After a series of lawsuits with Samsung, Apple has finally taken the long-awaited step of reducing its reliance on the Korean manufacturer for chip printing. After the iFixit team disassembled the new Apple smartphones, the Chipworks team did the same job, trying to determine the manufacturers of various components of the iPhone 6.

The publication itself is quite interesting and is replete with photographs of a mass of components, but the conclusions regarding the A8 processor are the most interesting. Experts are sure that the manufacturer is no longer Samsung. Chipworks employees believe that Taiwanese TSMC is most likely the new contract manufacturer, but they are not 100% sure about this. However, the gate dimensions are similar to those of Qualcomm's MDM9235 chip, which is also manufactured to TSMC's 20nm specification.

The A8 chip itself includes 2 billion transistors (twice as many as A7), but at the same time its area is 89.25 mm 2 (8.5 × 10.5 mm), that is, it is 13% smaller than A7 (102 mm 2) . Apple claims that the CPU is 25% more powerful and the graphics are 50% more powerful. At the same time, the chip in CPU tasks is 50 times more productive than the single-chip system used in the original iPhone, and 84 times more productive in graphics tasks. Finally, according to Apple, the chip is 50% more energy efficient than the A7, which should improve battery life.

The Chipworks team also confirmed that the A8 single-chip system is complemented by only 1 GB of DRAM, while many current flagship Android devices use 3 GB of RAM. Based on the code on a particular chip that fell into the hands of Chipworks, it was packaged only six weeks ago (probably in Taiwan), after which it managed to pass through Foxconn's production lines in China and appear on the shelf of a US store in Ottawa.

According to Bloomberg, citing its own informants from the bowels of Apple, the Cupertino company is going to use its own processors in Mac computers starting in 2020 instead of Intel chips. The initiative is codenamed Kalamata (after the Greek city of Kalamata?) and is still in the early stages of development.

However, Kalamata is said to be part of a larger strategy in which all Apple devices, including Macs, iPhones and iPads, will become closer together in terms of both hardware and environment. The project, approved by Apple management, is likely to lead to a phased transition. However, as always, even if this information is accurate, Apple may still curtail or postpone plans.

The moves could come as a major blow to Intel, whose partnership helped resurrect Apple's success in the desktop market while boosting the image of one of the world's largest chip makers. According to Bloomberg, Apple contracts account for about 5% of Intel's annual revenue. Following persistent rumors, Intel shares fell 9.2%. This is the largest one-day decline in the company's securities quotes in more than two years.

For Apple, this transition promises to be a defining moment. Currently, all iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Apple TVs use single-chip systems developed in-house by Apple and based on the ARM Holdings architecture. Moving to proprietary chips in the Mac will allow Apple to release new models at its own best time, rather than focusing on Intel's product update cycle.

It will also allow the Cupertino company to quickly introduce new features to all of its products and set them apart from the competition. The use of its own single-chip systems would make Apple the only major PC manufacturer not relying on other people's processors. Dell, HP, Lenovo and ASUS use x86 chips from Intel and AMD. Apple will also be able to integrate new hardware and software more closely, achieve improved battery life and other benefits.

And although the transition to Apple chips in the hardware area is scheduled to begin only in 2020, changes on the software side will begin earlier. iPhones and iPads with Apple chips use the iOS operating system, while Mac computers run macOS. Over the past few years, Apple has gradually brought the two platforms closer in terms of user experience and environment, and more recently is starting to move on to lower-level features such as a new file management system.

As part of a larger initiative to make the Mac work like the iPhone, Apple is working on a new software platform called Marzipan (marzipan is a confectionery product). Its release could take place as early as this year - it is alleged that it will make it possible to run applications for the iPad on Mac computers.

Apple has begun integrating ARM coprocessors into its computers that run iOS-like code to implement functions like security or controls. The latest laptops and monoblocks of the company received such coprocessors. It is expected that the next version of the Mac Pro 2019 will receive them. Also, according to informants, Apple's single-chip systems will be used in the company's new laptops, which will be released this year.

Intel has long dominated the processor space, increasingly stealing share from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), its only competitor in the x86 market. Intel also releases modems for some iPhone models so they can connect to cellular networks. Although Apple lags behind many companies in terms of computer shipments, in terms of revenue, it is in the top three.

