Looks like you are trying to give Samsung credit for the A7. Don't, they have 0.
They have credit for making what they are told to make faster than the others.
Giving Samsung credit for the A7 is like Foxconn credit for the iPhone. They are build what Apple designed. Samsung is skilled at fabbing the necessary number of chips but that is where it ends.
No IGZO on this, yet it is on the iPad Air. That will lead to more improvements once they add that- I wonder if they'll add it as production slows for both the Air and Mini
iFixit are not equiped to tell if a screen is IGZO or LTPS or anything else. They didnt identify the ipad air has being IGZO either. Since its impossible to used a normal LCD with half the leds, that screen will reveal it to be either IGZO or LTPS when properly analyse.
If the Air is indeed using IGZO, then you can't tell the difference, and of course it didn't help Apple win any display contests.
Since an advanced display tech is the reason the ipads are so light and consume a lot less power, you DO see the difference. Maybe its why Apple didnt even mention it, because, the end results is what counts.
That being said, there is no way in hell you can pack the ipad mini retina screen into that container unless you used some kind of advance display tech. Something was used (IGZO, LTPS, ...), you cant just take a normal LDC and cut half of it's leds.
I find that funny. For one thing, it was this pink unicorn among haters for months. If the Air is indeed using IGZO, then you can't tell the difference, and of course it didn't help Apple win any display contests. Kind of like all these people who apologize for the Surface Pro saying "nobody in their right mind would buy one because they're waiting for some (insert future Intel code name here) chip" that was supposed to fix whatever deficiencies existed in the Surface Pro. Hilarious. The tech world is full of pink unicorns for the gadget geeks to wait for. Always waiting... Meanwhile, people are using their iPad Airs and getting lots of value out of them.
You remind me of Ballmer and the BlackBerry guys when confronted with the touch screen. The paradigm has changed underneath your nose and you don't even know it.
IGZO has 20 to 50 times the electron mobility of amorphous silicon, that should tell you all you need to know. Actually you also need a tiny bit of imagination (think about the move from discrete components to large-scale integrated circuits 50 years ago.) The point is that physics, chemistry and crystallography have progressed to the point where we can move beyond silicon. Apple sees this as an opportunity for higher res screens for 4K without a battery penalty, so they have invested heavily in it.
The junk in the heads of the haters has nothing to do with reality, and I think you should distance yourself from two-bit clichés like "pink unicorns."
Edit: A little detoning, plus note akqies and herbapou comments above.
It's a pink unicorn to focus attention on some supposed deficiency in the iPad. Very common meme among haters and trolls. "The iPad doesn't have _______!"
I'm surprised they aren't saying they're "disappointed" the iPad doesn't have the non-existent A7X chip, because if it did, it would be so much "better." Oh wait, I think they did say that...
I read a negative review the other day (which google pulled up as "news" on Google now- first time it's ever pushed an Apple review to me) and basically concluded the iPad Air was a disappointment because it didn't have wireless AC and touch ID. Hilarious, since i bet a very TINY percentage of people even have an ac router or would even benefit from the speeds, and Touch ID is something that we did not know existed until a couple months ago. But suddenly, we expect and feel entitled to have it on every single Apple product.
"The iPad mini's chip is the same 1.29 gigahertz model found in the iPhone 5s, rather than the beefier 1.4 gigahertz variant that ships with the iPad Air. "
I hope Apple retains the same size for their logic board for a long time to come. Some where in future; I just swap it out when is 2 or 3 times faster.
Samsung manufactures the A7 processor…the brains of the device.
Don't worry. As soon as rumors of premature A7 failures hits the web, the haters will call it an Apple A7 chip. That's an unwritten rule in the forums, and I expect you all to follow it.
That being said, there is no way in hell you can pack the ipad mini retina screen into that container unless you used some kind of advance display tech. Something was used (IGZO, LTPS, ...), you cant just take a normal LDC and cut half of it's leds.
I would agree that there is a possibility but I can't agree that there is no way in hell it isn't. I think it's possible that they could have used other components to reduce power draw to make the YoY release of the iPad Air so much lighter than the 4th gen iPad. Moving to a single backlight and to Rogue 6 might be enough to allow the seen reduction in battery size. Add to that more efficient chips across the board, including lower-power RAM and I don't think it's impossible that IGZO or LTPS wasn't used this time.
