Apple continues building out its iOS GPU development team in Orlando
Apple's silicon development operations in Central Florida continue to grow, with the company advertising even more positions now available as part of its graphics processing team in Orlando.
A new set of job listings were posted on Apple's official site on Sunday and Monday and were discovered by AppleInsider. The six new Orlando-based positions are all in Apple's Hardware Engineering department, and are related to development of graphics chips that power devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Most significantly, Apple is seeking a site manager for its Central Florida-based operations that will oversee what is referred to as the company's "Orlando GPU team." Another position seeks a program manager for "Apple SoC Embedded Silicon design."
Apple describes its Orlando operations as a "world-class" graphics intellectual property development team.
AppleInsider was first to report in April that Apple has been building a custom chip development team in the Orlando area. It was later revealed that its local operations were established with former engineers recruited from chipmaker AMD, as well as employees who were acquired through Apple's purchase of Intrinsity.
The company has been designing its own custom mobile processors since 2010, when the A4 chip debuted with the first-generation iPad. Taking a step further into chip creation, Apple last year unveiled its first in-house designed CPU core with the A6 SoC found in the iPhone 5. This year's A7 chip designed by Apple is the first 64-bit processor in a mass-market smartphone, while the iPhone 5s also includes the M7 motion coprocessor.
Graphics performance in the A7 chip has been doubled over its predecessor, as gaming has become an increasingly important part of Apple's iOS platform. At the iPhone 5s unveiling earlier this month, Epic Games was on-hand to show off Infinity Blade III, which leverages the graphics processing power of the A7.
Apple's Orlando operations are joined by a team nearby in Melbourne, Fla., where the company acquired fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec. That company's technology recently appeared in the new iPhone 5s, which sports the "Touch ID" fingerprint scanner beneath the device's home button.
A new set of job listings were posted on Apple's official site on Sunday and Monday and were discovered by AppleInsider. The six new Orlando-based positions are all in Apple's Hardware Engineering department, and are related to development of graphics chips that power devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Most significantly, Apple is seeking a site manager for its Central Florida-based operations that will oversee what is referred to as the company's "Orlando GPU team." Another position seeks a program manager for "Apple SoC Embedded Silicon design."
Apple describes its Orlando operations as a "world-class" graphics intellectual property development team.
AppleInsider was first to report in April that Apple has been building a custom chip development team in the Orlando area. It was later revealed that its local operations were established with former engineers recruited from chipmaker AMD, as well as employees who were acquired through Apple's purchase of Intrinsity.
The company has been designing its own custom mobile processors since 2010, when the A4 chip debuted with the first-generation iPad. Taking a step further into chip creation, Apple last year unveiled its first in-house designed CPU core with the A6 SoC found in the iPhone 5. This year's A7 chip designed by Apple is the first 64-bit processor in a mass-market smartphone, while the iPhone 5s also includes the M7 motion coprocessor.
Graphics performance in the A7 chip has been doubled over its predecessor, as gaming has become an increasingly important part of Apple's iOS platform. At the iPhone 5s unveiling earlier this month, Epic Games was on-hand to show off Infinity Blade III, which leverages the graphics processing power of the A7.
Apple's Orlando operations are joined by a team nearby in Melbourne, Fla., where the company acquired fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec. That company's technology recently appeared in the new iPhone 5s, which sports the "Touch ID" fingerprint scanner beneath the device's home button.
Comments
It's too bad they give the iPod Touch a two year old SoC.
If gaming is an important part of the iOS platform why not update the SoC every year for the iPod Touch, instead of every TWO years?
At the current rate the iPod Touch won't see the A7 until 2016.
Come on apple, you know you want to move from orlando to mlb.
At the current rate the iPod Touch won't see the A7 until 2016.
Apple is taking bet that there will be people in 2016.
At the current rate there may be no price point for the iPod Touch to continue to exist. It already is being highly crowded by the iPad Mini.
How about putting desktop GPUs in iMacs? I'm not thrilled about the prospect of buying a Windows PC for games, but I'm tired of dealing with mobile GPUs. Good call updating Open GL in OS X though. Bout time.
They are trending the other way on the 21". The cheapest model uses iris pro now, yet the price remains at $1300, retaining the price bump from last year. I'm mildly curious if they'll do the same thing to the rmbp. Open GL needed to be fixed long ago. It's used in much more than just games.
I see a really powerful Apple TV in our near future : )
+ Apple TV App Store
+ Apple gamepad for iPhone/iPod Touch
BYOiOS device for multiplayer gaming.
Words with friends [swipe] Angry Birds [swipe] Infinity Blade III
Play multiple games all at once on your TV with Apple TV Game Center.
What do you think is a good Apple TV App? And please don't say games.
I have 4 Apple TV's and couldn't imagine having to know what App is installed on which one and limited to using that Apple TV. Currently Airplay works great for everything from mirroring to second screen from a Mac to anyone of my ATV's.