In 2005, Apple announced the move from IBM PowerPC to Intel x86 chips in its Macs, an initiative announced on stage by former Intel CEO Paul Otellini along with the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Such transitions between architectures are always very painful and require a lot of effort from both OS owners and software developers. Unless effective emulation methods are developed, the latter will have to rewrite the code and recompile their x86 programs for the ARM architecture. , the task of effective emulation is very non-trivial and, in addition to compatibility problems, sharply raises performance issues. However, this can be somewhat offset by the appearance of support for iOS applications in macOS (but the question of the lack of touch screens on the Mac immediately arises).

Another problem with the transition is that, until recently, all of Apple's ARM chips were optimized primarily for lightweight mobile devices. Therefore, it is logical to assume that at first the transition will affect thin laptops, and then Apple will move gradually higher, trying not to sacrifice the performance and capabilities of its Macs. However, rumors and assumptions about the transition of Apple Mac to ARM are not new and arise from time to time. For example, in 2014, one of the former Apple executives, Jean-Louis Gassée, that the first ARM-based Macs will appear as early as 2016.

Released in September 2014, two models - iphone 6 and iphone 6 plus - made a lot of noise. They are equipped with an updated 64-bit single-chip system called A 8. This is a dual-core processor based on the proprietary Cyclone microarchitecture, whose clock speed is 1.4 GHz. The dimensions of the A8X die are only 12.5 mm by 10 mm, i.e. 125 mm 2 . Both models have one gigabyte of LPDDR3 RAM, which is integrated into a single case with the A8, which further saves internal space.

The advanced A8 processor is equipped with a powerful and highly efficient six-core PowerVR Series6XT GX6650 graphics chip. The A 8 is also equipped with the M8 motion coprocessor. It allows you to more effectively determine the parameters of all iphone 6 and 6 plus sensors: from the barometer to the time and location of the smartphone. At the same time, the M8 processor significantly reduces the energy consumption for reading and processing constantly updated data.

For models 6 and 6 plus, the A 8 processor was manufactured by the Taiwanese company TSMC, which specializes in the production of modern semiconductor products and microcircuits. In the future, cooperation with Samsung is planned.

What benefits did A 8 achieve?

Among the undeniable improvements that the iPhone has received through the use of A 8 include:

Firstly, the A 8 processor shows higher performance and speed than its predecessors, as it is manufactured using a modern twenty-nanometer process. It makes it possible to use an incredible number of transistors in chips - about two billion. It's hard to even imagine, let alone develop and successfully implement!

As you can see from the benchmarks below, the overall performance of iphone and iphone plus is not the highest on the market, but you are guaranteed uninterrupted operation of devices in any conditions. And in the process of finalizing iOS 8, performance will only grow.

Secondly, energy is spent much more efficiently, and this despite the fact that the enlarged screen (in the 6 plus model, especially) consumes much more of it. Those. At first glance, optimization is not very striking, but in fact it is essential. In the test for battery life with a Wi-Fi connection, they showed one of the best results.

Thirdly, with it, graphics performance has improved significantly. In addition, the developers have created Metal technology, which greatly enhances the capabilities of the A 8 processor and iOS 8 system for processing graphics in 3D. It helps to achieve high realism and detail in images. For fans of games with complex visual effects, this is an indisputable plus.

Fourth, it allows you to maintain an enviable level of high-speed work in browsers.

Among the shortcomings, iOS 8, which has not yet been properly developed - under the capabilities of the device, stands out. It does not allow you to fully unlock the full potential of iphone 6 and 6 plus. But this is fixable - during the development and installation of updates, which, in fact, programmers are successfully doing.

Also, the very modest sizes of RAM are clearly losing. Although the developers surprisingly managed to achieve good results in performance, it is not inferior to more powerful, in technical terms, analogues from competitors. But still, there is room for growth in this direction, and it is possible that RAM will be increased in new models.

Comparison with other processors of previous iphone models

As can be seen from the comparison tables above, the A 8 processor did not significantly improve the performance of the new models compared to its predecessor, the A 7. An independent benchmark of models released by Apple over the past few years showed such performance dynamics.

