5 ms·

"The A10 processor inside my iPhone is no less powerful than the Intel processor inside my MacBook" [citation needed]

tyingq 9y ago
My guess is that the author read this https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12939310/iphone-7-a10-fusion-processor-apple-intel-future https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12939310/iphone-7-a10-fus... Perhaps without understanding the full context.
- munificent 9y ago
  The author of the article is this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Gass%C3%A9e https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Gass%C3%A9e I could be wrong, but I imagine he still knows a thing or two about CPU architecture and performance.
  - tyingq 9y ago
    No, you're right, I missed that. He either has an old MacBook though, or is being a little cheeky.
wmf 9y ago
https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/12/will-apple-incs-a10x-catch-up-to-intel-corporation.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/12/will-apple-incs-a1... http://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/14/geekbench-android-a10 http://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/14/geekbench-androi... http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review...
- mikejmoffitt 9y ago
  The first has results from Geekbench finding that "A10 Fusion has roughly the same single-core processor performance as Intel's top sixth-generation Core m processor". The second references Matt Mariska's misleading tweet: "Geekbench has the iPhone 7 beating the $6,500 12-core Mac Pro in single-thread." - Never mind that it's a $6,500 12-core Mac from over four years ago. This one gets regurgitated over and over. The third still illustrates performance edging close to the Core M series of processors.
Symmetry 9y ago
Assuming he has a Macbook Air that's probably true but only because the A10 in an iPhone is performing at the sweet spot on its frequency-voltage curve while the Core iX in a MacBook air is severely undervolted to get to the Air's target power. If Intel were to design a core from scratch for that power envelope they could do better. But Apple has done very well in getting comparable performance to Intel despite Intel's process advantage.
- rm445 9y ago
  I suspect the author was being exact and referring to the product just called 'MacBook', rather than referring vaguely to a MacBook Air. (I can't back that up, except to note that Apple fans are usually fairly scrupulous about referring to their MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iPhone 6S etc specifically rather than lumping them together). In any case the current MacBook is quite similar to the MacBook Air and the rest of your comment probably stands.
jcheng 9y ago
If you scroll down on this page, there's a comparison between the A9X (which is slower than the A10) and the Core M used in the MacBook: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review...
- bionsuba 9y ago
  Not really surprising since the Core M is ostensibly designed as a tablet processor.

My guess is that the author read this https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12939310/iphone-7-a10-fusion-processor-apple-intel-future https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12939310/iphone-7-a10-fus... Perhaps without understanding the full context.

munificent 9y ago
The author of the article is this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Gass%C3%A9e https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Gass%C3%A9e I could be wrong, but I imagine he still knows a thing or two about CPU architecture and performance.
- tyingq 9y ago
  No, you're right, I missed that. He either has an old MacBook though, or is being a little cheeky.

wmf 9y ago

https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/12/will-apple-incs-a10x-catch-up-to-intel-corporation.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/12/will-apple-incs-a1... http://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/14/geekbench-android-a10 http://daringfireball.net/linked/2016/09/14/geekbench-androi... http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review...

mikejmoffitt 9y ago
The first has results from Geekbench finding that "A10 Fusion has roughly the same single-core processor performance as Intel's top sixth-generation Core m processor". The second references Matt Mariska's misleading tweet: "Geekbench has the iPhone 7 beating the $6,500 12-core Mac Pro in single-thread." - Never mind that it's a $6,500 12-core Mac from over four years ago. This one gets regurgitated over and over. The third still illustrates performance edging close to the Core M series of processors.

Symmetry 9y ago

Assuming he has a Macbook Air that's probably true but only because the A10 in an iPhone is performing at the sweet spot on its frequency-voltage curve while the Core iX in a MacBook air is severely undervolted to get to the Air's target power. If Intel were to design a core from scratch for that power envelope they could do better. But Apple has done very well in getting comparable performance to Intel despite Intel's process advantage.

rm445 9y ago
I suspect the author was being exact and referring to the product just called 'MacBook', rather than referring vaguely to a MacBook Air. (I can't back that up, except to note that Apple fans are usually fairly scrupulous about referring to their MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iPhone 6S etc specifically rather than lumping them together). In any case the current MacBook is quite similar to the MacBook Air and the rest of your comment probably stands.

jcheng 9y ago

If you scroll down on this page, there's a comparison between the A9X (which is slower than the A10) and the Core M used in the MacBook: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review...

bionsuba 9y ago
Not really surprising since the Core M is ostensibly designed as a tablet processor.