“Apple rolled out a die shrink of the A5 in the third-generation Apple TV last year, shifting from the original S5L8940 to the smaller S5L8942,” Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors. “According to Apple, this latest Apple TV update was designed to be invisible to users, offering no changes in features.”
“The original A5 chip introduced in 2011 for the iPad 2 was built on a 45-nanometer process, measuring 10.09 mm by 12.15 mm, while the first die-shrunk A5 introduced in 2012 for the third-generation Apple TV and the tweaked iPad 2 measured 41% smaller at 8.19 mm by 8.68 mm,” Slivka reports. “This new A5 found in the tweaked third-generation Apple TV is considerably smaller still, with our measurements putting the chip at just 6 mm by 6 mm.”
Slivka reports, “It is very possible that the company is piloting a 28-nanometer process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for this new chip. Such a move would be a major development, making this A5 the first iOS device processor to be manufactured by a company other than Samsung.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always, the more pain inflicted upon the serial patent infringer Samsung, the better.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple suppliers Hon Hai, TSMC to add 5,000 jobs each – March 11, 2013
TSMC CEO comments signal massive next-gen Apple A-series chip orders – January 19, 2013
Analyst: Apple to use TSMC’s new 16nm FinFET process for ‘breakthrough’ product – January 16, 2013
Apple moves A6X processor production from Samsung to TSMC; trials begin this quarter – January 2, 2013
Analyst: TSMC to be Apple’s sole 20nm quad-core processor supplier – October 12, 2012
Apple plots course to dump slavish copier Samsung from supply chain; looks to TSMC to stamp out processors – October 4, 2012
Think how small the A5 (6?) could get if Intel’s 22 nanometer process were being used. Power consumption would be sickly low.
Christ, I can remember when 86 nanometer was considered state of the art. A processor built on that tech today would almost be the size of a house.
I started out with the original 68000 in the DIP carrier. Last time I saw one of those it looked like an aircraft carrier.
Totally. Apple designed, Intel fabed chips. Very cool.
iPhone assembled in Brazil.
I can remember when 1micron was really pushing the limits of technology.
Good CPU for the iWatch. 😉
Anything to stop Samsung in its tracks. Boycott Samsung consumer goods.
Who cares? There are so many great smartphones out there, cutting off Samsung from making iphone chips is no big deal, although it may result in some layoffs in Texas at the Samsung plant. I think Samsung will do fine with the S4, as the S3 and Note II are both better than my iphone. Even the Nexus 4 really outperforms the iphone 5, and it cost only $349 unlocked. Take it to T Mobile for unlimited data plan, enjoy the phone and save a wad. For 99% of Americans, that would be the way to go. Battery life may suck a bit with the Nexus 4 just like it does with the iphones, but at about half the cost, save the money. I guess the HTC One might be something to look at also.
Oh look, another misguided brainwashed propagandist, another advertisement poorly concealed as a personal comment.
You really know when you struck a nerve with those “paid for Samsung/Google Android crooks”, you can feel the desperation and fear as the prpagandust was using mutible android products to use up against only;
” One Apple designed iPhone “.
Spock never said it so well, and with the lifted eybrow we see and hear that immortal but brutally honest word to explain it all: “Fascinating”.
@Keembo: “Even the Nexus 4 really outperforms the iphone 5.”
No, it doesn’t. It’s not even close. In independent performance tests by anantech.com and others, the iPhone 5 blows the Nexus 4 into the weeds.
Why lie, keembo?
Impressive. Most Impressive. 😛
OMG! Like Shrinky-Dinks! I loved those when i was a young troll
“Why lie, keembo?”
Nobody is lying. You can find articles extolling virtues of both phones, but you can’t find an article showing a 16GB iphone 5 selling unblocked for $349, but you can find plenty of articles showing an unblocked iphone 5 from apple selling for $680. Double the price. Then go to knowyourmobile.com and read the editorial 10 ways the Nexus 4 beats the iphone 5. Does the iphone 5 have as large a display? Does the iphone 5 have NFC or tethering? Does the iphone 5 come with Google maps? Does the iphone 5 have a 2300 mah battery or capability for wireless charging? Need I go on? Go ahead and double pay for something. That is one thing great about America. It gives you the choice to waste your money. The phones are really quite equal in operation, but one phone cost twice the price of the other one and has a smaller but no better display? I wouldn’t trade either my Note II or wife’s S3 for two iphone 5’s. I actually enjoy larger screens, replaceable batteries and micro SD slots. The Nexus 4 doesn’t have them, but both Samsung phones do. I’ll bet my house and car my Note II will stay up and running without needing a recharge for much longer than your iphone 5. I still have an iphone, but use it very little.
Call back in two years and tell us how your Samsung phone is doing after the contract is up, if it lasts that long.
“Call back in two years and tell us how your Samsung phone is doing after the contract is up, if it lasts that long.”
Mac Daddy…I think you are being just a little silly. If all Samsung phones died in two years as you are saying, Samsung wouldn’t be selling any phones. FYI, I have a dead iphone sitting here at my home. I did own a Samsung cell phone, as my wife and I bought a pair of them as our first cell phones. I think that was 1999 or 2000 or somewhere in there. Both those phones lasted until late 2009 and neither had ANY problems. That year, I drowned mine by dropping it into Hilo Bay while launching kayaks and it didn’t recover. My wife’s continued working, but we swapped out and got Pantech cell phones for peanuts and had them for nearly 3 years. In the meantime, had a iphone also purchased in 2008 I think. It lies dead and broken now. The Pantechs were retired but had worked fine also. The phones we use now are a Samsung S3 and Galaxy Note II, neither of which have given us any problems. I am enjoying the larger screened formats immensely. As I said, our daughter just bought the Nexus 4, as she wanted a reasonably priced no contract phone, and at half the cost of an unblocked iphone 5S, she was able to add her phone to our plan for $10/mo with unlimited data, 1000 minutes shared, and unlimited texting. I quickly looked at her phone, as she just got it, and it is a fine phone, albeit that there is a lot of glass, and she has ordered case for it already, but that is a smart thing to do with any smartphone and both of my Samsung’s have cases as well as clear protective screen covers, and most iphones I see also are in cases. I expect my Samsung phones will be working fine when your battery is so dead in your iphone, you will need to charge it every hour. In the meantime, I can get another battery for less than $6. Can you? I also have micro sd card in mine. Do you? Get over it….Consumers have a right to get the most bang for the buck, and at present, I don’t find it in Apple even though I have owned Apple products and I am not here to bash an iphone. They work fine, but at their price and size, they don’t work for me anymore. That might be why Apple stock price is falling like a stone.