As you can see, there is no cardinal separation from the previous device. Although the manufacturer presents its own dynamics of increasing the performance of the processor of the entire released model range:

But still, the iPhone 5s can still compete with the iPhone 6 or 6 plus. Indeed, in fact, there is nothing fundamentally new in them - the characteristics of the A 7 processor were improved and honed, only for a large diagonal and the corresponding requirements for graphics and power consumption.

Summing up, we note that, despite not the most advanced individual characteristics, the iPhone, like no other device, will provide you with enviable reliability and stability. All existing problems are mostly software, which means they are easily fixed by high-quality software. And no test can adequately assess the convenience and coherence of these wonderful gadgets.

09/22/2014, Mon, 13:09, Msk , Text: Sergey Popsulin

Apple has changed the supplier of processors for its smartphones. The chips for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are supplied by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) using a 20nm process, Chipworks reports.

One of the proofs is the distance between the contacts of transistors in the microcircuit, which is 90 nm. Exactly the same distance is inherent in the Qualcomm MDM9235 chip, which is also manufactured by TSMC and according to the same process, experts say.

Speculation that Apple would abandon Samsung's services and turn to TSMC in 2011. The desire to change suppliers had at least two explanations. First, Samsung has been and continues to be Apple's main competitor in the global mobile device market. When releasing processors for Apple, the Korean company, at least, was aware of the plans of the "apple" vendor or even had access to its drawings and developments.

Secondly, since 2011, a legal dispute has flared up between Apple and Samsung. Apple accused a competitor of copying the design of its mobile devices, and Samsung in response - of patent infringement. Apple needed a fallback if Samsung suddenly refused to produce chips for it. Although most analysts did not consider this option plausible, since Apple is a major client of its semiconductor business (in 2010, total purchases of electronic components amounted to $ 5.7 billion).

Feb 2014 supplier change speculation. But this time it wasn't due to a disagreement between the two companies. According to sources, Samsung itself needed additional capacity - which was occupied by Apple - to release processes for its own devices.

Apple A8

Having examined the Apple A8, specialists from the California laboratory Chipworks also indicated that the marking of the processor has changed. All previous generations were designated with the suffix 98, i.e. APL0498 in the case of A5, APL0598 - A6 and APL0698 - A7. The new chip is designated as APL1011. Although experts do not consider this evidence of a change in supplier.

The experts also noted the presence of three rows of solder balls instead of the usual two. This trend started with the A7 and is due to the increased amount of heat that needs to be removed from the processor due to the use of a more powerful graphics controller.

When announcing the A8, Apple said that the new processor is 25% faster in general computing and 50% faster in graphics, while consuming 50% less power than the A7 and 13% smaller than this chip in size.

The A8 chip, the number of cores in which the company did not increase and limited itself to the previous two, is equipped with smartphones of the new generation iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. It is expected that the new chip will also appear in the new generation of iPad.

The company began equipping mobile devices with processors of its own design with the iPhone 4 in 2010. Over the past 7 years, Apple has acquired at least two developers of energy-efficient chips: PA Semi in 2008 and Intrinsity in 2010.

Domestic users of Apple devices believe that their mobile phones come from the USA, Japan, Taiwan - from anywhere, but not from China. Russians have long had an extremely negative idea about Chinese production - as if everything is done there “on the knee”, in conditions of terrible unsanitary conditions, and quantity is preferred to quality.

Actually this is a delusion. In China, the situation is the same as in other countries (for example, in Russia): there are underground factories that assemble penny devices from low-grade components, and there are also official factories that produce first-class products from the assembly lines.

Apple also produces the iPad in cooperation with China, but this is by no means a reason to hang insulting labels on “apple” devices.

iPhones and iPads are developed at Apple's headquarters, which is located in the US state of California, in the city of Cupertino. This is confirmed by the inscription, which is present on the back faces of all "apple" devices: " Designed by Apple California».

The following works are performed at Apple headquarters:

Mobile market experts claim that 99% of the total contribution to the creation of "apple" gadgets is made by employees of the Cupertino office - despite the fact that many of these employees have never seen how the devices are assembled.

Where are iPhones assembled?

The factory of the Taiwanese company Foxconn is where iPhones are made for Russia and other countries. The Foxconn factory is located in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, not far from Hong Kong. He has been working with Apple since 2007. Apple is not the only company that "walks" in Foxconn partners; a giant Chinese factory produces almost 40% (!) of the world's electronics.

