Apple A7

Last updated

Apple A7
Apple A7 chip.jpg
The A7 processor
General information
LaunchedSeptember 20, 2013 (APL0698)
November 1, 2013 (APL5698)
DiscontinuedMarch 21, 2016 (APL5698)
March 21, 2017 (APL0698)
Designed by Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer
Product codeS5L8960X [2] [3]
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate 1.3 GHz [4] to 1.4 GHz [5]
Cache
L1 cache Per core: 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data [6]
L2 cache1 MB shared [6]
L3 cache4 MB [5]
Architecture and classification
ApplicationMobile
Technology node 28 nm [1]
Microarchitecture Cyclone [6]
Instruction set ARMv8-A: [7] [8] A64, A32, T32
Physical specifications
Cores
GPU PowerVR G6430 (quad-core) [9]
History
Predecessors Apple A6 (iPhone)
Apple A6X (iPad)
Successors Apple A8 (iPhone)
Apple A8X (iPad)

The Apple A7 is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It first appeared in the iPhone 5S, which was announced on September 10, 2013, and the iPad Air and iPad Mini 2, which were both announced on October 22, 2013. Apple states that it is up to twice as fast and has up to twice the graphics power compared to its predecessor, the Apple A6. [10] It is the first 64-bit SoC to ship in a consumer smartphone or tablet computer. [11] On March 21, 2017, the iPad mini 2 was discontinued, ending production of A7 chips. The latest software update for systems using this chip was iOS 12.5.7, released on January 23, 2023, as they were discontinued with the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 in 2019.

Contents

Design

The A7 features an Apple-designed [4] 64-bit [7] 1.3 [4] –1.4 [5]  GHz ARMv8-A [6] [8] dual-core CPU, [4] called Cyclone. [6] The 64-bit A64 instruction set in the ARMv8-A architecture doubles the number of registers of the A7 compared to the ARMv7 architecture used in A6. [12] It has 31 general purpose registers that are each 64-bits wide and 32 floating-point/NEON registers that are each 128-bits wide. [7]

The A7 also integrates a graphics processing unit (GPU) which AnandTech believes to be a PowerVR G6430 in a four cluster configuration. [9]

The A7 has a per-core L1 cache of 64  KB for data and 64 KB for instructions, a L2 cache of 1  MB shared by both CPU cores, [6] and a 4 MB L3 cache that services the entire SoC. [5]

The A7 includes a new image processor, a feature originally introduced in the A5, used for functionality related to the camera such as image stabilizing, color correction, and light balance. [13] [14] The A7 also includes an area called the "Secure Enclave" that stores and protects the data from the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5S and iPad mini 3. [10] It has been speculated that the security of the data in the Secure Enclave is enforced by ARM's TrustZone/SecurCore technology. [15] In a change from the Apple A6, the A7 SoC no longer services the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass. In order to reduce power consumption, this functionality has been moved to the new M7 motion coprocessor [16] [17] which appears to be a separate ARM-based microcontroller from NXP Semiconductors. [18]

Apple A7 (APL0698)

Apple uses the APL0698 variant of the A7 chip, running at 1.3 GHz, [4] in the iPhone 5S, iPad Mini 2, and iPad Mini 3. [19] This A7 is manufactured by Samsung on a high-κ metal gate (HKMG) 28 nm process [20] [21] and the chip includes over 1 billion transistors on a die 102 mm2 in size. [4] According to ABI Research the A7 drew 1100  mA during fixed point operations and 520 mA during floating point operations, while its predecessor, the A6 processor in the iPhone 5, drew 485 mA and 320 mA. [22] It is manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with 1  GB of LPDDR3 DRAM with a 64-bit wide memory interface onto the package. [6] [23]

Apple A7 (APL5698)

Apple uses the APL5698 variant of the A7 chip, running at 1.4 GHz, [5] in the iPad Air. Its die is identical in size and layout to that of the first A7 and is manufactured by Samsung. [24] However, unlike the first version of the A7, the A7 used in the iPad Air is not on a PoP, having no stacked RAM. Instead it uses a chip-on-board mounting, immediately adjacent DRAM, and is covered by a metallic heat spreader, similar to the Apple A5X and A6X. [24] [25]

