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More details emerge on Apple's A5 chip for upcoming iPad 2 and iPhone 5
So, AppleInsider has some new info on Apple's successor to the A4, which we were talking up last week, and our sources say it's spot on. Specifically, AI claims that Apple is moving to dual-core SGX543 graphics, up from the A4's single SGX535 GPU (also known as the PowerVR 535). What's particularly great about this move is that the graphical power improvement is rated at around 4X the current generation -- which makes a true 4X resolution iPad "Retina Display" upgrade seem much more of a possibility. We're also starting to see 1080p HDMI video output as a "default" spec in this year's generation of devices, so there's no reason Apple will want to be left out -- particularly in the Apple TV -- and these dual graphics cores could handle that easily. The same cast of A4 characters are to credit for this new A5 generation, including the Apple-owned Intrinsity and PA Semi, while Samsung will again do the production duties. But details aside, we're just excited to play around with all this new horsepower when it hits -- apparently the PSP 2 is rumored to use the same graphics architecture with even more cores. Isn't Moore's law a grand thing?
Apple TV teardown reveals 8GB flash storage, 256MB RAM, leftover iPad parts
"Of course the new Apple TV gets a teardown, silly," is what we would tell you should you have the audacity to question its inevitability. But alas, we're too busy analyzing every photo of iFixit's gallery to even dignify your raised eyebrow with an unprovoked response. The site gives it 8 out of 10 in its metric of repairability, opining it might be "the most eco-friendly set-top box of all time." With that said, here are the big takeaways we're seeing so far: 8GB of storage provided care of a Samsung K9LCG08U1M NAND Flash chip, and the same one found in the iPad. Speaking of which, there's also the exact same markings on its Apple A4 processor as the iPad and new iPod touch, K4X2G643GE (not the same as the iPhone 4, as it turns out), the exact same Broadcom BCM4329XKUBG 802.11n WiFi / Bluetooth / FM chip as the iPad, and at 256MB, the same amount of RAM. Also interesting and of note are the solder pads near the side of the logic board, which look to be a perfect fit for an Apple dock connector. At any rate, with all that's under the hood, we expect the jailbreak community to have an absolute field day.
iPod touch (2010) torn down, found to contain an awful lot of battery
As predictable as the sun rising somewhere over east Japan, the iFixit crew have put their tools and wits to the task of deconstructing the latest generation of iPod touch. Their teardown is still ongoing (exciting, isn't it?), but here are their observations so far. The new touch is noted as being the easiest to crack open yet, and yes, its retina-busting 640 x 960 LCD is fused to the external glass, just like the iPhone 4. There's an 11-gram EMI shield between the front end and the battery, accounting for a lofty 10 percent of the portable media player's weight. Beyond it, you'll find a chunky 3.44Whr Li-Pol cell, which is soldered to the board as is usual Apple practice, but a novelty here is that the headphone jack isn't. Great, tie down the thing we might want to replace and untether the one we don't care about. We'll keep you updated with any other salient info as it arises, but for now, go check out the source link for more pictures of the undressed iPod touch. The front-facing camera has been found, as expected, to be the exact same module as built into the iPhone 4. The WiFi antenna is located just under the front glass panel, a position said to have allowed for the new all-aluminum back on the iPod touch. Another shock: the A4 chip that drives the iPad and iPhone 4 is also found on the 2010 touch, and its markings confirm a 256MB RAM allowance.
Engadget: Apple TV gets apps, new name in iTV
Our friends at Engadget have heard from a trusted source that Apple is indeed remaking the Apple TV, as was previously guessed based on its past trajectory. But the final product may surprise you: it won't have 1080p output, according to Engadget (which refutes earlier rumors), but it will keep that US$99 price, and bring apps from the App Store to the table. It's not yet known whether it will simply use iPhone or iPad apps (or get a brand new entry of its own), but Engadget says some connection to both the App Store and streaming services is going to happen. Internally, the box is supposed to be comparable to the hardware found in an iPhone 4, including one of Apple's own A4 chips running the show. And with all of these other changes, the device is reportedly getting a new name, the iTV. That makes a lot of sense, actually -- not only does it distinguish this new unit from the "AppleTV" hobby, but it brings the device in line with the iPhone, iPad, and Apple's other iOS devices. Engadget also notes that the iTV isn't a new name so much as it is a return to the old one, so if all of this turns out to be true, it would seem like Apple has a much more directed strategy for its set-top box this time around. Engadget says we'll see all revealed by sometime this Fall. It all sounds very interesting -- if Apple can squeeze all of that into a box that costs only $99, who wouldn't plug that into their television? Note: Over at The Loop, Peter Cohen points out that the existing Apple TV is a 720p-native device, so the hypothetical 1080p support that this hypothetical future iTV might or might not have sported... well, it's all hypothetical until the hardware hits the Apple Store.
