Apple's 64-bit A7 already powering advanced new audio, video features in apps and games

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  • Reply 81 of 98
    mechanicmechanic Posts: 805member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post





    Lol



    61.5 I bet image

     

    What about 61.75?  Isn't that better?<img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" /> 

  • Reply 82 of 98
    mechanicmechanic Posts: 805member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gotApple View Post

     

    An article by a fan for fans. Unfortunately dual core  is still a dual core, as seen from some benchmarks that stress all cores:

     

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review/7

     

    Check out the physics tests. A7 is possibly the best dual core ARM chip there is, but naturally it cannot outperform good quad core chips in tasks that really utilize all cores you have.

     

    What also is alarming that iPhone 5s's GPU loses to Adreno 330 in GLBenchmark 2.7 (Egypt HD, offscreen 1080p). Even if iPhone 5s's next generation mobile GPU was 25% faster than Adreno 330, the result would still be a small disappointment. A7 has also a miserable triangle throughput when compared to even iPhone 5's GPU... With A7 you gain some but lose some...

     

    All in all, A7 is a great mobile chip, but it's not really a revolution. Inside the always-down-clocked Apple world it might be, but if you take other platforms into account it's not so fantastic any more. Especially now that Apple will be using A7 for the next 12 months and competitors will once again keep on launching their new stuff that contain Snapdragon 800s and other new stuff. But a nice catch up from Apple with A7.


    As you so mentioned in your comment that the tests were done off screen with 1080p resolution and with that resolution of course quad cores are going to have an advantage but when on screen  the A7 beats the Adreno 330 in rendering tests and is the only chip to score over 30, in fact 37 fps in GL Benchmark 2.7 T Rex Test.  Notice that the Adreno 330 was only able to manage 26 fps.

    To quote Anand La Shimpi about this benchmark above:

     

    Quote:

     As expected, the G6430 in the iPhone 5s is more than twice the speed of the part in the iPhone 5. It is also the first device we've tested capable of breaking the 30 fps barrier in T-Rex HD at its native resolution. Given just how ridiculously intense this test is, I think it's safe to say that the iPhone 5s will probably have the longest shelf life from a gaming perspective of any previous iPhone.


    Bold emphasis is mine.

     

    Its not a catch up its stomping on the Adreno where it matters.

     

    Lol the galaxy GS4 octo can only manage 12 fps on this test.

  • Reply 83 of 98
    1 step closer to the merge of IOS and Mac OS, /s
  • Reply 84 of 98
    Is it true that the clock speed stayed at 1.3Ghz? How does it then compare to the MB Air at 1.3? Same ABI, wow, Apple can cut their Mac processor pricing significantly if they started using their own processors!
  • Reply 85 of 98
    Is it true that the clock speed stayed at 1.3Ghz? How does it then compare to the MB Air at 1.3? Same ABI, wow, Apple can cut their Mac processor pricing significantly if they started using their own processors!

    According to anandtech, the A7 is equivalent to first edition mba in processor power..
    Current mba's are way more efficient and faster than original model.

    You seem to have some insider knowledge of Intel off the shelf processor pricing vs samsung custom silicon, please educate us.
  • Reply 86 of 98
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mausz View Post



    Only problem I see here is fragmentation...If the difference is this large, won't we get 5s only apps ?

     

    Yeah, Android is so much better at handling fragmentation. /s

  • Reply 87 of 98
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mechanic View Post

     

    No fragmentation wont be an issue.  Because of fat binaries in X code.  Also because of ARMv8's new ISA, the A7 supports AArch 32bit and AArch 64 bit directly.  Which means to the end programmer and user 32 bit  and 64 bit code can be run separately or both side by side in the A7.  

     

    Good explanations here, and very technical here.


     

    I love it when Fandroids post about their "concern" over iOS fragmentation. Never mind that Apple switched Mac OS X from PowerPC to x86 to x86-64 without "fragmentation."

  • Reply 88 of 98
    heffequeheffeque Posts: 139member
    I think that this is realy REALY important news and people aren't giving it enough light:

    "Apple has also emphasized that iOS 7 on the A7 shares the same ABI (application binary interface) as OS X. Apple's implementation of ARMv8 diverges slightly from ARM's generic C ABI for the ARM 64-bit architecture, which is derived from the C ABI initially created for SVr4 Unix on Intel's Itanium.

