Apple’s late to be in all probability the A8 soc in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus not manufacture by Samsung, but by competitor TSMC. That concludes Chipworks. The A8 soc is smaller than its predecessor A7, but contains almost twice as many transistors.
There are going to be for years, rumors about the switch that Apple would like Samsung to TSMC, but time proved that in your analysis of the soc is incorrect. Now that is different: the soc has clear signs that TSMC has manufactured, enables Chipworks.
Why that is, is unknown: Samsung and TSMC are both recent months started mass production of socs on 20nm. The A8 soc from the iPhone 6 has a size which is 13 percent smaller than its predecessor A7 from the iPhone 5s and iPads last year. This is partly because the soc is manufactured on a smaller process: where Samsung, the A7-soc on 28nm, used TSMC in a 20nm process.
The gpu in the A8 is probably an Imagination PowerVR GX6450, which is the successor of the GX6430 in the Apple A7. The manufacturer claims that the gpu is capable of up to 50 percent better performance to offer. The gpu is again a quadcore, says Chipworks.
Chipworks found in the A8 and also an envelope tracker, a piece of hardware that is already a year in many Android phones. Normally the amp that the mobile data signal amplified to a constant voltage. That is high enough to peaks in the signal to catch, but the tension also remains high in situations where less amplification is required. Qualcomm compares it with someone who has a constant heart rate of 200, regardless of the level of effort.
The QFE1100 looks however to the strength of the source signal and adjusts the voltage of the amp accordingly, so that it is not a higher power level than is necessary. According to Qualcomm, it delivers up to thirty percent less heat, and twenty percent less power consumption when using 3g and 4g. It is the first time that Apple has that part used in his device.
Update, 20:38: this article was originally announced that Chipworks a MDM9235-modemchip would have found, but that turned out to be wrong. Chipworks used that modemchip as a comparison to show that the A8 on 20nm is made, noticed Geometry45nm.
Who shot Apple A8. Illustration: Chipworks
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