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Analysis Of Apple’s A5

20 points by flippyhead 16y ago

jonknee 16y ago
This is blog spam. The interesting stuff is here: http://www.eetimes.com/General/DisplayPrintViewContent?contentItemId=4215094 http://www.eetimes.com/General/DisplayPrintViewContent?conte...
- tzs 16y ago
  The correct link is this: http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215094/A5--All-Apple--part-mystery?pageNumber=0 http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215094/A5--All-Appl... Links to the print version of an article are annoying. First, they are usually formatted badly for reading on the screen (most people are not going to actually print the article). Second, sometimes they actually bring up a print dialog that needs to be dismissed. Third, those who want the print version can easily click on the "print" item at the site. There often (such as in this case) no link that goes the other way, so when you send someone straight to the print link, it is hard for them to get to the regular, well formatted, page.
  - jonknee 16y ago
    If by well-formatted, you mean chopped up into five pages, I guess you got me. I'll take the single page version (which for the record, does not trigger the print dialog).
    - tzs 16y ago
      By "well-formatted" I mean reasonable line length. It is generally much easier to read columns that are maybe 60 or so characters than to read columns that are a couple hundred characters. The print page wraps to window size. The main point, though, is that those who prefer the print version can simply click the print link on the page. The print version does not provide a simple way to go back.
6ren 16y ago
> Would it be possible to remove selected functionality or routines from software and implement them as hardwired circuits on the A5, going beyond selected IP blocks and designing circuits specific to the software? Awesome, and Apple is in a position to do it. Imagine pushing down bits of the OS (or even common app functionality) to silicon! But to voice a heresy: is more performance needed? I played with an iPad 2 last week, and it doesn't feel any faster than an iPad 1 (apart from occasional pauses disappearing). Now, this isn't a fair test, because there wasn't any new software on it that took advantage of the greater performance. Will that software appear over time? Games will certainly find a way to use it; but it's very striking to me that the iPad 1 was so well engineered that it didn't seem to suffer from any performance problems. And the software didn't seem to be lacking. Of course it's a truism that people will always find a use for more processing power - but it doesn't seem to be true any more. Computers are now fast enough for most people. Even new game console generations are coming less slowly; the wii has less power; people are preferring laptops, netbook, iPhones, even though they have less power than desktops. That means that the extra performance isn't of absolutely crucial importance. Maybe it's nice to have - but once something is fast enough, you don't really notice if it's even faster. Is it really possible that the iPad has already overshot the performance that the market requires? Is there an iPad app that makes you think "this thing is so slow, it's really irritating to use! If only it was a bit faster..."
- wmf 16y ago
  Dedicated logic can also be more energy-efficient than software, possibly giving the same performance but longer battery life.

20 points by flippyhead 16y ago

This is blog spam. The interesting stuff is here: http://www.eetimes.com/General/DisplayPrintViewContent?contentItemId=4215094 http://www.eetimes.com/General/DisplayPrintViewContent?conte...

tzs 16y ago
The correct link is this: http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215094/A5--All-Apple--part-mystery?pageNumber=0 http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4215094/A5--All-Appl... Links to the print version of an article are annoying. First, they are usually formatted badly for reading on the screen (most people are not going to actually print the article). Second, sometimes they actually bring up a print dialog that needs to be dismissed. Third, those who want the print version can easily click on the "print" item at the site. There often (such as in this case) no link that goes the other way, so when you send someone straight to the print link, it is hard for them to get to the regular, well formatted, page.
- jonknee 16y ago
  If by well-formatted, you mean chopped up into five pages, I guess you got me. I'll take the single page version (which for the record, does not trigger the print dialog).
  - tzs 16y ago
    By "well-formatted" I mean reasonable line length. It is generally much easier to read columns that are maybe 60 or so characters than to read columns that are a couple hundred characters. The print page wraps to window size. The main point, though, is that those who prefer the print version can simply click the print link on the page. The print version does not provide a simple way to go back.

6ren 16y ago

> Would it be possible to remove selected functionality or routines from software and implement them as hardwired circuits on the A5, going beyond selected IP blocks and designing circuits specific to the software? Awesome, and Apple is in a position to do it. Imagine pushing down bits of the OS (or even common app functionality) to silicon! But to voice a heresy: is more performance needed? I played with an iPad 2 last week, and it doesn't feel any faster than an iPad 1 (apart from occasional pauses disappearing). Now, this isn't a fair test, because there wasn't any new software on it that took advantage of the greater performance. Will that software appear over time? Games will certainly find a way to use it; but it's very striking to me that the iPad 1 was so well engineered that it didn't seem to suffer from any performance problems. And the software didn't seem to be lacking. Of course it's a truism that people will always find a use for more processing power - but it doesn't seem to be true any more. Computers are now fast enough for most people. Even new game console generations are coming less slowly; the wii has less power; people are preferring laptops, netbook, iPhones, even though they have less power than desktops. That means that the extra performance isn't of absolutely crucial importance. Maybe it's nice to have - but once something is fast enough, you don't really notice if it's even faster. Is it really possible that the iPad has already overshot the performance that the market requires? Is there an iPad app that makes you think "this thing is so slow, it's really irritating to use! If only it was a bit faster..."

wmf 16y ago
Dedicated logic can also be more energy-efficient than software, possibly giving the same performance but longer battery life.