library and iOS/macOS data compression in general.
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Speaking as a certified tech addict, I personally like Apple products and the hardware they produce. Some aspects may be considered lacking by some and indeed I'd love to see things like wireless charging introduced, though we all know it will be.
On a hardware level, what Apple manages is actually pretty impressive, I think so anyway. Do they stuff in 6GB of RAM to keep up with the Jonses? Nope, no chance. What they do however is create a perfect unison of hardware and software to ensure that they don't need to stuff it full of 6/8/12GB of RAM.
Nobody is going to complain if they put more in of course, that would just be silly. But there are some of us who realise that it's not really necessary for iOS to be a good performer.
That wasn't my point. My point was that a lot of customers complain because of 2 GB of Ram is not enough, when for some, 2 GB is more than enough, pending your usage with the device.
That Kimmel bit is very funny and shows the impact the "power of suggestion" has. Its also a little sad that people don't realize what a significant difference a cover makes to such a thin product. I remove the cover on my device just remind myself what an amazing piece of engineering the modern smart phone is.
I think processor speed is only noticeable to owners that are using their devices for production work. Video creation/editing and some of those power gamers.
They broke out all you data into categories, you now have to drill into everything rather then get to see everything at a glance in the dashboard.
Check out this thread - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/health-app-is-terrible-now.1987381/
I posted some screenshots and video.
You're kind of all over the map there. FWIW, Apple ->themselves<- downplay the hardware and are reluctant to talk about check box items. Their approach is use the device for the complete experience, don't get hung up on specs. The "techheads" are the only ones that care about what's under the hood. Although a modern CPU/GPU is an interesting evolution of technology, it is just that...evolutionary. The only news would be if it were the same as or slower than the previous hardware. So short of a new architecture or something that is tangible to the end user/media, then yeah, it's not going to get the inches in the press. For myself, the user experience of the iP6 is still perfectly adequate. Sorry, but this refinement on a theme does not make me want to layout $800+ for faster page loading; see you next year.
Y'know I absolutely hated the Health app when it changed in the betas, I was ready for ditching it. But now that I've been using it for a while I'm used to it.
Now with all of the things I want added to my favourites, I kind of like that I can just quickly tap on one in the Today Tab, turn my phone to landscape and get a full hour/day/week/month/year graph for each category, or swipe along the dates at the top and get a quick breakdown on my past days.
I still miss the old dashboard, I'd kind of like that to return and I still think they can make improvements elsewhere and I'm sure they will. They seem to be taking the heath aspect pretty seriously now.
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You're not wrong there. While we on here might well rant on about this spec or the other. Out in the real world, the vast majority of people I know, regardless of their choice phone or manufacturer, couldn't tell you if it had 20GB of RAM and a impossibly fast Bio-Engineered futuristic processor. Or if it just had magic pixies running around inside moving things around a giant blancmange and drawing on the glass thing they look at really quickly with magic markers.
they'd be wrong to say that Apple uses subpar parts. One I've never claimed
the onyl claim i'd make is that Apple purposely chooses limiting components so that they can maintain profit margins.
EG: 16GB of storage instead of 32gb. the storage chips they use is great. the technology is up to date and super fast (those NVME speeds, drool). But they styill choose the cheapest lowest numbers they can get away with in many aspects
it's telling that only for the iPhone 7 did they finally raise base storage.
But never, ever have I, nor should anyone claim that Apple uses BAD parts.
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i'm realy curious to see what sort of battery life improvements we might see with a big.LITTLE design finally in the Ax processor. I never doubt the Ax processors chops. Apple has been fantastic in it's development. Adding these lower power cores is a very promising prospect
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The problem is, Apple can have the absolute best CPU in the world (probably do for mobile right now), but at the end of the day, if users go in to buy an iPhone, and choose NOT to because of a missing 3.5mm jack, then all the innovation in the world isn't going to help the profit numbers and bottom line
Wallstreet doesn't give a rats ass about how innovative something is. Wallstreet ONLY cares about sales $$$$$ and profit. Many people in wallstreet, and many other publications have shown concern that dropping the jack so early without a legitimate standard to replace it, might have the affect of lowering sales. (and until the numbers come in, that is speculation)
I consider it unlikely that there will be major differences that would be relevant to the end user. If there were such a difference, then Apple would have chosen to supply all phones with the better-performing chip. After all, there is no terribly urgent pressure on Apple to dual-source the modem.
