“Analysts with BlueFin Research Partners say that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will begin manufacturing Apple’scA11 processor in late April,” Ashraf Eassa reports for The Motley Fool. “The A11, BlueFin says, will be manufactured in TSMC’s 10-nanometer manufacturing technology.”
“Interestingly, BlueFin says — as is widely expected — that Apple’s A11 chip won’t be the first processor to ramp into production on TSMC’s 10-nanometer technology in 2017. The A10X that will power next-generation iPad models, as well as MediaTek’s upcoming Helio X30 mobile applications processor, should ramp up before the A11 does, BlueFin’s commentary suggests,” Eassa reports. “‘This may be fortuitous for [TSMC] given that yields are well below 50% presently, according to our research,’ the analysts write.”
Eassa reports, “[Here’s] why, if the reported yield rate is correct, this is, in fact, ‘fortuitous”‘ for TSMC.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: First, we can’t wait to see what Apple’s A10X can do in Apple’s next-gen iPads, which we expect to be unveiled in calendar Q1 2017.
Next new iPad 2017 is what I’m waiting for to replace my sluggish 2012 iPad 3. With just a scosh more viewing area. And from A5X to A10X! Hopefully with plenty of other improvements as well.
peterblood71, you will be so thrilled! I upgraded from my 2012 iPad 3 earlier this year (to a 9.7″ iPad Pro) and immediately found how much more I use the iPad with it being faster and with such a better display. Can’t say enough for the wide-color gamut display — it’s breathtaking. I’m sure the 2017 iPads will be even better!
Me too!
I am eagerly anticipating the performance metrics on the A10X for the next generation iPad. For one thing, I am approaching the point at which I plan to upgrade from my iPad 3 (first retina model). But the main reason is that the A10 and A10X will help to solidify performance predictions for the A11 and A11X, and I believe that the A11X will be the first ARM-based SoC used in a Mac.
I seem to have accumulated a posse of detractors on this forum…hilarious.
Only at first…then bedtime arrives, and adults bump you up.
You’re an idiot. You are the one who claimed vociferously that Snapdragon processors are not ARM SoCs. And that was AFTER research. We don’t like you because you’re a fool and an idiot.
It must be quite difficult for Apple’s A-series to stay ahead of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon high-end series processors. I wonder if Apple’s processors are cheaper to build than Qualcomm’s processors.
Not too much of a problem at present. Everyone is struggling to get close or exceed even year old A series. Indeed Intel will be the next to struggle in the area where Arm is making inroads so hardly a surprise that MS have little choice trying to get back on the bandwagon as a result.
Wake me up when ARM gets to 4 GHz.
All that would require is a larger thermal envelope, like say in a laptop or desktop machine with room from fan or larger heat sync. Seeing as how apple’s soc’s have already achieved single core performance parity with ivy bridge cpu’s (according to geekbench) at equivalent or slightly lower clock speeds (2.34 GHz)… if the current A10 was ramped up to 4Ghz it would be in the same ball park as current gen Intel cpu’s. It’ll take one more generation for apple’s soc’s to reach full parity with a die shrink and core optimization. And seeing how they achieve 30-40% gains every generation on average the A11 should be around ~4300 single core at the same clocks as the A10, that’s more than enough power to run legacy 32bit code or even a native Windows version that Microsoft has already demonstrated running on snapdragon 820’s.
Well, mag7, it has not been difficult at all for Apple’s A-series processors to leave Snapdragon behind so far, and I suspect that Apple’s SoC performance lead will continue to grow with the A10X and next year’s A11 and A11X. And not only in overall performance, but also in performance/watt.