iPhone 4 vs. Galaxy S, part deux: HD video playback (video)
We just couldn't leave this face-off of superscreens alone, and went back for another bite at the cherry. Admittedly, we found out the Galaxy S had a browser-specific brightness setting that we hadn't maxed out before setting off our camera hounds, so we've gone and remedied earlier comparison shots with the gallery below, and just as a bonus, we've now also run a HD video clip on both phones. This was to see how the Hummingbird and A4 SOCs, considered close siblings, handled some taxing video work and also to again compare performance deep down on the pixel level. What we can tell you now is that both handsets chewed through the 1080p HD clip with ease and that both gave results we have no hesitation in describing as sublime. Click past the break for the up close and personal video comparison action. N.B. -- We ran a 1080p clip on both phones' respective YouTube apps over WiFi. Although we're certain from the quality of the video that it was at least 720p, we can't say for sure that it was the full 1080 enchilada.%Gallery-96333%
Apple's A4 is like Samsung's S5, except where it's not
Though the Apple iPad and the Samsung Wave most assuredly share the same brain, EE Times would like you to know there's more to a chip than its core -- analyzing Apple's system-on-a-chip designs in detail back to early iPhones, the publication noticed that Cupertino's silicon both has custom design quirks on top of ARM and shows heavy influence from Samsung as well. EE Times claims that while the A4 and Samsung S5PC110 are similar, there are certainly differences, enough to call the A4 a custom design. Essentially, Apple has a taken a one-size-fits-all product originally engineered to meet the needs of a broad range of OEMs and reduced its complexity, footprint, and cost to match Apple's particular goals. As far as whether PA Semi or Intrinsity had a hand in that design, the authors suggest only the latter seems very involved. What all this means for intellectual property questions is anyone's guess -- we'll let the lawyers fight that one out -- but when you encounter diehard fans that claim one's ripping off the other, at least now you'll be able to calmly explain the situation. Find the deep technical dive at our source link.
Apple iPad and Samsung Wave share a brain
At his keynote yesterday, Steve Jobs very proudly touted the "wonderful" A4 processor, saying it was "designed by our own team" and, additionally, "is so good." That chip is the muscle inside the iPad and the new iPhone 4, but now we're finding that others are using it too... a little more quietly. We knew that Intrinsity was the company behind the (previously dubbed) Cortex A8 chip, and that Intrinsity worked with Samsung to develop and manufacture it. Now we're finding that Samsung is keeping a little of that sweet, sweet silicon for itself. The Samsung Wave uses a processor called the S5PC110A01, which UBM TechInsights has verified shares the same 1GHz A8 core as Apple's A4. No, Bada may not be showing quite the potential of iOS 4, and something tells us the new iPhone will be a bit more popular than the Wave, but it's safe to say these two handsets have definitely fallen from the same ARM family tree.
A4 microprocessor found lurking inside 4G iPhone
Well, look at that. The newest batch of leaked 4G iPhone photos includes crystal-clear* tear down shots, and one of them reveals what seems to be Apple's own A4 processor. Engadget notes that "339S0084," seen just below the Apple logo, identifies what we're looking at as the A4, according to Chipworks. The A4 is the Apple-designed system-on-a-chip (SoC) that's manufactured by Samsung and currently used in the iPad. Nearly everyone who touches an iPad remarks on how snappy and responsive it is. Here's hoping that the next iPhone offers similar performance -- and prolonged battery life -- with this thing under the hood. Engadget further points out that "APL0398" also appears on the chip that's inside the iPad. As for the other markings, well, we don't know what they indicate. We'll let you know if we find out. *This one's blurry because I blew it up a bit to show the text on the chip.
