Teardown of Apple's new iPad finds Samsung-built Retina display, A5X CPU

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 107
    dave k.dave k. Posts: 1,306member
    Soooo....



    Is it safe to say that next year we will see the A6 chip along with doubling the storage for iPad 4?
  • Reply 22 of 107
    mrmj2umrmj2u Posts: 34member
    "On the logic board is the new custom A5X processor, which features the same clock speed as the A5 CPU found in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, but adds a new quad-core graphics processor and a gigabyte of RAM. The CPU was also built by Samsung, and markings on it indicate it was manufactured in the first week of 2012."



    The bold sentence is incorrect. The iPhone 4s is clocked at about 800Mhz, whereas the clock on the New iPad and the iPad2 is 1Ghz.
  • Reply 23 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    Maybe the iPad is just the device which makes it take off, since they're going to sell many tens of millions of them. The iPhone 4S also has it, so that's hundreds of millions of people.



    Yeah, and 'this will be the year of the Linux desktop.'



    Quote:

    There are some health devices which already use bluetooth 4.0.



    Yeah all 5 of them if that.



    Quote:

    Nike Fuel band is bluetooth 4.0. I think that we're going to see a lot of 4.0 accessories this year.



    Doubtful. It's been final since June 2010. 3.0 has been around since April 2009. There's just no real demand for it, and device makers have to still support the lowest common demoninator, which is still 2.1. Maybe Apple can attract some attention to it, but I'm very skeptical, especially with Wifi Direct and NFC up and coming.
  • Reply 24 of 107
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I love iFixit, especially this commitment to travel from CA, USA to Australia to get this teardown out a few hours early.
  • Reply 25 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    ... Doubtful. (Bluetooth 4.0 has) been final since June 2010. 3.0 has been around since April 2009. There's just no real demand for it, and device makers have to still support the lowest common demoninator, which is still 2.1. ...



    Everything you say here is ridiculous, but the bolded statement especially so. It's is completely insupportable .



    In the first place you are purposely confusing the finalisation of the spec with availability of the devices to make your argument seem more reasonable. Secondly the new chips for 4.0 are backwards compatible for previous versions of Bluetooth anyway.



    Finally, the iPad is one of the few devices to implement the 4.0 standard so far, so even if everything you said was true (and it's not), the idea that "there's no demand for it," can't be true. We can't know at this stage whether there is demand or whether it will catch on. You are just prematurely declaring it useless based on nothing but your own opinion.
  • Reply 26 of 107
    samabsamab Posts: 1,953member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    YDoubtful. It's been final since June 2010. 3.0 has been around since April 2009. There's just no real demand for it, and device makers have to still support the lowest common demoninator, which is still 2.1. Maybe Apple can attract some attention to it, but I'm very skeptical, especially with Wifi Direct and NFC up and coming.



    The only viable device for BT 4.0 is wireless keyboards.



    We have to wait for the teardown of the Playbook's bluetooth keyboard to see if that has a BT 4.0 inside. As I said it before, the Playbook already has a BT 4.0 chipset insider --- just the software is not ready. The whole keyboard is 6 mm thick with built-in battery with a battery life of 30 days. That compares to Apple's bluetooth keyboard that is 4 mm thick --- but with a thick round cylinder top to hold the AA batteries.



    It sounds like a BT 4.0 keyboard, but we have to wait for the teardown.
  • Reply 27 of 107
    adonissmuadonissmu Posts: 1,776member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    I think I'm going with Sony's Bluetooth earbuds... I'm tired of cables.



    Will be awesome with my iPad and 4S.



    I have the DRBT50s from sony! they have great sound and are blue tooth
  • Reply 28 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    I love iFixit, especially this commitment to travel from CA, USA to Australia to get this teardown out a few hours early.



    It's cool that they're so dedicated, but really it's just a good business decision. Their site is already getting hammered. Many other sites are linking to it in their articles. I'm sure they made a lot off clicks, so beating iSupply and others with a tear down even by a few hours gives them a huge advantage.
  • Reply 29 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s4mb4 View Post


    I can't believe Apple won the lawsuit in Germany preventing the sale of the Galaxy Tab and Samsung still sells them parts for the iPad.

    really makes me wonder what the point of all the lawsuits are....... odd.



    Apple hopes that in the end, the lawsuits will help to maximize profits by limiting consumer choice.



    Apple buys the parts from Samsung in order to help maximize profits by sourcing the best quality parts.



    The answer is always the same. Every well-run megacorporation does what it does with an aim towards maximizing profits. Apple is no different from other giant corporations in that regard.
  • Reply 30 of 107
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    I think I'm going with Sony's Bluetooth earbuds... I'm tired of cables.



    Will be awesome with my iPad and 4S.



    I would opt for the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo-Headset BH-505 much better quality and sound incredible. plus the battery seems to never die. Much better then Sony's model I bought a pair and returned them post haste. When I got my Lumia 800 the sales guy let me try the Nokia variant and I was sold on the spot.
  • Reply 31 of 107
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    I would opt for the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo-Headset BH-505 much better quality and sound incredible. plus the battery seems to never die. Much better then Sony's model I bought a pair and returned them post haste. When I got my Lumia 800 the sales guy let me try the Nokia variant and I was sold on the spot.



    Are they Bluetooth 4.0?
  • Reply 32 of 107
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    So that is a heat sink and not just decoration for photo shoot. I guess that GPU really is doing overtime. I wonder how much extra power that SoC is using over the A5.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by samab View Post


    The only viable device for BT 4.0 is wireless keyboards.



