[Info-vax] OT: About proprietary chips

[Paul Sture]

In article <nospam.News.Bob-51B685.19484027012010 at nothing.attdns.com>,
 Bob Harris <nospam.News.Bob at remove.Smith-Harris.us> wrote:

> In article <00dc9bb4$0$17126$c3e8da3 at news.astraweb.com>,
>  JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> wrote:
> 
> > John Wallace wrote:
> > 
> > > Yes it seems to be an ARM-based chip.
> > 
> > OK, so your arguments about it being less difficult/costly to have your
> > own version are very valid.
> > 
> > But it is still costlier than buying some off-the-shelf ARM processors
> > for your adult toys/phones.
> > 
> > Will be interesting to hear more about whether Apple was able to do much
> > more with its "own" chip than if it had bought off the shelf ones.
> 
> NOTE: I do not have a "Clue" about what Apple did with their own 
> chip, but I can guess.
> 
> I would guess that the value added is the extra bits around the 
> ARM instruction set.  Things to make the graphics work better.  
> Things to deal with the multi-touch.  Things to deal with 
> accelerometer, compass, etc...
> 
> The more stuff they can integrate into the CPU chip, the less 
> power, and the lower the component costs.
> 
> And I'm willing to bet that the next generation of iPhone and iPod 
> Touch may be using a version of this chip.  That is millions of 
> units per year.
> 

Speculation about that is already there. From:

<http://www.benzinga.com/102343/apple¹s-screaming-fast-a4-processor-­-the
-best-mobile-cpu-in-the-world>

"Web pages render so fast it was hard to believe. After using the iPhone 
so much for two and a half years, I¹ve become accustomed to web pages 
rendering (relative to the Mac) slowly. On the iPad, they seem to render 
nearly instantly. (802.11n Wi-Fi helps too.)

Everyone I spoke to in the press room was raving first and foremost 
about the speed. None of us could shut up about it. It feels impossibly 
fast. And our next thought: What happens if Apple has figured out a way 
to make a CPU like A4 that fits in an iPhone? If they pull that off for 
this year¹s new iPhone, look out."

-- 
Paul Sture