Apple A8 and A8X

[ltcommander.data]

So the 5.5" iPhone is 1080p and ~400 dpi. Looks like 3x Retina might be coming but not on the 5.5" iPhone but on the iPad Air (up from 264 dpi) so that the flagship iPad is not behind the retina iPad Mini.

A8 is 20 nm, 2 billion transistors, 13% smaller, 20% faster CPU, 50% faster GPU, and they are focusing on sustained performance without throttling this time rather than peak performance. Since that was already the focus in the iPads in the A7 (same chip but sustained performance), I wonder if they will do more to differentiate the iPad A8 implementation?

 

[iroboto]

VoLTE paired with Wifi calling was a solution we were trying to build at our telco. Nice to see they got mobile convergence down.

This is a huge solution, but I don't think will be available with every carrier. Would be interesting to see how this one plays out.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Seems like just a speed bump on the CPU to 1.6-1.7GHz and a G6630 on the GPU side.

 

[Pressure]

It's nearly twice the transistors compared to the A7, so something new is under the hood.

 

[Ailuros]

So the 5.5" iPhone is 1080p and ~400 dpi. Looks like 3x Retina might be coming but not on the 5.5" iPhone but on the iPad Air (up from 264 dpi) so that the flagship iPad is not behind the retina iPad Mini.

A8 is 20 nm, 2 billion transistors, 13% smaller, 20% faster CPU, 50% faster GPU, and they are focusing on sustained performance without throttling this time rather than peak performance. Since that was already the focus in the iPads in the A7 (same chip but sustained performance), I wonder if they will do more to differentiate the iPad A8 implementation?

Should be a GX6650 clocked around 400MHz. The tablet could do obviously a LOT more but that's rather a topic of how thin Apple wants to keep it, how light and how long battery life should be.

By the way 2b@89mm2/20SoC means a transistor density of almost 22.5Mio/mm2.

 

[mavere]

The performance improvements seem anemic next to the increased transistor count, especially as the die-shrink's frequency boost alone could account for most of the CPU's gains. Can't wait for a die shot.

 

[anexanhume]

Frequency is supposedly 1.38 GHz according to a geek bench run. So it's mostly arch improvements.

 

[Entropy]

The performance improvements seem anemic next to the increased transistor count, especially as the die-shrink's frequency boost alone could account for most of the CPU's gains. Can't wait for a die shot.

Provided the geekbench screenie is accurate, clock speed increased 1.4/1.3=1.077 or just under 8%.
Lt.commanders suggestion that they increased the size of the L3 (8Mb? More? 16MB x48 with 6T cells is an awful lot of transistors) makes a lot of sense, and I hope they increased the speed of it as well. Add some architectural nips and tucks, and you are there. Very impressive IPC, I look forward to more information.
Ailuros' GX6650 at modest clocks fits the low SoC power draw as well.

They made a lot out of low power draw, sustained performance and enhanced battery life.

And the watch - oh my!

 

[ltcommander.data]

It's too bad the force sensitive touchscreen and wireless charging seem to only be for the Apple Watch. I guess those are going to be iPhone 6s features. The force sensitive touchscreen coming to this year's iPad would be interesting though and address stylus use which now has it's own thread in forum.

 

[Entropy]

It's too bad the force sensitive touchscreen and wireless charging seem to only be for the Apple Watch. I guess those are going to be iPhone 6s features. The force sensitive touchscreen coming to this year's iPad would be interesting though and address stylus use which now has it's own thread in forum.

We'll see. It would be great for paint/art obviously. Apple has been dead set against stylus input as a basic UI mechanic, which I agree with, but there is no denying the utility for specific use cases. Maybe the time has come. I don't see the point of wireless charging for a device that has a connector. Wireless charging in order to avoid having slots for corded connection at all makes sense however. The pricing for the Watch was frustratingly well thought out for the US. (I'll have to pay another painful 35% or so, which helps my restraint.) Great job on the interface, repurpoing the classical physical crown is genius.

 

[zed]

And the watch - oh my!

Yes I know, iUgly what were they thinking?
Looks like they did follow my suggestion (that got laughed at here a couple of years ago) and released 2 different size phone models, I knew they wouldnt but they should of gotten rid of the home button

 

[Mariner]

I knew they wouldnt but they should of gotten rid of the home button

But the fingerprint sensor in the home button is one of their big selling points! No way they are going to get rid of that and they would be foolish to do so.

I'm not sure about the whole concept of smart watches in general - I think they are a solution looking for a market but plenty of people these days don't bother with watches because they are already carrying their phones around with them!

Not to mention that expensive watches have a certain cachet amongst quite a few of the people who go for the high-end iPhones. One of my friends, for example, has just dropped several grand on a Tag Heuer - he's certainly not going to start wearing a smartwatch when he's got that to wear!

