Apple's 'iPhone 5S' to use 31% faster 'A7' chip, feature motion tracking - report
In a tweet on Sunday, a Fox News reporter said Apple's upcoming next-generation iPhone will sport a significantly faster "A7" processor, while a separate chip will be dedicated to motion tracking.
Artist's conception of a possible iPhone 5S. Source: AppleInsider
Citing inside sources, Clayton Morris claims the so-called "iPhone 5S" will be powered by an Apple-designed "A7" system on a chip that is some 31 percent faster than the current A6 silicon used in the iPhone 5. In addition, mention of a totally new chip dedicated to "motion tracking" will be used to bring another layer of user interactivity to Apple's flagship handset.
A 31 percent bump should be noticeable to future iPhone 5S owners in day-to-day use. It is unknown what metrics were being used as a basis, an important question given an applications processor's architecture includes both the number-crunching CPUs and graphics driving GPUs.
It is largely unknown how Apple is managing to squeeze out the extra horsepower, though analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities noted in a recent report that a move to the ARMv8 architecture could yield a 20 percent increase in efficiency. In that same note to investors, Kuo speculates that Apple could offer 64-bit support in the A7, which would theoretically allow for greater speeds.
As for the motion tracking feature, Morris said in a follow-up tweet, "I?ve also heard there?s a separate chip devoted to motion tracking. Should be an interesting camera upgrade." It would appear from the tweet's wording that the unknown chip would be part of the iPhone's camera package, perhaps as a special post processor.
Apple owns a number of patents regarding post processing techniques, including a few that interpolate camera sensor data for tasks other than outputting an image such as "gaze detection." Some of these patents include a separate chip, usually disposed on the sensor module's circuit board, to handle processing duties.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5S at a special event on Sept. 10, possibly alongside a lower cost plastic handset dubbed the "iPhone 5C."
Artist's conception of a possible iPhone 5S. Source: AppleInsider
Citing inside sources, Clayton Morris claims the so-called "iPhone 5S" will be powered by an Apple-designed "A7" system on a chip that is some 31 percent faster than the current A6 silicon used in the iPhone 5. In addition, mention of a totally new chip dedicated to "motion tracking" will be used to bring another layer of user interactivity to Apple's flagship handset.
A 31 percent bump should be noticeable to future iPhone 5S owners in day-to-day use. It is unknown what metrics were being used as a basis, an important question given an applications processor's architecture includes both the number-crunching CPUs and graphics driving GPUs.
It is largely unknown how Apple is managing to squeeze out the extra horsepower, though analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities noted in a recent report that a move to the ARMv8 architecture could yield a 20 percent increase in efficiency. In that same note to investors, Kuo speculates that Apple could offer 64-bit support in the A7, which would theoretically allow for greater speeds.
As for the motion tracking feature, Morris said in a follow-up tweet, "I?ve also heard there?s a separate chip devoted to motion tracking. Should be an interesting camera upgrade." It would appear from the tweet's wording that the unknown chip would be part of the iPhone's camera package, perhaps as a special post processor.
Apple owns a number of patents regarding post processing techniques, including a few that interpolate camera sensor data for tasks other than outputting an image such as "gaze detection." Some of these patents include a separate chip, usually disposed on the sensor module's circuit board, to handle processing duties.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5S at a special event on Sept. 10, possibly alongside a lower cost plastic handset dubbed the "iPhone 5C."
Comments
I dunno. I'll believe it when I see it. The A6 is wickedly fast.
I don't buy it. From the A4-A5 and A5-A6 we saw increase in CPU of around 2X. For the GPU the A4-A5 was almost 5X (Apple stated up to 9X but averaged out it was around 5X) and the A5-A6 was again 2X.
The A6 is already very fast so the only way I could see the A7 being only 31% faster is if it came with some other benefit. Perhaps they'll have greatly reduced power consumption (not the suggested 20% but something significant like 50%). Or maybe the CPU is only 31% faster but the GPU is again 2X as fast. Or maybe they get 31% more CPU speed while reducing the clock back down to 1GHz.
I just don't see an A7 having such a small increase in capabilities based on Apples history. They usually knock it out of the park with each new processor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 65C816
A7 in 2014's iPhone. Don't see it in 2013. iOS 7 had so many changes that I doubt they'd also do a toolchain upgrade at the same time.
Nobody expected an A6 last year either and Apple surprised everyone. Then they surprised us again with the A6X in the iPad 4.
The is interesting part is the 64 bit iOS running on the A7.
This tells me that Apple has plans for much more capable iOS devices needing to address vast amount of RAM and process huge amount of data.