You mean if you buy phones based on their specs, not on HOW FIT THEY ARE FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE?
I'll be sure to bear that in mind...
It would be kind of."boring" world of people didn't find something to complain about
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As much as I love a better camera, not willing to get a giant phone just yet, until Apple redesign these huge bezels and make the phone smaller. As for the 3GB of Ram? I wouldn't give a toos. 2gb have been great so far for me.
And maybe it is today, but it likely won't be tomorrow.
We all know how it is around here...
> x RAM is fine! I have it and have "zero issues"
> of course your device is slow... It's 2 years old!
It wouldn't be such a problem if iOS updates weren't carved in stone and brought about with an arm-twist.
If you want to speak for others on this site, then great. Myself, 2GB is current and more than enough for my needs as is. Everyone has different needs and uses.
While iFixit was busy tearing down the iPhone 7 Plus, the experts at Chipworks opened up an iPhone 7 to take a close look at the chips included on the device's logic board.
The new A10 Fusion chip at the heart of the iPhone 7 is the most significant feature to be examined, with Chipworks noting the chip is indeed manufactured by TSMC with a die size of roughly 125 square millimeters. The iPhone 7 is also confirmed to include 2 GB of memory, compared to the 3 GB found on the iPhone 7 Plus.
The A10 is also extremely thin, due in large part to the InFO packaging technique used by TSMC which was seen as a major factor in TSMC winning exclusivity for A10 production.On the cellular modem side, Chipworks found an Intel part that is likely the XMM7360, paired with two SMARTi 5 RF transceiver chips and a power management chip also from Intel.
As we previously noted, Apple is producing two different models of both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, with models for AT&T and T-Mobile users not including support for CDMA networks. This is apparently a result of a modem supplier split between Intel and Qualcomm, with Intel's current chips unable to support CDMA networks due to licensing issues. iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models with Qualcomm modems can support both GSM and CDMA networks.
Finally, Chipworks notes that flash storage for the iPhone 7 is also being at least dual-sourced, with Hynix and Toshiba chips being found in its two teardown phones.
For the rest of the details on the chips found in the iPhone 7, check out Chipworks' full rundown.
Article Link: iPhone 7 Teardown Reveals 'Incredibly Thin' A10 Chip With 2GB RAM, Intel Modem
I count very few parts inside the iPhone, thanks to the large chips. My 10 year old could assemble that in minutes, why not make it in USA? The labor component compared to the price is small. This is how USA companies have kept 15 trillion dollars abroad and paid no taxes, by "making" outside USA. Between robots and simpler designs, labor could be in USA for many companies. USA lawyers would have to be controlled not to sue for 20 million for every excuse, and make Americans hirable. You cannot afford Americans suing for slipping on a piece of paper for 20 million.
2GB isn't that bad for a smart phone. It more than doubles RAM available to apps compared to a 1GB device. This isn't to say sticking with 2GB is ideal, just that the ther advancements mean more than the amount of RAM installed.
The problem with limiting RAM without any real reason too is that of "future proofing".
Is 2GB fine for the iPhone 7 running iOS10 today?
what about in you years running the iPhone 9 with iOSx15?