    The ABI changes Apple made in developing the A7 maximize compatibility with existing 64-bit code targeting desktop PC and Mac architectures. That was done because Apple's iOS isn't simply content with tacking "64-bit" on as a check-list feature. iOS is designed to bring desktop-class software into the mobile world, and the 64-bit A7 is the next step along that progression."
  • Reply 89 of 98
    thepixeldocthepixeldoc Posts: 2,257member
    sog35 wrote: »
    nice catch up?  Samdung phones continue to show massive lag on even the most basic apps (telephone, address book).  Even the newest Note3 lags.  While the 1 year old 5 is smooth as hell.  I think the Android army needs to catch up.

    Just watched the original iPhone presentation by SJ again: the original iPhone 1 is/was smoother than the SG4. No shit!
  • Reply 90 of 98
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    I had the misfortune of looking at phones today, and I came across the Galaxy S4 Mega. 



    To those who say it would fit in a pocket, I say punch yourselves in the face. To those who say you wouldn’t look silly while talking on it, I say you’re going to get punched in the face. <img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />

     

    I’ve always wondered why Apple is the only company that has working demos of their phones ANYWHERE.

     

    I mean, I don’t wonder; I know. If you were to actually get a chance to use those piece of Schmidt phones before buying one, you’d never buy one in the first place. But still.

     

    Oh, I also got to hold an iPhone 5C, and it was DELICIOUS. The plastic felt like something I should be eating. Just so… mmm…

     

  • Reply 91 of 98
    enzosenzos Posts: 344member

    Reading and learning from some surprisingly informed and non-stupid disputes here about the merits of 64-bit, etc. That said, I'll stick with my earlier assessment that the A7 renders all other mobile chips obsolete (which is why there's so much smirking and gurning coming from non-Apple side; it's all they have!).

    As quoted by Gruber from a long technical article by Mike Ash ( http://www.mikeash.com/pyblog/friday-qa-2013-09-27-arm64-and-you.html ;):

    >Adding it all together, it’s a pretty big win. My casual benchmarking indicates that basic object creation and destruction takes about 380ns on a 5S running in 32-bit mode, while it’s only about 200ns when running in 64-bit mode. If any instance of the class has ever had a weak reference and an associated object set, the 32-bit time rises to about 480ns, while the 64-bit time remains around 200ns for any instances that were not themselves the target.

    >In short, the improvements to Apple’s runtime make it so that object allocation in 64-bit mode costs only 40-50% of what it does in 32-bit mode. If your app creates and destroys a lot of objects, that’s a big deal.

  • Reply 92 of 98
    ahmlcoahmlco Posts: 432member
    Agree with pedromartins. Need an A7x with at least 2GB in the next iPad. Apple needs to future proof its devices.
  • Reply 93 of 98
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by ahmlco View Post

    Need an A7x with at least 2GB in the next iPad. Apple needs to future proof its devices.

     

    A7X is a given, 2GB isn’t a necessity. There’s no such thing as future-proofing.

  • Reply 94 of 98
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mausz View Post



    64 bit is a bit of a gimmick, what really matters is the ARMv8 support.... But try selling that to customers....



    Only problem I see here is fragmentation...If the difference is this large, won't we get 5s only apps ?

     

    When you build for 64bit it makes a 32bit binary as well and bundles them together... so no. 

  • Reply 95 of 98
    Given the direction of OSX over the past couple of years, I suspect we will start to see A7/8 based processors in the Macbook line soon. There are a lot of unknowns to be sure, but it does seem like they are heading down the road of unifying the mobile and desktop space. Given the power and efficiencies they are getting out of the A7, they are well on their way to creating a viable homegrown alternative to Intel.
  • Reply 96 of 98
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member

    Saw the battery savings with my own eyes: first full charge to drain was over 10.5 hours of usage making a substantial improvement to my 5. A nice surprise.

     

    Currently at 7 hrs 11 minutes standby, 1 hr 33 minutes use and 78% remaining battery.

  • Reply 97 of 98
    thomprthompr Posts: 1,521member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post

     

    Think of it this way, no one will be surprised a Camry will cover a few more miles on a complete tank of gas than a Camero despite have a smaller tank. We don't look at it that way, we use MPG to level the field. 


    On the other hand, if said Camry also reaches the destination faster than said Camero, people may be talking about distance to empty as well as MPG.

     

    Thompson

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