Samsung and TSMC iPhone 6s Chips Show Smaller Real-World Battery Impacts Compared to Benchmarks

[gotluck]

Is the samsung faster at least? Why wouldn't everyone want tsmc? Even if the difference is not as big as initially reported, there still seems to be a difference.

Hell I want my yet to be bought 6s to be tsmc

 

[soupcan]

See? Told ya. Ome benchmark doen't tell the whole story.

 

[seecoolguy]

Am I the only one that thinks the difference between 62% and 55% is pretty big? There are plenty of heavy users out there.

you mean big boned...

 

[cableguy84]

Im loving the whole samsung / tsmc rivalry , thankfully im on the tsmc side

 

[966120]

The average consumer would never care which chip they have unless this goes viral

This topic has already gone viral..

 

[vito]

Found a free app called BMSSM https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/battery-memory-system-status/id497937231?mt=8

6s+ N66mAP - TSMC

 

[Casiotone]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that all of those tests are flawed as they rely on the battery percentage indicator, which is calibrated after a couple of complete discharges/charges.

Measuring remaining percentage of battery life is not simply a matter of measuring voltage. Two identical iPhones can indicate a different percentage for the exact same usage if they are differently calibrated.

 

[ee4life]

This topic has already gone viral..

I won't say it has reached critical mass until it's on the local news like "Bendgate." By that point, even my grandmother will be asking if my "newfangled doohickey has one of those T-whatsits or Samsangs" in it. I can't tell you how many random people asked if my iPhone 6 was "one of those bendy phones."

 

[TheNormsk]

I found out I have the TSMC chip in my 128GB 6S Plus. I'm glad considering how much this thing cost.

With that said, I'm floored with my battery performance. On my old iPhone 5 with iOS9 the battery was a disaster. With the 6S plus I am getting great run times. Today, it's been off charge for 3 hours and I am at 92% still. Yesterday, I listened to an hour pod cast and at the end it was still at 100% - It hadn't dropped at all..

I'm really loving this phone!

 

[NewdestinyX]

To answer a very early question… The only "drama" that has been worthy of the term ****-gate over the last seven years was Antenna-gate. Apple clearly said there was no problem with the placement of the antenna and yet it was proven again and again where you placed your hand was reducing your signal. They admitted their guilt when they released the free bumpers for people. That was a worthy drama.

I suppose bend-gate last year, to some degree, could be considered a worthwhile gripe if people under normal use of their phone in their back pocket were having it just bend with normal use. But I thought that was a bit of a manufactured -gate as well.

 

[jpgr15]

I posted several times that I didn't think this whole thing was that big of an issue, due to factors people have already mentioned. I will say though, I'm troubled by the fact that the Lirium app has been removed from the App Store. If Apple really removed the app, this confirms that something is up, regardless of how little performance difference there may be between the two chips. Apple trying to cover its ass...really bad form, Apple. I have an itch to try out the new MS Lumia phone and also the new Dell XPS 13...Apple had better be careful not to piss off its most loyal customers.

You should pass on the XPS. I have an XPS 15. It's one of the most solid Windows laptops you'll find - the build materials and design are great - aluminum, carbon fiber, etc. Probably the closest you'll get to a Mac on a Windows machine.

The one problem? Build quality. HORRIBLE quality control at Dell. A real shame as the machine has a ton of potential. I have had nothing but problems. Even got a brand new replacement I had so many issues - and I'm not even 1/10th as picky as most in these forums.

 

[Casiotone]

I found out I have the TSMC chip in my 128GB 6S Plus. I'm glad considering how much this thing cost.

With that said, I'm floored with my battery performance. On my old iPhone 5 with iOS9 the battery was a disaster. With the 6S plus I am getting great run times. Today, it's been off charge for 3 hours and I am at 92% still. Yesterday, I listened to an hour pod cast and at the end it was still at 100% - It hadn't dropped at all..

I'm really loving this phone!

I'm not denying that you're having great/better battery life with your 6S Plus, but your battery indicator might be miscalibrated, which happens with new devices and will resolve over time. And that's why those tests are possibly flawed as they rely on that same indicator.

 

[emagenasian]

My iPhone's chip is delicious with some bean dip!View attachment 590774

It's a Samsung Chip.... mmm Doritos chip (If it was TSMC, the P would be close to the number 8)

 

[MacMonsterATL]

is there an app in the AppStore that tell you what type of chip you have?

I use one called "System Status." It provides the chip model on the Details page.

 

[JPOWA]

Strangely enough I have a better analogy that still involves Microsoft. On Surface Pro devices MS only advertises "Intel i5 CPU," or whatever. They never mention the specific chip. Halfway into the life of the Surface Pro 2 they replaced the CPU with a notably faster version (same CPU used in the SP3), but made no mention of it. They still had old stock left though, so people who bought the device during that period were randomly getting either CPU.