    We have to wait for the teardown of the Playbook's bluetooth keyboard to see if that has a BT 4.0 inside. As I said it before, the Playbook already has a BT 4.0 chipset insider --- just the software is not ready. The whole keyboard is 6 mm thick with built-in battery with a battery life of 30 days. That compares to Apple's bluetooth keyboard that is 4 mm thick --- but with a thick round cylinder top to hold the AA batteries.



    It sounds like a BT 4.0 keyboard, but we have to wait for the teardown.



    Why only keyboards?
  • Reply 33 of 107
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


    Apple hopes that in the end, the lawsuits will help to maximize profits by limiting consumer choice.



    Apple buys the parts from Samsung in order to help maximize profits by sourcing the best quality parts.



    The answer is always the same. Every well-run megacorporation does what it does with an aim towards maximizing profits. Apple is no different from other giant corporations in that regard.



    It didn't slow down Samsung to much though they simply tweaked the bezel and a they were all back in the market a month later. I don't care much for their 10.1 model though it's to neutered for my taste. The point of owning a Android tablet is to have things that the Apple iPad doesn't have like a miniSD card, a full a USB slot, built in HDMI or maybe a keyboard dock that adds another 6 hours of battery time. Samsung tablets are to close to iPads functionality or lack of so what's the point. Their Galaxy 7.7 model on the other hand is a work of art and I would encourage Samsung to make more like that not copy Apple.
  • Reply 34 of 107
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by samab View Post


    Hardware-wise, the Playbook is the first tablet to have a bluetooth 4.0 chipset --- but like the rest of the Playbook, the software (the bluetooth driver) is not ready.



    Not having the software ready is pretty pathetic. No wonder why RIM's stock is down in the dumps.



    I don't see anybody mentioning anything about any Playbook on the official Bluetooth site.



    The addition of Bluetooth v4.0 makes the new iPad the world’s first Bluetooth Smart Ready tablet, allowing it to connect with the billions of today's Bluetooth devices and the next generation of Bluetooth Smart devices—running applications that turn data from those devices into useful information.



    http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Bluet...t-Devices.aspx
  • Reply 35 of 107
    shrikeshrike Posts: 494member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post


    So that is a heat sink and not just decoration for photo shoot. I guess that GPU really is doing overtime. I wonder how much extra power that SoC is using over the A5.



    Note that the SoC isn't in a package-on-package anymore. The RAM is mounted on the other side of the PCB. The A5X looks to be you typical BGA style CPU package. This probably means it's a 45 nm part. How they'll fit all this into the iPhone I don't know.



    If the frequency is the same and the voltages are the same, this power consumption is just linear with the increase in number of transistors. The extra two GPU cores was about 30-40% of the die space in the A5 die pictures. So ~30% if it is using the same fab process as the A5.



    Wait and see.
  • Reply 36 of 107
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Relic View Post


    The point of owning a Android tablet is to have things that the Apple iPad doesn't have like a miniSD card, a full a USB slot, built in HDMI or maybe a keyboard dock that adds another 6 hours of battery time.



    Judging by the success of the Fire, I'd have to say you're clueless.
  • Reply 37 of 107
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shrike View Post


    Note that the SoC isn't in a package-on-package anymore. The RAM is mounted on the other side of the PCB. The A5X looks to be you typical BGA style CPU package. This probably means it's a 45 nm part. How they'll fit all this into the iPhone I don't know.



    If the frequency is the same and the voltages are the same, this power consumption is just linear with the increase in number of transistors. The extra two GPU cores was about 30-40% of the die space in the A5 die pictures. So ~30% if it is using the same fab process as the A5.



    Wait and see.



    1) Thanks for pointing that out. I saw the RAM was on the board now but it didn't click.



    2) I'm sure it's 45nm but for the 6th gen iPhone I think it's possible to be 32nm. There is a lot about this A5X the G6 iPhone doesn't need. I also expect the MDM9600 to be replaced by the MDM9615.



    3) So that leaves about 40% more power draw to the display assembly?
  • Reply 38 of 107
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    Are they Bluetooth 4.0?



    No I think their just 2.1 but they are NFC so they rock when I use them on my Nokia N9 and 800, I just touch them up against the phone and they start playing. They also sound great when I use them on my iPad or Asus Slider so I'm not sure 4.0 can make them sound any better, at least nothing my ears could pick up anyway. Besides range what are the benefits of 4.0?
  • Reply 39 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by myapplelove View Post


    Limited Legacy Phone Sized Storage: Check.

    Google and Samsung will be out with android pad and Retina (a larger one is rumoured too) in a couple of months or so:Check.

    Can't wait to use the 3rd Gen Ipad with the Retina Display: Check.





    Steve Jobs used to say 'Redmond start your photocopiers' - now 'It's Samsung start your cloning'. Of course having to give them the contract for the retina display in the first place is the weak link in Apple's supply chain because they're always 'In the loop' about about Apple's next move. You couldn't make it up!
  • Reply 40 of 107
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    Judging by the success of the Fire, I'd have to say you're clueless.



    Actually I'm far from clueless, I own more tablets from different manufactures then anyone I have ever met. However, I was talking about if I was going to replace an iPad with a similiar priced tablet It would have to have something that I don't have on my iPad. The Samsung 10.1 is very similiar to the iPad in that it doesn't offer any of those formentioned things. You bring up a sub 200 dollar tablet, hey if that all it takes for you to be happy then by all means knock your self out.
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