IGZO has 20 to 50 times the electron mobility of amorphous silicon, that should tell you all you need to know. Actually you also need a tiny bit of imagination (think about the move from discrete components to large-scale integrated circuits 50 years ago.) The point is that physics, chemistry and crystallography have progressed to the point where we can move beyond silicon. Apple sees this as an opportunity for higher res screens for 4K without a battery penalty, so they have invested heavily in it.
The junk in the heads of the haters has nothing to do with reality, and I think you should distance yourself from two-bit clichés like "pink unicorns."
My comment is not a slam against IGZO or any buzzword technology itself. It's about the nature behind people who exalt the supposed benefits of some new tech buzzword, whether real or imagined (usually imagined or exaggerated), then use the lack of it as an excuse to slam Apple products, and/or hilariously defend a competitor's product. Now if its some feature you genuinely want, then that's fine, but most people only THINK they know how some buzzword tech will benefit them. The A7X is the perfect example of that: it doesn't even exist, and there are no benchmarks to compare, but people were "disappointed" about the iPad not having it. That's ridiculous. And a very glass-half-empty way to look at products.
We are not talking about buzzwords, you are. If you look into it a bit, you may see that it is a fundamental shift in solid state electronics.
When implemented, it's somewhere between the shift from CRT to LCD monitors and the shift from buttons to touchscreens in importance. It will be huge for mobile electronics.
Buzzwords schmuzzwords. Forget what other people are saying. That's gossip. Think for yourself.
Looks like you are trying to give Samsung credit for the A7. Don't, they have 0.
They have credit for making what they are told to make faster than the others.
Apparently, you have no idea what the word "manufacture" means. Apple designed the chip and they retained Samsung to make it for them. Apple does not manufacture any of the chips in their devices, they use and need other companies' products. So Samsung does get credit for being the company to manufacture the A7 for Apple. You many not like their phones, but Samsung makes the best TVs. Although the latest Panasonic plasma series might give them a run for their money.
I would agree that there is a possibility but I can't agree that there is no way in hell it isn't. I think it's possible that they could have used other components to reduce power draw to make the YoY release of the iPad Air so much lighter than the 4th gen iPad. Moving to a single backlight and to Rogue 6 might be enough to allow the seen reduction in battery size. Add to that more efficient chips across the board, including lower-power RAM and I don't think it's impossible that IGZO or LTPS wasn't used this time.
Well display mate and other sites confirms the amount of leds was cut in half. Only display mate, which afe experts at this btw, confirmed the screen is IGZO. It would be nice indeed to have confirmation from another source.
Other components contribute to the lower power consumption, but the display is the bulk of the savings.
Don't worry. As soon as rumors of premature A7 failures hits the web, the haters will call it an Apple A7 chip. That's an unwritten rule in the forums, and I expect you all to follow it.
Apparently, you have no idea what the word "manufacture" means. Apple designed the chip and they retained Samsung to make it for them. Apple does not manufacture any of the chips in their devices, they use and need other companies' products. So Samsung does get credit for being the company to manufacture the A7 for Apple. You many not like their phones, but Samsung makes the best TVs. Although the latest Panasonic plasma series might give them a run for their money.
The A7 isn't a samsung product. Samsung has nothing to do with the design, power, efficiency of the a7.
They are so bad at chip design, that they need qualcomm chips now. Exynos is bad.
It is Samsung that manufactures the A7, but it could be TSMC, AMD, INTEL, etc. The thing is: Samsung manufactures them faster.
The A7 isn't a samsung product. Samsung has nothing to do with the design, power, efficiency of the a7.
Not entirely true...
Firstly the highly efficient ARMv8-A instruction set is designed by ARM not apple.
And secondly...
Samsung's 28nm low power High-K Metal Gate Process is built on two years of development and successful high-volume production of the 32nm LP HKMG process and is designed for a remarkably simple migration path. The 28nm process is a gate-first High-K Metal Gate process which enables it to deliver significant performance while maintaining low power, making it ideal for mobile applications. A variant of the process, 28nm LPH HKMG, offers even greater power savings or performance boost beyond 2GHz. 28LP process is ideal for mobile applications where the low standby power is crucial, the high performance 28LPH process is a solution for more performance oriented applications that require extremely high performance incorporated with high energy efficiency. It boasts more than 20% speed over 28LP at the same standby power.
Firstly the highly efficient ARMv8-A instruction set is designed by ARM not apple.
And secondly...