Fourth generation iPhone teardown reveals A4 microprocessor
See the marking on that chip with the Apple logo? No, not the "N90" codename indicating that it's from Apple's next generation GSM iPhone, the other text. If we're not mistaken then we're seeing "339S0084" on that chip from today's fourth-generation iPhone teardown. Guess what? According to Chipworks, that's the Apple A4 microprocessor fabricated by Samsung and the presumed work of Apple's acquired PA Semi and Intrinsity engineers. The "APL0398" text is also the same as that found on the iPad's speedy and power sipping A4 system-on-chip. The other markings differ however. What that means isn't entirely clear yet but we're digging.
Apple purchases Intrinsity, just 498 more ARM licensees to go
With P.A. Semi under its belt, and now "people familiar with the deal" reporting to The New York Times that a purchase of Intrinsity is a go, Apple's march to ARM preeminence is becoming much more clear. A rumor about an Intrinsity purchase surfaced a few weeks ago when the processor design firm's website went down and a few of its employees switched their LinkedIn employee status over to Apple, but now we've got some solid confirmation -- though Apple and Intrinsity are still staying tight-lipped about the deal. Intrinsity's rumored contribution to the iPad's A4 chip is a modified A8 core it designed dubbed the Hummingbird, which squeezes 1GHz of performance out of a chip regularly limited to a mere 650MHz. It's unlikely that this acquisition will shed much more light on the internals of the iPad or future Apple devices -- in fact, it might help obfuscate them -- but it's clear that Apple is dead set on owning as much IP and "smart people" in relation to ARM as it can muster. Of course, the next big rumor on this front is a purchase of ARM itself, but that's an entirely different can of worms.
Apple rumor roundup: Intrinsity behind the A4, ARM being eyed
Mama always said that downpours followed Spring showers, and sure enough, the Apple news has been flowing hot and heavy overnight. For starters, an IEEE Spectrum report has people talking once more about Intrinsity; if you'll recall, rumors flared up earlier in the month about Apple nabbing said company, similar to the way it acquired P.A. Semi way back in the naughties. Now, it seems that round two of those whispers are gaining steam, with some analysts suggesting that without Intrinsity's expertise, there was simply no way the silicon within the iPad could've been pushed to 1GHz in time for launch. In related news, we're also hearing that Cupertino is interested in acquiring ARM Holdings, and considering just how much business Apple pushes ARM's way, it's not illogical to imagine Apple wanting to just bring ARM in-house. If the deal went down, Apple would obviously hold a huge amount of control over whether or not ARM chips ended up in rival products, and if it yanked those Cortex slabs out from the market place, you can bet there would be a mad scramble to create a competitive portfolio to serve those suddenly chip-less product makers. Finally, a new iPhone OS 4 (beta 2) video has surfaced, giving the world a solid look at a new circular side-swapped animation that occurs when switching apps -- head on past the break to check it out, and give those links below a visit for more of that succulent nitty-gritty.
Apple's A4 system-on-chip gets decoupled from iPad, investigated with the help of an X-ray
Ever so gently, we're starting to peel away the layers of mystery surrounding the A4 system-on-chip that powers Apple's fancy new slate device. iFixit, helped by reverse engineering firm Chipworks, have gone to the trouble of both dissecting and X-raying the iPad's central processing hub in their quest to lift the veil of ignorance. Their findings confirmed that the A4 is built using a "package on package" method, meaning that the 256MB of Samsung-provided SDRAM is stacked immediately atop the CPU, which is noted as being reductive to both latency and energy use. With a single core processor inside, the iFixit team concluded the iPad had to be running on a Cortex A8 -- which is very much the likeliest choice at this point -- but their assertion that it couldn't be a Cortex A9 MPCore inside is inaccurate, as those chips also come in single-core options. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against Samsung's Hummingbird chip, which was designed by Intrinsity, the same company Apple is being rumored to have recently acquired. Finally, the visual inspection of the iPad's mobo puts a model number to the already known PowerVR GPU, narrowing it down to the SGX 535, while also naming and picturing a number of other exciting components, such as the always popular capacitive touchscreen controller. Hit the source link below for all the lurid images.
