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iPad What kind CPU and GPU is used in the iPad?

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Bubble99

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 15, 2015
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I’m wondering what kind of CPU and GPU they are using.

I here that apple uses arm CPU if so who designs it? why does Apple not use AMD or Intel for the iPad or iPhone? Are Intel CPU and AMD CPU garbage for such small devices? And only good for desktop computers?
 
Bubble99 said:
I here that apple uses arm CPU if so who designs it?
Click to expand...
TMC makes them.
Bubble99 said:
why does Apple not use AMD or Intel for the iPad or iPhone? Are Intel CPU and AMD CPU garbage for such small devices? And only good for desktop computers?
Click to expand...
ARM processors are meant for small devices (and they're much more efficient than Intel CPUs).

You probably don't want your iPad to feel like molten lava 24/7.
 
So TSMC make the CPUs for Android phones and Android tablets?

And TSMC make CPU for Apple like the iPhone and iPad?
 
Bubble99 said:
I’m wondering what kind of CPU and GPU they are using.

I here that apple uses arm CPU if so who designs it? why does Apple not use AMD or Intel for the iPad or iPhone? Are Intel CPU and AMD CPU garbage for such small devices? And only good for desktop computers?
Click to expand...

As I understand it:
- ARM makes the architecture.
- Apple designs the chip with GPU.
- Intel currently provides the modem.
- TSMC fabricates the chip.
 
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Tekguy0 said:
Yep, though Samsung sometimes makes the Apple-designed chips as well.
Click to expand...

Well okay so what is the difference of the snapdragon CPU I hear?Does TSMC design and make snapdragon CPU for Android phones and Android tablets?

Does Apple use snapdragon CPU for iPhone and iPad?

Also what is this A9, A10 and A12 chip I hear Apple bringing out every year? Does Apple design the A chip and get TSMC to make it?

What is difference of A chip and Snapdragon?
 
Bubble99 said:
Well okay so what is the difference of the snapdragon CPU I hear?Does TSMC design and make snapdragon CPU for Android phones and Android tablets?

Does Apple use snapdragon CPU for iPhone and iPad?

Also what is this A9, A10 and A12 chip I hear Apple bringing out every year? Does Apple design the A chip and get TSMC to make it?

What is difference of A chip and Snapdragon?
Click to expand...
Qualcomm designs the Snapdragon line for Android. Apple does not use Snapdragon, they design their own CPUs which are generally superior in terms of performance and power efficiency. The A9, A10, A11, and A12 chips are all members of the A-Series family of chips used in the iPhones, iPads, and iPods as well as the HomePod and Apple TV. Each generation adds new features and is a new design.
 
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Bubble99 said:
Well okay so what is the difference of the snapdragon CPU I hear?Does TSMC design and make snapdragon CPU for Android phones and Android tablets?

Does Apple use snapdragon CPU for iPhone and iPad?

Also what is this A9, A10 and A12 chip I hear Apple bringing out every year? Does Apple design the A chip and get TSMC to make it?

What is difference of A chip and Snapdragon?
Click to expand...

If you would read the wiki article that was already posted, you would know. The information is out there.
 
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Snapdragon processors like the 865 for example, are made by Qualcomm as an ‘off the shelf’ chip to power a multitude of android phones, which provide a quick solution with little optimisation with the software, however firms like OnePlus put more effort into optimising their android skin to get the best possible performance.
Apple ‘A’ chips however, are exclusively designed from the ground up by Apple to work with IOS in the most optimised manner possible, hence why iPhones are so fast and snappy, and have Geekbench scores almost 2 years ahead of their android counterparts E.g iPhone 8 from 2017 has better single core scores than current android flagships like the galaxy s20.
 
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Tekguy0 said:
Qualcomm designs the Snapdragon line for Android. Apple does not use Snapdragon, they design their own CPUs which are generally superior in terms of performance and power efficiency. The A9, A10, A11, and A12 chips are all members of the A-Series family of chips used in the iPhones, iPads, and iPods as well as the HomePod and Apple TV. Each generation adds new features and is a new design.
Click to expand...

So Apple design the A-series and get TSMC to make it?
 
Marlon DLTH :) said:
Yes, Apple design it, TSMC make it. And they will start producing chips for the Mac later this year.
Click to expand...

With Apple buying up all those companies it is really funny Apple is not buying TSMC?

On a side note how does the snapdragon compare to the A-series?
 
Bubble99 said:
On a side note how does the snapdragon compare to the A-series?
Click to expand...
They are usually inferior since they are built to a lower cost. It really depends on the model. Some are nicer than others, but most use "off-the-shelf" cores designed by ARM and sometimes tweaked by Qualcomm to extract extra performance and efficiency. Apple designs everything from the ground up, and uses much larger/complex and more powerful cores than even the latest ARM Core (The Cortex A77)
 
There seem to be much debate on the internet on what is better instruction set be it reduced instruction set computer (RISC) or complex instruction set computer (CISC)


The only thing that say is better about RISC is allowing low number of clock cycles per instruction.


But the debate why Apple is using RISC. Well app for iPad is not going work on other platforms because the OS does not support it.
 
Bubble99 said:
There seem to be much debate on the internet on what is better instruction set be it reduced instruction set computer (RISC) or complex instruction set computer (CISC)


The only thing that say is better about RISC is allowing low number of clock cycles per instruction.


But the debate why Apple is using RISC. Well app for iPad is not going work on other platforms because the OS does not support it.
Click to expand...

Apple licenses the ARM instruction set from ARM, Apple designs their own CPUs and GPUs in house and TSMC produces them. Apple's A series are superior to Qualcomm's Snapdragon as Apple designs their SOCs for their own devices rather than Qualcomm's off the shelf design.

AMD for example designs their own CPUs and GPUs but has TSMC produce them.
 
Bubble99 said:
With Apple buying up all those companies it is really funny Apple is not buying TSMC?
Click to expand...

No reason to. This way apple is not bound to any specific foundry factories. They can switch as demand and technology dictates. They aren't interested in many of the other TMC products - mobile communications, payment and sociaL security cards, health cards, usb keys, etc.
 
Bubble99 said:
With Apple buying up all those companies it is really funny Apple is not buying TSMC?
Click to expand...

As well as it not really fitting Apple's business model, they couldn't even if they wanted to.
As of right now, TSMC is essentially the only option for cutting-edge semiconductor fabrication, with a market cap of over 400 billion USD.
Not even Apple has that kind of money lying around.
 
Bubble99 said:
So TSMC make the CPUs for Android phones and Android tablets?

And TSMC make CPU for Apple like the iPhone and iPad?
Click to expand...

TSMC manufactures the chip based on design. The chip is designed by Apple, and it’s an “Apple CPU”. This is important, because it’s that design that puts the chip above anything else in the mobile industry. Of course, TSMC is crucial to its production, but you can’t just walk in there and expect a great CPU as a result of their process - you need to have a good design first.

Btw, AMD’s current CPUs are all manufactured by TSMC as well, again, based on AMD design.

As for desktop use - as you may have heard - Apple is planning to replace Intel chips in their desktop and laptop computers with their own CPUs. They won’t be the exactly the same as chips found in iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs, but they will be based on them, and it’s expected they will perform amazingly well.
 
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