Foxconn's factory area is 5.6 million square meters. km, the number of employees - 1 million 250 thousand people. 400,000 new iPhones leave the Foxconn assembly line every day, each of which fully complies with the high standards set by Apple.

Foxconn has been repeatedly accused of forcing its employees to work in truly slavish conditions. Chinese workers allegedly work 12-14 hours a day, 6 days a week, eat portions of food sold on the streets, and are also discriminated against by their Taiwanese counterparts. Apple has conducted many audits, the results of which found that most of the accusations of violating labor laws are baseless.

Buyers often ask themselves: why doesn't the "apple" company produce gadgets in its own country? There are many reasons for this:

• Americans are too highly educated. In the United States, there is a shortage of citizens with a secondary technical education who are able and ready to perform daily routine monotonous operations.
• Chinese labor is quite cheap. A Foxconn employee's salary is $300-$400 per month. An American would have to pay four or five times more.
• The US has high taxes. If iPhones were assembled in America, then due to additional insurance and taxes, the final cost of the “apple” product would be doubled.
• China produces the lion's share of rare earth metals, which are necessary for the creation of mobile gadgets. If Apple moved its smartphone production to another country, it would have to negotiate with China about exports - and this is not an easy task.

Foxconn has factories not only in China, but also in other countries - in the Czech Republic, Hungary, India. In 2010, the factory was opened in Russia - in the village of Shushary, Leningrad Region. Now there is information that . Who knows - perhaps this is the first step towards the production of native American iPhones?

Who supplies parts for iPhones?

Foxconn factory workers assemble iPhones from components that come from many countries. There are no Chinese components in Apple devices - but there are American ones. Among them:

• Audiochips are manufactured in the USA by Cirrus Logic.
• Radio modules - produced by the well-known company Qualcomm.
• Controller chips - created by the American organizations PMC Sierra and Broadcom Corp.
• Touch screen controllers - also manufactured by Broadcom Corp.

Other components are supplied by European and Asian manufacturers - for example:

• Induction coils - Japanese company TDK.
• RAM - Taiwanese organization TSMC.
• Gyroscopes - Italian-French company STMicroelectronics.

The situation with iPhone displays is interesting. Now 3 companies at once produce this component for the "apple" company - Japanese Japan Display and, as well as Korean Display. However, for the iPhone 8th and 9th modifications - moreover, in huge quantities.

Among the suppliers of components for the iPhone - "full" international. Apple prefers to work with trusted and reputable component manufacturers, no matter where their factories are located.

What is the cost of an iPhone?

Immediately after the release of the iPhone 7 in 2016, IHS Markit experts tried to calculate the cost of an “apple” device by adding together the costs of all its components, including:

• Processor A10 Fusion - $ 26.9.
• Intel module - $33.9.
• Cameras - $19.9.
• Electromechanical components - $16.7.

According to the calculations of experts, the cost of the iPhone 7 was equal to 220 dollars (about 13 thousand rubles). The market value of the "apple" gadget at the time of the audit was 649 dollars - 37 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate. It is worth saying that this price was relevant for the United States. In Russia, the seventh iPhones even now cost 50 thousand rubles. It is easy to calculate that in our country the cheat on Apple devices is almost fourfold.

It is curious that the difference in cost between iPhones of different generations is very small. Let's look at the diagram:

The cost of the iPhone 7 is only 8 dollars higher than that of the iPhone 6S - in fact, 500 rubles. Gadgets of the same generation, but different modifications (for example, 5 and 5S), as a rule, require equal costs for components. But something else surprised me the most: the iPhone SE turned out to be the most economical smartphone in the Apple line (cost price - $ 160). Even the production of the iPhone 3GS was more expensive.

Conclusion

In 2016, Donald Trump, entering the presidential race, announced that he would force Apple to produce iPhones in the United States. If this day comes, then for Russian fans of "apple" products it will definitely become "black" - the final cost of the iPhone, created by American workers on American soil, will be "unbearable" for Russians.

Now Russian users can afford to buy Apple products only because they are assembled in China. Through cooperation with the Chinese, Apple saves on labor resources. A worker from a developed country in America or Europe would not agree to work for an amount three times as much as a native from the Celestial Empire receives.