What Apple’s Larger A5X Chip Means for the Mobility Market
Ever since Apple started building its own ARM-based CPUs, there’s been a growing demand to see what’s inside. The latest dissection reveals the “floor plan” of the new iPad’s A5X CPU again is bigger than its predecessors. How can Apple’s growing CPUs predict anything about the mobile industry? I’ll tell you…
An eternal tip of the hat goes to MacRumors.com, for aggregating all the miscellaneous reports about A5X chip tear-downs. According to the site, “the A5 measures at approximately 120mm^2 [whereas] the A5X measures at 163 mm^2.” That’s small potatoes on the millimeter scale, but as it turns out, it’s just enough room for Apple to do something wonderful — in this case, accommodate the two dual-core GPUs, which work together to deliver the quad-core graphics that drive the retina display. Yes, there always are benefits to shrinking a CPU die, but the system-on-a-chip design Apple has implemented allows the new iPad to do relatively powerful things in exchange for a modest bump in size. Could Apple become an industry trend-setter in the silicon space?
Apple’s innovations on the ARM CPU level, however, are actually relatively minor. The floor plan of the A5X shows the ARM core is actually identical to the core on the standard A5 CPU, so Apple was able to bump the muscle of its chip considerably just by making room for the extra GPU. This required little work on Apple’s side, and more than likely made the manufacturing of the chip inexpensive and easy. Meanwhile, companies such as Nvidia look to shrink their mobile CPUs as much as possible while cramming more stuff on the die. That doesn’t mean Nvidia’s method is wrong or inefficient. But Apple’s method — if mimicked — could enable other mobile CPU builders to create beefy CPUs that stand on the shoulders of their previous iterations. Think low-powered Windows 8 tablets, super fast and super cheap, all thanks to “older” ARM-based CPUs receiving minor “upgrades.”
As with most speculation, take it with a grain of salt. But as we look five years into the future, the manufacturing process of mobile CPUs likely will move from back-room banter to front-page discussions. And when that happens, you can be sure Apple will be in the mix.