Analysis of Apple Watch's S1 chip reveals 30 individual components in 'very unique' package
A deeper inspection of the S1 system-in-package that powers Apple's new wearable reveals a plethora of parts packed into an impressively compact space, including a new Apple-designed application processor alongside components from Broadcom, Skyworks, and NXP.
Apple's APL0778 chip -- the heart of the system -- was fabricated on Samsung's 28-nanometer low power process, according to Chipworks. At just 5.2 millimeters by 6.2 millimeters, the Apple processor is the largest component in the S1.
In a surprising change, longtime Apple supplier Cirrus was bumped from the Apple Watch in favor of audio codec and amplifier silicon from Maxim. Coincidentally, Apple now occupies much of Maxim's former campus in Sunnyvale, Calif.
As with the iPhone 6, NXP silicon makes up the NFC controller and the secure element, while AMS provides the NFC signal booster.
STMicroelectronics provides the Watch's six-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, as well as the encoder that powers the digital crown. Battery management duties went to parts from Texas Instruments.
Broadcom's popular BCM4334 --?found in numerous Apple products, including the Apple TV and iPhone 5 --?provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications capabilities in concert with a Skyworks Wi-Fi switch and low-noise amplifier.
Apple's APL0778 chip -- the heart of the system -- was fabricated on Samsung's 28-nanometer low power process, according to Chipworks. At just 5.2 millimeters by 6.2 millimeters, the Apple processor is the largest component in the S1.
In a surprising change, longtime Apple supplier Cirrus was bumped from the Apple Watch in favor of audio codec and amplifier silicon from Maxim. Coincidentally, Apple now occupies much of Maxim's former campus in Sunnyvale, Calif.
As with the iPhone 6, NXP silicon makes up the NFC controller and the secure element, while AMS provides the NFC signal booster.
STMicroelectronics provides the Watch's six-axis accelerometer and gyroscope, as well as the encoder that powers the digital crown. Battery management duties went to parts from Texas Instruments.
Broadcom's popular BCM4334 --?found in numerous Apple products, including the Apple TV and iPhone 5 --?provides Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications capabilities in concert with a Skyworks Wi-Fi switch and low-noise amplifier.
Comments
Seems like all this is set up for fairly easy removal and replacement. This seems to me to lend credence to the idea that the Appl Watch will be upgradable by a simple replacement of its internals. That will reduce the price of upgrading significantly.
I think a Gen. 2 model will be much slimmer which should serve as an incentive to replace the whole watch not just the guts.
Cannot be easily replaced because it is glued in there tightly, according to iFixit. But, yeah, amazing package!
And yes, I'm aware Chipworks appear to be quoted there, so they made the original mistake, but putting it in a headline would have gotten an editor fired when I worked in print ...
So Maxim got all the audio, amp and codec. The codec win is very surprising.
Hmmm.... reading 28nm for the main processor gives me pause about buying the first generation apple watch.
If Apple moves to 14/16nm for the second generation, it could mean a big improvement in performance and/or battery life.
Someone at Chipworks (and AI) didn't pay attention in English class. Things can't be "very" unique. They are either unique (one of a kind) or they are not. No modifiers allowed on the word "unique."
And yes, I'm aware Chipworks appear to be quoted there, so they made the original mistake, but putting it in a headline would have gotten an editor fired when I worked in print ...
If the S1 was identical to another processor except in one minor detail, and that detail was a unique detail, then the S1 would be "unique." The author obviously wanted to say that it was unique in many ways, and does that with the formulation "very unique."
Gen 2, which could be years off into the future, will be on a much smaller and more integrated board. In hat regard I would expect Apple to roll into the Apple chip many of those processors now sitting exporter all to the chip. They will do this just like they did on the A series where they rolled the voice processor on the main SoC. The end game would be to have all digital processors on board the SoC with a few analog parts external. The fact that the SoC is 28 nam implies that Apple has a lot of opportunity here.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that some of the new design wins are due to a willingness upon the suppliers to license IP for Apple to include in future spins. I could see a physical board that is half the size of the current one. If they consider thru via stacking of RAM and possibly flash on the CPU we could see a much thinner board too.
In other words those that think upgradable try is to be offered in the future might be disappointed. There would be a huge advantage for Apple to physically shrink the board if for nothing else to free up room for the battery.
I really have to wonder why you even posted this non sense of yours. The English language is not static even in the best of situations. Even the people that make up the rules change things as the language evolves.
Revving the design is an interesting idea and I'm not sure Apple will even consider annual major overhauls like they have done with the iPhone. I could see a 2-3 year cycle as they match the design cycle with the production capacity.
Yes performance battery life and space utilization would all improve. Improving power usage while lowering the space requirements can lead to a very large increase in battery size.
In the end how Apple goes about revving this product will Depend very much upon how sales go. If there is a run away hit we may see a 14 nam device sooner than expected.
Seems like all this is set up for fairly easy removal and replacement. This seems to me to lend credence to the idea that the Appl Watch will be upgradable by a simple replacement of its internals. That will reduce the price of upgrading significantly.
And that's what Apple try to avoid: user upgradable hardware especially main board and CPU. They never did that before and never will. The only component that Apple allowed to upgrade was RAM in computers, but it's been gone lately too. I don't see why they will do this to harm the profit margin. Instead, they just make sure the new release of iOS backward compatible with 3-4 generations of Apple watch.
If the S1 was identical to another processor except in one minor detail, and that detail was a unique detail, then the S1 would be "unique." The author obviously wanted to say that it was unique in many ways, and does that with the formulation "very unique."
The English language is full of words. You don't need to break grammatical rules in order to communicate what you mean. That said, a Google search for the quoted phrase "very unique" returns 19,700,000 hits so it is indeed commonly used, however that doesn't make very correct.
I think a Gen. 2 model will be much slimmer which should serve as an incentive to replace the whole watch not just the guts.
I don't want it slimmer. Just keep the same thickness and double/triple battery life.
I don't want it slimmer. Just keep the same thickness and double/triple battery life.
That is not the Apple way. They will determine how long the battery should last for an average user and then make the watch as thin as possible and still retain that battery life. You might get a slight battery life improvement in a slimmer design, but If you want to predict the future of the ?Watch just look at the history of iPhone and iMac and Macbook. Thinner taken to the extreme.
No, that is exactly what constitutes "correctness" in the English language. It's always been that way. It's why you don't write English the same way they did even just 300 years ago. It's why you don't use the same slang and phrases they did even back in the early 20th century. English is not a static language or bound by formal rules despite what pendants would like to believe. Get over yourself.
Not this again. Did you see how difficult the teardown on iFixit is? The cost of upgrading that watch would far outweigh replacing it with a new one. The Edition owners won't care, though the cost of trading it in would be a lot more manageable considering the gold content. Everybody else, not so much.
Get over yourself.
Sorry I was trying to make a joke, but I guess it turned out to be extremely opposite.
[URL=http://www.macrumors.com/2015/05/07/apple-watch-28nm-samsung-processor/]http://www.macrumors.com/2015/05/07/apple-watch-28nm-samsung-processor/[/URL]
that probably wont happen. just like it didnt happen for ipods, iphones, ipads, or macbooks. you get what you bought.