By providing "just enough for today", you don't give a lot of room to grow for tomorrow. As time goes on, we always have added functionality to our devices (its very rare that a newer version is less functional than a previous one). As new functionality, hardware, devices, get added, it means more stuff has to get loaded into that RAM to support it. Drivers into memory. OS features and functionaltiy, ETC, ETC. So it's always possible that in 2 years from now, iOS base memory usage will go up. Leaving less memory space for applications, which is when you start to notice the sluggishness, constant app closing, Reloads of browsers, etc.
this is exactly what has happened in the past to apple hardware. Rememeber when the iPhone ran on 1gb of ram and Apple refused to update? Remember how sluggish and terrible iOS7 ran on 4(s)? Remember how many times your safari pages would reload when you switched tasks / tabs on the 1gb iPads? this was all side affect of "just enough RAM" when sold, but not enough ram for "next year"
If Apple is perfectly capable of fitting 3gb ram into the 7+, they are perfectly capable of fitting it in the 7. This is an up sell tactic. that's it.
Probably even the A11, which will be an even greater jump in performance than the A10, will be mostly unnoticed by most users in their day to day routines (unless Apple has some new tricks up their sleeves).
Performance deltas are always noticeable if something happens less than instantly. I'm not sure where you get the idea that performance increases aren't noticeable. Performance has driven the industry since the inception of personal computers.
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That is a good question and I'm wiling to bet they don't have an answer. I can see rational reasoning for more RAM on iPads but on an iPhone it is a bit silly at this point.
I say at this point because I can see the day when iPhone docks with a monitor to become your desktop PC. The OS then morphs into a user multitasking variant of Mac OS. At that point we will want lots of RAM. However you can't buy today based on future functionality,me specially when that functionality requires new hardware anyways.
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I kinda doubt that this was the big driver. I really think it is a "feature" for people that don't understand iOS so they will go upscale with their purchases. Same thing with the dual camera. Frankly if initial sales figures are correct it looks like Apple Jhansi been very successful getting people to go big $$$$$$$!
If this was a discussion about iPad I might be championing more RAM myself, it isn't though, rather it is a discussion about a smart phone.
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Notice that nobody says why they need that RAM.Well said that man? I've often remarked on the same myself. During development I'm often surprised by just how memory efficient iOS is, that's when I notice it most. When I'm debugging, pushing the system and monitoring it in real time. But you're dead right, regardless of what memory Apple stuff in there, there's always going to be people wanting more. Especially people on here
I'm more of an iPad user than anything so I would much rather see a RAM upgrade on that device.
Reloads do suck but I tend to avoid the web on iPhone. Maybe a much higher performance iPhone would make a difference for me, but you are still handicapped on the web by the small screens. I might suggest keeping the current iPhone for a couple of more years and using the money save elsewhere.
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Actually it has little to do with the chips but rather the operating system, the facilities it provides and the overhead of the JAVA VM that are the problems with RAM on Android devices. Apple is very rigid in what it allows users to do with the OS this directly leads to better RAM usage as the users aren't permitted the same functionality as is seen on Android.
In other words Android devices need more RAM due to the implementation of the software environment. The chips play a minimal role here, even if Android was running on A10 it would need a bit of extra RAM to more or less equalize with the environment IOS provides for an app.
You make a lot of good points. I tend to agree that currently, particularly with iOS and the iPhone, there's a point where it makes little sense for them to expand on the amount of RAM. Really there's nothing that's going to need more than the 2/3GB that's in there already. Throwing more in is just spec chasing and that's really not Apples game.
If the device can perform every task asked of it without throwing up limitations or struggling, then what is it exactly we need that extra RAM for? I put up images in another thread a while back, which I can't be bothered looking for. Which showed 1GB 2GB and 4GB iOS devices under load and being debugged with an app that was grossly under optimised at the time. Long story short, the amount of RAM that was just sitting idle, unused was quite an eye opener.
iPad on the other hand, as you say, more in there is definitely worthwhile. That said, with my 12.9" Pro and it's 4GB of RAM, I've yet to encounter anything that I'd have reason to want more than it has and I push it pretty hard at times. The time for more will come, that's for sure. But for now it flies along nicely.