Samsung's 28nm low power High-K Metal Gate Process is built on two years of development and successful high-volume production of the 32nm LP HKMG process and is designed for a remarkably simple migration path. The 28nm process is a gate-first High-K Metal Gate process which enables it to deliver significant performance while maintaining low power, making it ideal for mobile applications. A variant of the process, 28nm LPH HKMG, offers even greater power savings or performance boost beyond 2GHz. 28LP process is ideal for mobile applications where the low standby power is crucial, the high performance 28LPH process is a solution for more performance oriented applications that require extremely high performance incorporated with high energy efficiency. It boasts more than 20% speed over 28LP at the same standby power.
Sounds great and all. But with all those buzzwords, and yet the fact remains that Samsung doesn't even have enough faith in their own chips to use them in their own, flagship devices. Why is that? I'll defer to anandtech's opinion on this, who after an indepth analysis, concluded that there's nothing out there that comes close to comparing to the A7.
Comments
Giving Samsung credit for the A7 is like Foxconn credit for the iPhone. They are build what Apple designed. Samsung is skilled at fabbing the necessary number of chips but that is where it ends.
No IGZO on this, yet it is on the iPad Air. That will lead to more improvements once they add that- I wonder if they'll add it as production slows for both the Air and Mini
iFixit are not equiped to tell if a screen is IGZO or LTPS or anything else. They didnt identify the ipad air has being IGZO either. Since its impossible to used a normal LCD with half the leds, that screen will reveal it to be either IGZO or LTPS when properly analyse.
So 1GB external DRAM and A7 has 1GB internal DRAM, does this mean the mini is using a full 2GB?
<EDIT> just found out on Wikipedia, Ipads use different A7 without POP stacked DRAM.
If the Air is indeed using IGZO, then you can't tell the difference, and of course it didn't help Apple win any display contests.
Since an advanced display tech is the reason the ipads are so light and consume a lot less power, you DO see the difference. Maybe its why Apple didnt even mention it, because, the end results is what counts.
That being said, there is no way in hell you can pack the ipad mini retina screen into that container unless you used some kind of advance display tech. Something was used (IGZO, LTPS, ...), you cant just take a normal LDC and cut half of it's leds.
You remind me of Ballmer and the BlackBerry guys when confronted with the touch screen. The paradigm has changed underneath your nose and you don't even know it.
IGZO has 20 to 50 times the electron mobility of amorphous silicon, that should tell you all you need to know. Actually you also need a tiny bit of imagination (think about the move from discrete components to large-scale integrated circuits 50 years ago.) The point is that physics, chemistry and crystallography have progressed to the point where we can move beyond silicon. Apple sees this as an opportunity for higher res screens for 4K without a battery penalty, so they have invested heavily in it.
The junk in the heads of the haters has nothing to do with reality, and I think you should distance yourself from two-bit clichés like "pink unicorns."
Edit: A little detoning, plus note akqies and herbapou comments above.
It's a pink unicorn to focus attention on some supposed deficiency in the iPad. Very common meme among haters and trolls. "The iPad doesn't have _______!"
I'm surprised they aren't saying they're "disappointed" the iPad doesn't have the non-existent A7X chip, because if it did, it would be so much "better." Oh wait, I think they did say that...
I read a negative review the other day (which google pulled up as "news" on Google now- first time it's ever pushed an Apple review to me) and basically concluded the iPad Air was a disappointment because it didn't have wireless AC and touch ID. Hilarious, since i bet a very TINY percentage of people even have an ac router or would even benefit from the speeds, and Touch ID is something that we did not know existed until a couple months ago. But suddenly, we expect and feel entitled to have it on every single Apple product.
I hope Apple retains the same size for their logic board for a long time to come.
Some where in future; I just swap it out when is 2 or 3 times faster.
Bottom line:
Air has slightly better screen
Slightly faster CPU
slightly longer battery life
Makes sense since it is $100 more expensive.
But the mini has a much higher pixel density.
Don't worry. As soon as rumors of premature A7 failures hits the web, the haters will call it an Apple A7 chip. That's an unwritten rule in the forums, and I expect you all to follow it.
I would agree that there is a possibility but I can't agree that there is no way in hell it isn't. I think it's possible that they could have used other components to reduce power draw to make the YoY release of the iPad Air so much lighter than the 4th gen iPad. Moving to a single backlight and to Rogue 6 might be enough to allow the seen reduction in battery size. Add to that more efficient chips across the board, including lower-power RAM and I don't think it's impossible that IGZO or LTPS wasn't used this time.