The best game for Apple TV is Chopper 2 as you can use a iPhone as the controller. The games main screen can be air played from the iPad or Mac.
What do you think is a good Apple TV App? And please don't say games.
I have 4 Apple TV's and couldn't imagine having to know what App is installed on which one and limited to using that Apple TV. Currently Airplay works great for everything from mirroring to second screen from a Mac to anyone of my ATV's.
The best game for Apple TV is Chopper 2 as you can use a iPhone as the controller. The games main screen can be air played from the iPad or Mac.
As my post was 100% about gaming, let me guess.... games? It would be a excellent 'swipe' against game consoles.
Why would you have to know what app is on which Apple TV, do you have to do that with any iOS device?
Multiplayer games on an Apple TV that will be more tuned to gaming than an iPhone would be an easy way for people to join each other in the same room, or across the net to play their favorite games.
and that Florida won't be under water
and that Florida won't be under water
under water?
True, your post was about games. What I don't get is why is the Apple TV is needed if your goal is to allow swiping so the other person can take their turn. If you have an iOS device you have a screen and don't need an Apple TV for turn based games. The system you describe reminds of a Wii U arrangement and that is horrible. The only reason I can venture is if others want to watch the gameplay.
If there was an Apple TV App Store I would assume that like all my iOS devices an app would download only to the device I download it on. (I know they can be set to download to all devices.) I don't have 4 iPhones or 4 iPads. I have one of each and know what apps are on each. These are personal devices used by me. My wife has hers and my son has his. The Apple TV is a family device allowing anyone of us to start using without any setup or login.
The MFi controllers from Apple along with AirPlay is what I want. I get a physical controller I can AirPlay if I want the large screen and I have the ability to take my game with me when I travel. For multiplayer I'd prefer the ability to connect someone else's iPhone (using MFi controller) to an iPad. One iPad acts as the console. If an Apple TV is available mirror the iPad screen to the TV.
...
If gaming is an important part of the iOS platform why not update the SoC every year for the iPod Touch, instead of every TWO years?
...
Because iPhone and iPad are far more important to Apple, in every way.
Next question.
True, your post was about games. What I don't get is why is the Apple TV is needed if your goal is to allow swiping so the other person can take their turn. If you have an iOS device you have a screen and don't need an Apple TV for turn based games. The system you describe reminds of a Wii U arrangement and that is horrible. The only reason I can venture is if others want to watch the gameplay.
If there was an Apple TV App Store I would assume that like all my iOS devices an app would download only to the device I download it on. (I know they can be set to download to all devices.) I don't have 4 iPhones or 4 iPads. I have one of each and know what apps are on each. These are personal devices used by me. My wife has hers and my son has his. The Apple TV is a family device allowing anyone of us to start using without any setup or login.
The MFi controllers from Apple along with AirPlay is what I want. I get a physical controller I can AirPlay if I want the large screen and I have the ability to take my game with me when I travel. For multiplayer I'd prefer the ability to connect someone else's iPhone (using MFi controller) to an iPad. One iPad acts as the console. If an Apple TV is available mirror the iPad screen to the TV.
1) I did not even come close to saying, please read again.
2) " (I know they can be set to download to all devices.)" You just nullified your own argument.
I don't know what the exact end game is here but Apple has been warning developers to make use of libraries instead of accessing hardware directly. They aren't shy about saying things may change in the future. Of course that could mean they where talking about the coming 64 bit chip but I think it goes deeper than that. Apples end game appears to be a highly tailored 64bit solution that balances performance across the CPU and GPU. A highly tailored chip allows them to delete any logic that they don't need lowering power requirements or raising performance.
In other words I think Apple has a play book that is look 5-10 years out where they have a SoC that delivers the best performance per watt out there. Functionally they are already there, but they also have much farther to go. I never understood this one either. One obvious effect is that they are using hardware that has been bought and paid for development wise so the chip going into the Touch is likely very cheap. This however does impact sales a bit. Even when they do update it is a lackluster update. Touch still ships with too little RAM for example. This is harder to predict, I could imagine Apple crowing next year about moving the entire iOS range to 64 bit hardware. It would be a feather in the marketing cap.
The problem with these predictions is that the climate scientist still don't have a valid model that explains what is happening, nor does anybody really knows why this solar cycle is so different from past solar cycles. In the end whatever happens is something we will have to live with.
LOL oh, global warming FUD!!
This just in today...
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/09/30/un-climate-change-models-warming/
This is a UN report, which normally I would not even look at, however, being as they are huge climate change advocates, and they say there has been a pause in global warming for years, I was curious.
Also, weather patterns are patters. Some are local, national, global, that change daily, monthly, seasonally. Any climate change is due to the normal cyclical patters and sun flairs.