3 ms·
Each microprocessor is graded in the factory. Apple buys up all the highest graded chips meaning no one else can get any.
by rorykoehler 10y ago
Each microprocessor is graded in the factory. Apple buys up all the highest graded chips meaning no one else can get any.
- na85 10y agoWhat a joke. Got a source saying that the i7 I buy from Intel is somehow inferior to the one that ships in an Apple product?
- rorykoehler 10y agohttp://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/33816/the-manufacturing-and-grading-of-families-of-microprocessors http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/33816/the-man... I can't find the source just now though I do remember reading about apple prebuying all perfect chips of certain classes therefore making then unavailable to the competition. Given their purchasing power I don't find this wholly inconceivable.
- na85 10y agoNo source, then. Okie dokie.
- rorykoehler 10y agoThat kind of tone is not why I and most others come to Hackernews. Please refrain from it in future. I did come across this article where Cook essentially says buying these components is a company secret.... http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/18/apple_commits_3_9_billion_to_secret_long_term_component_contracts http://appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/18/apple_commits_3_9_...
- valarauca1 10y agoEach microprocessor is graded in the factory Yes Intel does binning but that is to classify processor classes. Intel runs their E3, i7, i5, and i3 production on the same die. It looks like this: Memory controller went bad and can't handle ECC? Looks like an that E3-1??? vX just became an i7-X???. Virtualization went bad? That i7-X??? just became an i5-X??? Bad 1/2 cores? Well that i5-X??? just became an i3-X??? There is additional binning but that just determines if the processor can have an unlocked multiplier or not.