The existing iOS devices don't really need a 64 bit OS and we all know Apple did turn on the 64 bit switch for nothing.
Time will tell.
Originally Posted by togan
I think the extra processor to take on camera and motion sounds more believable than A7.
How does it make any sense in the first place?
64bit and A7 I think will come 2014.
Neither of those make any sense, either. Have you been following the iPhone for very long? Obviously the next chip is the A7.
Originally Posted by G-Note
Has the September 10th date actually been announced or is it still speculation?
Speculation.
Originally Posted by 65C816
A7 in 2014's iPhone. Don't see it in 2013. iOS 7 had so many changes that I doubt they'd also do a toolchain upgrade at the same time.
Total nonsense. When has Apple not done a number up on the iPhone?
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
Nobody expected an A6 last year either…
Who the heck didn't expect it?
The doubters will find many faults or missing features they feel should have been included. The iPhone 5S will undoubtedly cause another round of "meh" on Wall Street and a reiteration of how Apple has fallen behind and is surely doomed. It's always the same old, same old about new iPhones. They never seem to equal the high-end Android smartphones which come with everything that can possibly fit under those huge, huge displays that can be read from across the room.
Originally Posted by Constable Odo
The iHaters will claim how it didn't make any sense for Apple to wait a year for such a minor upgrade and how almost nobody will bother to purchase the iPhone 5S because it's barely faster than the iPhone 5.
You'd think by now we would have taken precautions to prevent the idiocy that happens every single year, either by rendering it instantly bannable or at least delete-on-sight for the inevitable newbies signing up…
Keep in mind that Apple is thinking out several years and they like this years release to run 2017 apps. For this reason, it's wise to be buying an iDevice with a bit more memory than you did last time...
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
I don't buy it. From the A4-A5 and A5-A6 we saw increase in CPU of around 2X. For the GPU the A4-A5 was almost 5X (Apple stated up to 9X but averaged out it was around 5X) and the A5-A6 was again 2X.
The A6 is already very fast so the only way I could see the A7 being only 31% faster is if it came with some other benefit. Perhaps they'll have greatly reduced power consumption (not the suggested 20% but something significant like 50%). Or maybe the CPU is only 31% faster but the GPU is again 2X as fast. Or maybe they get 31% more CPU speed while reducing the clock back down to 1GHz.
I just don't see an A7 having such a small increase in capabilities based on Apples history. They usually knock it out of the park with each new processor.
There's no way Apple can indefinitely keep releasing phones that are twice as fast as the phone they released the previous year...it would be literally impossible, so this can't be a realistic expectation. Also, in terms of CPU clock speed, the A6 was only a 30% improvement over the A5. We haven't heard anything GPU improvements, but the same applies 5x's – 9x's improvements (can't be maintained indefinitely).
Quote:
Originally Posted by 65C816
A7 in 2014's iPhone. Don't see it in 2013. iOS 7 had so many changes that I doubt they'd also do a toolchain upgrade at the same time.
Considering the only iPhone generation change not to feature a new processor was between the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G, it's almost inconceivable that they won't release a new SoC with whatever they release this year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Constable Odo
I can almost hear the groans of disappointment from the tech-pundits, claiming how the 5S is such a tiny upgrade from the iPhone 5. No large display, no NFC, no 12 MP camera and no warp drive capabilities. The iHaters will claim how it didn't make any sense for Apple to wait a year for such a minor upgrade and how almost nobody will bother to purchase the iPhone 5S because it's barely faster than the iPhone 5. The pundits will say the iPhone 5 doesn't have nearly the speed or capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy S4 which the smartphone industry loves so much or it doesn't have the beautiful aluminum finish of the HTC One.
The doubters will find many faults or missing features they feel should have been included. The iPhone 5S will undoubtedly cause another round of "meh" on Wall Street and a reiteration of how Apple has fallen behind and is surely doomed. It's always the same old, same old about new iPhones. They never seem to equal the high-end Android smartphones which come with everything that can possibly fit under those huge, huge displays that can be read from across the room.
And yet, it will become one of the best, if not the best selling phone on the planet, and will outsell every other phone before it, while having great critical reviews and fantastic user satisfaction ratings. You know, all the stuff that actually matters. Funny how that works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Constable Odo
I can almost hear the groans of disappointment from the tech-pundits
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
And yet, it will become one of the best, if not the best selling phone on the planet, and will outsell every other phone before it
Your points are not mutually exclusive. I'm betting you're BOTH right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Note
Has the September 10th date actually been announced or is it still speculation?
Spec.