I do agree the Apple watch is less 'attractive' than I expected it to be. I'd be surprised if it sold very well, to be honest, though it is likely to be the best of the current batch of smart watches. Can't believe that the Moto 360 uses such an old SoC and is so thick!

 

[wco81]

I guess wearable devices is one of the the trends computer scientists have predicted for awhile, like they did mobile devices before.

But what's the point of a wearable if you have to have a phone nearby all the time?

If these wearables hang around, maybe they will move to make some of the features offline, so for instance, it tracks your workouts but you can sync the data later. That is how things like Fitbit work.

iPhone 6 Plus has the features, if it's good enough for browsing and reading, which I currently try to minimize on my phone.

But as it is, I can't fit the iPhone 5S into my jeans pocket and sit down so I'd have to see how else I would carry it.

 

[zed]

But the fingerprint sensor in the home button is one of their big selling points! No way they are going to get rid of that and they would be foolish to do so.

they could of put the sensor on the back, or incorprate it into the screen somehow, OK its not the best spot, but by having it where they have now their 4.7" model is actually longer than my 5" phone, Havent we been hearing for years with iphone that smaller is better, or has this suddenly become unimportant
WRT iWatch, yes all smartwatches (apart from a couple) have been ugly, But I was thinking that apple would be able to make something that looked half decent, i.e. they normal favor looks over usability unlike some companies but this looks like it was designed by samsungs team

 

[trinibwoy]

Apple A8 in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

Apple favors looks over usability? I don't think that's accurate. Usability is one of Apple's strongest qualities.

 

[ltcommander.data]

http://www.apple.com/iphone-6/specs/

Video Calling:
FaceTime over cellular uses H.264/H.265

The A8 supports H.265, but it looks like it's only enabled for FaceTime right now.

 

[anexanhume]

Provided the geekbench screenie is accurate, clock speed increased 1.4/1.3=1.077 or just under 8%.
Lt.commanders suggestion that they increased the size of the L3 (8Mb? More? 16MB x48 with 6T cells is an awful lot of transistors) makes a lot of sense, and I hope they increased the speed of it as well. Add some architectural nips and tucks, and you are there. Very impressive IPC, I look forward to more information.
Ailuros' GX6650 at modest clocks fits the low SoC power draw as well.

They made a lot out of low power draw, sustained performance and enhanced battery life.

And the watch - oh my!

Should we assume 6650 with changed clocks or 6630 with same clocks? Wholly depends on whether Apple is claiming FP32 or FP16 performance for that 50% number, right?

Also, the 6+ is confirmed to render at 1242x2208 (3x retina) and downscale to 1080p: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/509438167280549888

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Also, the 6+ is confirmed to render at 1242x2208 (3x retina) and downscale to 1080p: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/509438167280549888

lolwut? I knew iOS was bad with scaling but that they'd have to resort to this is embarassing.

 

[ltcommander.data]

Should we assume 6650 with changed clocks or 6630 with same clocks? Wholly depends on whether Apple is claiming FP32 or FP16 performance for that 50% number, right?

https://developer.apple.com/library...html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40013599-CH106-SW1

For what it's worth the A8 GPU is not unexpectedly called the "A8 GPU". Their documentation doesn't describe any differences between the A7 and A8 GPUs. That documentation isn't fully updated though because it doesn't mention ASTC support, but ASTC has been added in the iOS 8 GM build API diffs:

https://developer.apple.com/library...eneral/iOS80APIDiffs/frameworks/OpenGLES.html

Added #def GL_KHR_texture_compression_astc_ldr

No sign of the GL_APPLE_texture_compression_astc_ldr, GL_APPLE_texture_compression_astc_lowprecision that briefly appeared in the beta diffs though.

Also no word on whether the A7 supports ASTC although Apple's WebKit team previously claimed it does (https://www.khronos.org/webgl/public-mailing-list/archives/1401/msg00000.html). If the A7 doesn't, then that points to the A8 being a GX6650 since that's a known difference between Series 6 and Series 6XT. If Apple has customized Series 6 to support ASTC, then differentiating between a customized G6630 and GX6650 will be harder.

Also, the 6+ is confirmed to render at 1242x2208 (3x retina) and downscale to 1080p: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/509438167280549888

That' very awkward. 1242x2208 for the 5.5" iPhone 6 was what Gruber rumoured. Maybe production issues of this display was the reason why the 5.5" model was constantly reported to be lagging the 4.7" model in development and in the end they had to substitute a 1080p display?

 

[mavere]

Also, the 6+ is confirmed to render at 1242x2208 (3x retina) and downscale to 1080p: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/509438167280549888

That's absolutely bizarre...

Well, I'm gonna go on a limb and say that some of those extra transistors were spent on a fixed-function high-quality downscaler.