Apple's A4 SoC faces Qualcomm Snapdragon in knock-down-drag-out benchmarking test
Up until now, a shroud of mystery has surrounded Apple's custom engineered A4 system-on-chip; we know it's clocked at 1GHz, likely tied to Apple's prior acquisition of P.A. Semi and manufactured by Samsung. Outside of that, the only other knowledge we've gained has come not from the mouth of Cupertino, but from the extracting wizards over at iFixit. The A4 contains at least three layers of circuitry layered on top of each other, though it's packaged just like the iPhone processor: microprocessor in one package and two memory modules in the other package. We also learned that the iPad RAM is actually inside of the A4 processor package, and we're expecting to learn even more from those folks in the coming days. All that said, there's still much debate on whether Apple's own silicon can stand up to Qualcomm's heralded 1GHz Snapdragon, the chip powering Google's Nexus One among other things. AnandTech pitted their iPad against the iPhone 3GS (600MHz ARM Cortex A8) and the aforesaid Nexus One (1GHz Snapdragon QSD8250), using a number of website loads as the primary benchmark. Overall, the A4 proved to be around 10 to 30 percent faster, though it's impossible to say what effect the operating system has on things. Have a gander at that source link for more -- we get the feeling the competitions have just begun.
Is Intrinsity Apple's latest chipmaker acquisition?
This one's still strictly in the realm of rumor for the time being, but there's a growing amount evidence cropping up suggesting that Apple may have acquired another processor design firm. The company in question this time is Austin-based Intrinsity, which specializes in ARM processors, and has suddenly seen its website replaced with an old school "under construction" image -- supposedly due to "scheduled maintenance." That wouldn't be much to go on by itself, of course, but EDN is reporting that it has a "solid rumor" that Intrinsity has indeed been sold, and a number of Intrinsity employees have apparently already changed their current employer status on LinkedIn to Apple only to promptly change it back. There's even some speculation that Intrinsity may have actually contributed as much or more to the A4 processor in the iPad than P.A. Semi has, although any confirmation of that will likely have to wait until an official announcement -- if there's one to come at all, that is.
Apple's A4 chip: less is more?
Although early erroneous reports placed Apple's custom A4 chip at the leading edge of ARM-based design, things are slowly falling back to earth. First, we learned that the graphics subsystem was almost certainly the same PowerVR SGX component found in the iPhone, and now Ars Technica reports that the actual CPU is the familiar single-core Cortex A8 also found in Apple's handset. That makes the A4 seem an awful lot like an tightened-up, overclocked iPhone 3GS chip, which makes sense, seeing as it was actually in production in September of last year. So why the need for a custom part? The answer may well be efficiency and power savings: by cutting out extraneous Cortex A8 features and I/O that go unused in the iPad, Apple can further reduce the A4's size and energy draw -- which could be why Steve Jobs said the iPad's chips "use hardly any power." That might not make a huge difference when tied to a large LCD in a device like the iPad, but Ars speculates that this strategy combined with some of P.A. Semi's dynamic power optimization tech could result in a hyper-efficient chip for the iPhone somewhere down the line. That would certainly be interesting in the future -- but right now we've got the A4, and we can't wait until the end of the month to properly put this thing through its paces.
iPad confirmed to use PowerVR SGX graphics, Apple job posting suggests A4 chip will hit other products
It may not be as big a surprise as the A4 itself was, but Apple has now confirmed via the latest iPad SDK Beta 3 documentation that the iPad does indeed use PowerVR SGX graphics hardware as part of its custom system-on-a-chip, which flatly contradicts previous reports of A4 using Mali, and lines up with what our pal Anand Shimpi has been telling us lately. What Apple doesn't confirm, unfortunately, is exactly which chip in the PowerVR SGX family the iPad uses, so it's still at least possible that it could pack a bigger punch than the iPhone or iPod touch. In related news, a recent Apple job posting has now also offered up the first hard evidence that Apple might actually be putting its huge investment in A4 to use other platforms besides the iPad -- shocking, we know. That job is for an Engineering Manager, who would lead a team focused on the "bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms," and would otherwise be responsible for "low level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms" -- experience with ARM-based SoCs is also an "additional success factor." Sound like the job you've been waiting for? Then hit up the link below for the complete details.
