This years-old rumor continues to find purchase in part because of the litigious and antagonistic public relationship between Apple and Samsung, but we have yet to see anything from a source I would consider reliable.
Without more concrete information, I hesitate to say that Apple is actually moving production to TSMC especially since Samsung is also ramping up its own 28nm chip production for its Exynos 5 Octa , but it remains a distinct possibility and it could go a long way toward reducing Apple's reliance on one of its chief competitors. Whatever the manufacturer, it's instructive to look at the path of Apple's 32nm chips to see where the company is going to go with this new manufacturing process assuming that is in fact what is happening here.
This gave Apple and Samsung the chance to iron out any complications in the manufacturing process, and even if something bad had happened catastrophically low yields, for instance , the stakes for both products are relatively low.
Then, over the next few months, 32nm chips with both new and mature architectures rolled out to basically all of Apple's major products: first in the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch, and then to the fourth-generation iPad and the iPad mini.
In all cases, Apple took advantage of the new process to either increase performance in an existing form factor the A6X in the iPad ; offer smaller products with the same performance as previous, larger products the iPad mini ; or both the iPhone 5 and iPod touch.
Assuming that we see the same rollout process for these purported 28nm chips, let's talk through the possibilities for the iOS products that Apple is likely to introduce this year.
Assuming Apple follows its own conventions, we'll be seeing an iPhone 5S in the mid-summer-to-early-autumn timeframe, and a smaller process gives Apple room to increase the phone's performance without sacrificing the phone's battery life or signature thinness though whether the phone would use a faster version of the current iPhone's A6 or some new, upgraded A7 processor is anyone's guess.
There are also those " low-cost iPhone " rumors that have been hanging around for a couple of years now. We'll only believe that this hypothetical phone is happening when we see it, but a 28nm Apple A5 seems like an ideal way to offer iPhone 4S-level performance in a phone that costs less than the current 4S, both because it can use a smaller battery and because 28nm A5 chips should cost Apple less than 45nm A5 chips do.
The full-size iPad is about due for a visual overhaul—its design has been essentially unchanged since the iPad 2 was introduced two years ago, and the Retina versions of the tablet were actually a bit thicker and heavier than the iPad 2. The rumor mill's best information suggests that the iPad Jumbo will be getting an iPad mini-like redesign this year, and a more power-efficient process could help Apple shrink the battery enough to make this possible.
We like the size of the iPad mini , but we're less enamored of its non-Retina display. As in the big iPad, though, putting a Retina display in the smaller iPad will require a commensurate bump in processing power to push all of those pixels. The details answered a question that Linley Group analyst Linley Gwennap had about the A5 chip that powers the iPhone 4S: why is it so big?
Larger processors are more expensive and can consume more power, and chip designers strive to trim every last square millimeter from their designs. Audience also said in its filing that its iPhone 4-era technology was good only when the phone was held near the speaker's mouth.
Audience's noise-reduction technology built into the iPhone 4S is better, though. Although the older phone includes an Audience chip, the company has since improved its technology to handle 'far-field speech,' which means holding the device at arm's length rather than directly in front of the mouth," Gwennap said. Siri support has been a contentious issue for some owners of earlier iPhones. Hacks to bring Siri to older iPhones generally require technically complicated measures.
Audience said in its filing that its partnership to license its noise-reduction intellectual property IP began bearing fruit in the last quarter of Commencing in the three months ended December 31, , Apple has integrated our processor IP in certain of its mobile phones. Pursuant to our agreement, this OEM [original equipment manufacturer] will pay us a royalty, on a quarterly basis, for the use of our processor IP for all mobile phones in which it is used.
Audience's second-generation technology, which introduced its far-field noise-reduction technology, began shipping in , the company said in its filing. Mustard then opened up Infinity Blade II on his iPhone 4S -- and began playing the game exactly where he had just left off, his character with sword in hand.
The iCloud feature enables users to effortlessly transition a game-in-progress from one iOS 5 device to another, allowing for an uninterrupted gameplay narrative as they move from, say, their subway seat to their couch, or even from room to room.
It works like this: You get a notification that a big monster is available to fight for the next 24 hours. The monster is loaded with 1 million hit points. You fight him, knocking off 10, of his hit points.
The monster now has , hit points. Thousands if not millions of other gamers take their hacks at the same bad guy, and together you work in concert to take him down, unlocking weapons and other features. But that's just one example of crowd-sourced gameplay. Other group-based challenges could be incorporated in a wide variety of games and game types.
Just as the original iPhone's accelerometer gave us the entirely new genre of physics-based gaming, we should expect developers to respond to iCloud with similar innovation in community-based gaming -- leading to novel new modes of play we can't yet imagine. Asynchronous turn-based gaming: It's a fussy phrase that describes something quite simple.
In effect, iOS 5 lets you play turn-based games against friends in a non -live, non -real-time environment. In iOS 4, both players had to have their apps running at the same time to, say, play a game of chess. But now, thanks to asynchronous turn-based gaming support, you can play all variety of turn-based games at a much more leisurely, convenient pace. After you play your turn, a push notification is automatically sent to your competitor -- who can act immediately, or pick up the game when time allows.
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