Anyway, hopefully Anandtech will get us some more reliable stats on the performance/power use differences in their review. I'm not particularly concerned either way, but still curious.

Strangely or not

I don't know why your still trying to (somehow) "defend" this situation by comparing with bad decision made by MS.

If other companies do wrong decisions that doesn't mean that Apple can/should do right?

And that comparison doesn't make sense either. Because MS announced Surface Pro 2 with a certain hardware and all performed the same. Down the road they made the upgrade (just like Apple did in the past with cpus on Macbooks) without announcements...That doesn't make them bad because there's still stocks. The original presented product is the one supposed to be bought, the new one is just a bonus.

In this case on the launch day there are different cpus with different performances and that's not acceptable.

I'm an Apple user and fan for a while but I can be impartial when it comes to mistakes, specially when affects a product that I purchased!

If this comes to an hardware difference it's a very bad situation for Apple.

 

[TroyBoy30]

If one has an active SIM, it is using less power than a phone that doesn't have a SIM but has the radios continually firing and looking for a signal. For example, when switching between my two phones, I pull my SIM out of my iPhone and leave Airplane Mode off, the battery drains about 30-35% per day. When I have Airplane Mode on, it usually only drains about 10-15% per day.

why would it be continually looking for a signal with no sim. it would not be checking for signal when it knows there is no sim

Strangely enough I have a better analogy that still involves Microsoft. On Surface Pro devices MS only advertises "Intel i5 CPU," or whatever. They never mention the specific chip. Halfway into the life of the Surface Pro 2 they replaced the CPU with a notably faster version (same CPU used in the SP3), but made no mention of it. They still had old stock left though, so people who bought the device during that period were randomly getting either CPU.

you know there are 6 version of the i5 right? they come out with an updated version every year. nothing shady about that. most people dont care or even know that they got last years chip. them simply enjoy the device


apple or any manufacturer can put whatever chip they want in the phone. They arent trying to be shady. macrumors reported way back in 2013 that apple would be sourcing the chip from 2 diff vendors. heres one from july

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/16/samsung-tsmc-begin-production-a9-chips-iphone-6s/

 

[garylapointe]

And this could all be due to slight variances in manufacturing between the two phones outside of the chips. A true, valid, and scientific test would need a larger sample size.

I agree! Line up 20 of each chip model of the same iPhone side by side and lets see the differences.
Same amount of RAM, both in airplane mode and factory reset. Preferably out of the box new...

Gary

 

[salamence502]

why would it be continually looking for a signal with no sim. it would not be checking for signal when it knows there is no sim

apple or any manufacturer can put whatever chip they want in the phone.

The radios are likely still on. You can make an emergency phone call without a SIM.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

Strangely or not

I don't know why your still trying to (somehow) "defend" this situation by comparing with bad decision made by MS.

Sorry buddy, I'm not the one you're arguing with. Try to pay attention. Just thought I'd toss that anecdote in since the original analogy was terrible.

As another anecdote, if you try to sell an SP2 today the first question you get is "which CPU?" I don't know if this will end up happening with the phones (I think an SP2 buyer tends to be the kind of person who cares more about tech spec details), but that's what happened in this case.

 

[roncron]

1. It's plausible that Apple would knowingly use two different A9 chips with different battery life or performance. I'm sure Apple would rather use only the better one, but one manufacturer can't produce the volume Apple needs especially near launch time. The downside of using just TSMC A9 chips would be much longer wait times for people ordering phones. And most iPhone users aren't tech savvy enough to pay attention to differences between chip manufacturers.

2. It's true that the "tests" of the two chips can't be considered conclusive; more systematic testing is required before we can be sure about anything. Yet, there's only a 2-week return window. It doesn't seem right to ridicule people who paid up to $1000 for a phone for being concerned.

 

[Casiotone]

I agree! Line up 20 of each chip model of the same iPhone side by side and lets see the differences.
Same amount of RAM, both in airplane mode and factory reset. Preferably out of the box new...

Gary

Even then, it would be possible that the TMSC and Samsung phones were assembled at different times/factories and have a different batch of batteries that have a different voltage curve and thus would yield different battery % results until the indicator is fully calibrated.

 

[Flow39]

why would it be continually looking for a signal with no sim. it would not be checking for signal when it knows there is no sim

I honestly don't know. In my experience, leaving airplane mode on when I have no SIM in my phone has given me better battery life. I don't know if I have a jank battery or radio or what but that is just my experience.

 

[Flow39]

Duplicate post sorry.

 

[techwhiz]

Unless the phones have the exact same setup including applications and network the results are meaningless.
Different radios will affect battery. It would be best to turn off all network access while running the benchmark.

 

[McDaddio]

And this could all be due to slight variances in manufacturing

if only a "slight variance" would result in a 20% difference under heavy load or a 6-10% difference in medium load, maybe they need to tighten up their variances a little.