Apple OS and the new A4 chip could be headed to new gadgets
Apple appears to have plans for the iPhone OS beyond the iPhone, and iPad. A report in Computerworld notes a new Apple job posting for an Engineering Manager that can bring the iPhone OS to new platforms. The Core Platform team within Apple's Core OS organization is looking for a talented and inspired manager to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms. The team is responsible for low level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms. The team consists of talented engineers with experience in hardware, firmware, IOKit drivers, security and platform architecture. What could those new products be? Maybe a thinner, friskier Apple TV. Maybe smaller and lighter versions of laptops that get into netbook territory. And it is a pretty good bet that the next iPhone will be using the Apple designed A4 chip that is at the heart of the iPad. Apple could also be thinking about creating products or technologies for other products that are not Apple branded. The sky is the limit here. With a considerable investment in the new A4 chip, it would be foolish of Apple to not be looking for other opportunities. Let your minds run wild.
NYT: Chips like the A4 could cost $1 billion to design
Apple may have finally gotten the chip they wanted with the iPad's A4, but a little freedom from contracting with other chip makers didn't come cheap. In a piece about how to make silicon chips, the New York Times estimates the cost to put a chip like the A4 together at a whopping $1 billion. And that's just for a design -- actually making a state-of-the-art factory to create the chips will run you a cool $3 billion. The NYT is just estimating for all companies here -- especially with Apple's purchase of PA Semi, they probably got the design for a relative song, and they're working with contractors to actually make the chips, rather than building their own factories. So $1 billion is a higher estimate than evidence would make you suspect. For Apple, though, whatever the purchase price is, it was worth it -- watching Jobs talking about this chip and its power conservation (the iPad will last for a month on standby!) a few weeks ago, you get the sense that he's really excited to finally be in charge of his own chip destiny rather than having to rely on Intel or another silicon company to do it for them. And heck, even if they did spend $4 billion to make the A4, Apple can build ten more chips and separate factories to build them with all of the cash they've built up. Considering the freedom that Apple got out of their A4 design, whatever it cost was probably a check they were more than happy to write. [Via Apple Insider]
iPad CPU may find its way into next-gen iPhone
Since the announcement that the iPad comes with a 1 GHz A4 chip developed and owned by Apple (thanks, no doubt, to their acquisition of chipmaker PA Semi), one thing's been on a lot of people's minds: when will this chip make it to the iPhone? The iPhone 3GS runs on an 833 MHz Samsung chip, that, presumably to increase battery life, is underclocked to 600 MHz. While this is better than the original iPhone and iPhone 3G's 620 MHz CPU (underclocked to about 412 Mhz), there's still plenty of room for improvement. Analysts fully expect that improvement will come either from the A4 chip itself or a lower-powered variant of it designed for the iPhone's smaller screen and battery. Early impressions of the iPad's speed from people who have actually handled one are that the device is far faster than any iPhone or iPod touch released so far, with applications opening "instantly," and provides far smoother graphics performance. With Apple now designing and implementing its own "system on a chip" CPU for the iPad, it seems very likely this will be one of many iPad features that will trickle down to Apple's smaller mobile devices. Once the iPad actually finds its way to consumers (and teardown sites), we'll have a much better idea of what Apple's A4 chip is capable of. As for the next-gen iPhone's CPU, I'm placing my bets on an A4 variant rather than the full iPad CPU, with an operational speed in the neighborhood of 800 - 850 MHz -- more than twice the speed of the iPhone 3G.
Five things to bring back from the iPad
MobileCrunch has an interesting post up about five things the iPad has and does that Apple would do well to bring back to those of us using the iPhone. I think we'll see more of these as we go along (especially as, you know, some of us actually get to touch and use the device), but this list is a good start. Bluetooth keyboard support is something that only jailbreakers could do on the iPhone, but it shows up day one on the iPad. The iPad, according to those checking out the SDK code, will also be able to share files with the desktop, and different apps on the iPad will even be able to identify themselves as owners for certain filetypes, which is another cool trick that Apple should teach the old iPhone dog. And of course, that processor -- we can probably expect to see a smaller version of it in a future variation of the iPhone sooner or later, since Apple is always fighting to get battery life and speed to the max. Of course, the iPad and the iPhone are two different devices, and Apple will want to keep some things separate -- as we've heard already, there are certain interface guidelines for the iPad that the iPhone will never use. But especially if we see the expected update to the iPhone later this year, it's a good guess that we'll also see some of the iPad's more reusable features find their way to the "iPad mini."