My comment is not a slam against IGZO or any buzzword technology itself. It's about the nature behind people who exalt the supposed benefits of some new tech buzzword, whether real or imagined (usually imagined or exaggerated), then use the lack of it as an excuse to slam Apple products, and/or hilariously defend a competitor's product. Now if its some feature you genuinely want, then that's fine, but most people only THINK they know how some buzzword tech will benefit them. The A7X is the perfect example of that: it doesn't even exist, and there are no benchmarks to compare, but people were "disappointed" about the iPad not having it. That's ridiculous. And a very glass-half-empty way to look at products.
When implemented, it's somewhere between the shift from CRT to LCD monitors and the shift from buttons to touchscreens in importance. It will be huge for mobile electronics.
Buzzwords schmuzzwords. Forget what other people are saying. That's gossip. Think for yourself.
Looks like you are trying to give Samsung credit for the A7. Don't, they have 0.
They have credit for making what they are told to make faster than the others.
Apparently, you have no idea what the word "manufacture" means. Apple designed the chip and they retained Samsung to make it for them. Apple does not manufacture any of the chips in their devices, they use and need other companies' products. So Samsung does get credit for being the company to manufacture the A7 for Apple. You many not like their phones, but Samsung makes the best TVs. Although the latest Panasonic plasma series might give them a run for their money.
Well display mate and other sites confirms the amount of leds was cut in half. Only display mate, which afe experts at this btw, confirmed the screen is IGZO. It would be nice indeed to have confirmation from another source.
Other components contribute to the lower power consumption, but the display is the bulk of the savings.
Bottom line:
Air has slightly better screen
Slightly faster CPU
slightly longer battery life
Makes sense since it is $100 more expensive.
Air has bigger screen too... that justifies the $100 difference...
This is all too true.
Apparently, you have no idea what the word "manufacture" means. Apple designed the chip and they retained Samsung to make it for them. Apple does not manufacture any of the chips in their devices, they use and need other companies' products. So Samsung does get credit for being the company to manufacture the A7 for Apple. You many not like their phones, but Samsung makes the best TVs. Although the latest Panasonic plasma series might give them a run for their money.
The A7 isn't a samsung product. Samsung has nothing to do with the design, power, efficiency of the a7.
They are so bad at chip design, that they need qualcomm chips now. Exynos is bad.
It is Samsung that manufactures the A7, but it could be TSMC, AMD, INTEL, etc. The thing is: Samsung manufactures them faster.
The A7 isn't a samsung product. Samsung has nothing to do with the design, power, efficiency of the a7.
Not entirely true...
Firstly the highly efficient ARMv8-A instruction set is designed by ARM not apple.
And secondly...
Samsung's 28nm low power High-K Metal Gate Process is built on two years of development and successful high-volume production of the 32nm LP HKMG process and is designed for a remarkably simple migration path. The 28nm process is a gate-first High-K Metal Gate process which enables it to deliver significant performance while maintaining low power, making it ideal for mobile applications. A variant of the process, 28nm LPH HKMG, offers even greater power savings or performance boost beyond 2GHz. 28LP process is ideal for mobile applications where the low standby power is crucial, the high performance 28LPH process is a solution for more performance oriented applications that require extremely high performance incorporated with high energy efficiency. It boasts more than 20% speed over 28LP at the same standby power.
Not entirely true...
Firstly the highly efficient ARMv8-A instruction set is designed by ARM not apple.
And secondly...
Samsung's 28nm low power High-K Metal Gate Process is built on two years of development and successful high-volume production of the 32nm LP HKMG process and is designed for a remarkably simple migration path. The 28nm process is a gate-first High-K Metal Gate process which enables it to deliver significant performance while maintaining low power, making it ideal for mobile applications. A variant of the process, 28nm LPH HKMG, offers even greater power savings or performance boost beyond 2GHz. 28LP process is ideal for mobile applications where the low standby power is crucial, the high performance 28LPH process is a solution for more performance oriented applications that require extremely high performance incorporated with high energy efficiency. It boasts more than 20% speed over 28LP at the same standby power.
Sounds great and all. But with all those buzzwords, and yet the fact remains that Samsung doesn't even have enough faith in their own chips to use them in their own, flagship devices. Why is that? I'll defer to anandtech's opinion on this, who after an indepth analysis, concluded that there's nothing out there that comes close to comparing to the A7.