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Maybe I'm just a fanboy, but I found one of the most impressive parts of the story, aside from actually tracking down the root cause, was that the iPhone User's
by zaroth 8y ago
Maybe I'm just a fanboy, but I found one of the most impressive parts of the story, aside from actually tracking down the root cause, was that the iPhone User's Guide actually specifically addresses this, along with explaining that it's necessary to give it about a week for the helium to diffuse.
- 2bitencryption 8y agoYou just know there was a days-long meeting about "the Helium problem", including graphs of how likely different user-personas are to enter a zeppelin, work in a balloon factory, or attend exceedingly well-funded birthday parties. After debating late nights about whether to pony up for the new better-sealed clock, someone said "Screw it, throw it in the user agreement."
- gcb0 8y ago"better sealed clock" would be the universally used quartz resonator, but that would have added 0.002$ to their cost. Unthinkable.
- jsjohnst 8y agoNice try! The SiT512 Apple uses is more expensive than a quartz resonator. I don’t have Apple’s specific BOM details, but I’d guess it’s likely something like 2x the cost.
- gcb0 8y agoit's only more expensive in small quantities. after you ramp up, it's infinitely cheaper as you can produce them on waffers. also you are thinking BOM alone. the selling point of silicon mechanical instead of crystal is that it can be assembled faster and cheaper, greatly offsetting the item cost. but don't trust me, see the "advantages" of manufacturers promotion https://www.electronicdesign.com/analog/look-inside-programmable-mems-clock-chips https://www.electronicdesign.com/analog/look-inside-programm...
- vxNsr 8y agoI think the reason they used the helium-affected clock is because it was smaller, not bec it was cheaper.
- justwalt 8y agoWhat are some of the most egregious cost-cutting measures have Apple take in the past? I’m genuinely curious.
- gcb0 8y agochina production?
- tootie 8y agoI think that sticking iPhones in helium balloons is now going to the top prank of 2019.
- bjoli 8y agoThey probably got that info when they bought their oscillators. From there it should be pretty straight forward to include it in testing procedures.