jdb8167
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TSMC's 7nm process enhancement may keep Apple from using Samsung for 'A12' chip production...
Based on those numbers, just Apple using TSMC alone are manufacturing 1.65x10^18 transistors in a year. The Milky Way galaxy (ours) is estimated to have about 1x10^11 stars. The numbers are mind boggling. Apple is responsible for a transistor count 16.5 million times the number stars in the galaxy.Soli said:
I seem to recall Schiller saying one chip was at 3.3 billion. And possibly around 500 million chips in the next year is a lot of transistors. I’m still amazed by all these numbers even while seeing it all happen gradually.melgross said:
Eh, what’s a billion transistors more or less? I think we’re getting blasé about it all these days. Next goal is 5 billion. I wonder when Apple will reach that?Soli said:
And at such an enormous capacity.hexclock said:It is really difficult to appreciate how small 7 nanometers is without some comparison. A strand of spider silk is about 7 micrometers wide, a full order of magnitude (1000x) thicker.
7 nm is also about 3 times smaller than the smallest virus.
We take it for granted, but it really is quite amazing that we can manufacture something that small - and smaller!
It is estimated that in 2014 total manufacturing of transistors was 250 x10^18. Expect at least double that now.
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Review: Apple's 2017 10.5" iPad Pro stuns with 120Hz ProMotion display
I haven't measured charging the 10.5" iPad Pro with the included 12 watt charger but I have with Apple's 29 watt USB-C charger.
From 0% to 100% took 2 hours and 10 minutes. 0% to 63% in the first hour and to 93% in the next hour.
I've also previously tested the 1st gen 12.9" iPad Pro with the same charger and total charge time was 2 hours and 47 minutes.
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Apple iPhone supplier TSMC on track to ship 10nm chips in this quarter, 'expand rapidly'
Nothing. It is mostly marketing now that comes from a standard terminology from International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). For example, according to Wikipedia, the 14 nm technology fabrication node has a variety of feature sizes (these are Intel's numbers): Transistor Fin Pitch 42 nm, Transistor Fin Width 8 nm, Transistor Fin Height 42 nm, Transistor Gate Pitch 70 nm and Interconnect Pitch 52 nm.randominternetperson said:What part of a chip does the 7nm refer to?
If you want more info, this is a good site https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/14_nm_lithography_process.
Edited to add wikichip.org site.
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Quanta rumored to build 3rd-gen Apple Watch, with extended battery and better speed
Don't forget that on the first generation, they were working out the manufacturing. That obviously took a while. The original SiP S1 chip was very old process technology by the time it was released showing that Apple had problems with development of the core system. The S1 was a 28 nm part that was first shipped in April 2015. The A8 in the iPhone 6/6+ was already out for the introduction of the original Apple Watch in September 2014 and it was a 20 nm part. Just 6 months after the S1 shipped Apple shipped the A9 which was a 14/16 nm part. I think it is pretty clear that Apple had planned to release the Apple Watch much sooner than they did. The Watch benefits from a new node process as much or more than the iPhone does.StrangeDays said:
I'm not so sure. They announced 0 in fall 2014, and the new one almost came out almost exactly two years after that. I don't think it's coincidence -- I don't think they're on an annual cycle at all, and expect them to be two years. But we'll need to wait and see.Soli said:
Just under 1.5 years.StrangeDays said:
Aren't they on a two-year cycle so far? The Series 2 was two years after the original was announced, wasn't it?rogifan_new said:
Oh please unless the watch gets a week battery life who cares if you have to charge it every day or every two days? And for what people do with the watch how much improved processing power do they need? It's not like there's a gold rush of all these amazing apps developers are building for the watch. Outside of health what's the narrative for the Watch? Being a notification devices shouldn't take that much processing power.levi said:
Give me a break. Apple has no reason to hold back - they're moving as fast as the technology (and regulation) will allow them. Also even if we are to believe these are the only changes (which I'm skeptical of) I suspect that many current and prospective Apple Watch owners would be happy to buy a Watch with improved battery and processing performance.rogifan_new said:I hope this is BS. Another year of mostly incremental changes to Apple Watch is no good. If all we're getting is a new SiP and watchOS 4 Apple might as well not release a new watch this year.
I think Apple has more important things to worry about with the Watch. Breakthroughs in the health arena will take time and some will be difficult if they require government approval. I'd rather than not have Apple launch a new Watch every year and instead maybe just introduce new bands and tweak the software to keep the device fresh.
Now, Series 0 was first announced on 09 September 2014, but we need to go by release dates, not the product category introduction date.- Series 0 – 24 April 2015
- Series 2 – 16 September 2016
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TSMC on track for volume production of 7nm chips for iPhone, iPad in 2018
Yep, I think 7 nm is it for FinFET. But the actual feature size now is mostly marketing. So maybe someone will get to 5 nm FinFET because marketing says 5 nm is better than 7 nm.slprescott said:Is there a lower-limit on FinFET size? At 7nm, are we approaching that limit?
When Intel is having yield problems on 14 nm, you can be pretty sure everyone else is too. So I'm skeptical of even 10 nm much less 7 nm.