Patent litigation

The A7's branch predictor was claimed to infringe on a 1998 patent. [26] On October 14, 2015, a district judge found Apple guilty of infringing U.S. patent US 5781752  , "Table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer", on the Apple A7 and A8 processors. [27] The patent is owned by Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), a firm affiliated with the University of Wisconsin. On July 24, 2017, Apple was ordered to pay WARF $506 million for patent infringement. Apple filed an appellate brief on October 26, 2017, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, that argued that Apple did not infringe on the patent owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. [28] On September 28, 2018, the ruling was overturned on appeal and the award thrown out by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. [29] The patent expired in December 2016. [30]

Products that include the Apple A7

See also

Related Research Articles

PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL acceleration. PowerVR also develops AI accelerators called Neural Network Accelerator (NNA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A4</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A4 is a 32-bit package on package (PoP) system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, and manufactured by Samsung. It was the first SoC Apple designed in-house. The first product to feature the A4 was the first-generation iPad, followed by the iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod Touch, and second-generation Apple TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A5</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A5 is a 32-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, and manufactured by Samsung. The first product Apple featured an A5 in was the iPad 2. Apple claimed during their media event on March 2, 2011, that the ARM Cortex-A9 central processing unit (CPU) in the A5 is up to two times faster than the CPU in the Apple A4, and the PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics processing unit (GPU) in the A5 is up to nine times faster than the GPU in the A4. Apple also claimed that the A5 uses the same amount of power as the A4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple silicon</span> System-on-chip processors designed by Apple Inc.

Apple silicon refers to a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. They are the basis of Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTag, HomePod, and Apple Vision Pro devices.

iPhone 5s Smartphone developed by Apple (2013–2016)

The iPhone 5s is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5c.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A5X</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A5X is a 32-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, and manufactured by Samsung. It was introduced with and only used in the third-generation iPad, on March 7, 2012. The A5X is a high-performance variant of the Apple A5. Apple claimed the quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics processing unit (GPU) in the A5X is two times faster than the GPU in the A5, as the A5X GPU contains two more cores than the dual-core version GPU in the A5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A6</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A6 is a 32-bit package on package (PoP) system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It was introduced on September 12, 2012, at the launch of the iPhone 5. Apple states that it is up to twice as fast and has up to twice the graphics power compared with its predecessor, the Apple A5. Software updates for devices using this chip ceased in 2019, with the release of iOS 10.3.4 on the iPhone 5 as it was discontinued with the release of iOS 11 in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A6X</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A6X is a 32-bit system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It was introduced with and only used in the 4th generation iPad, on October 23, 2012. It is a high-performance variant of the Apple A6 and the last 32-bit chip Apple used on an iOS device before Apple switched to 64-bit. Apple claims the A6X has twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of its predecessor, the Apple A5X. Software updates for the 4th generation iPad ended in 2019 with the release of iOS 10.3.4 for cellular models, thus ceasing support for this chip as it was discontinued with the release of iOS 11 in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of computing 2010–2019</span>

This article presents a detailed timeline of events in the history of computing from 2010 to 2019. For narratives explaining the overall developments, see the history of computing.

iPhone 5c Smartphone developed by Apple (2013–2016)

The iPhone 5c is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the sixth generation of the iPhone. The device was unveiled on September 10, 2013, and released on September 20, 2013, along with its higher-end counterpart, the iPhone 5s. The "c" in the iPhone 5c's name stands for "color".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple motion coprocessors</span> Series of motion coprocessors by Apple

The Apple M-series coprocessors are motion coprocessors used by Apple Inc. in their mobile devices. First released in 2013, their function is to collect sensor data from integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses and offload the collecting and processing of sensor data from the main central processing unit (CPU).

iPad Air (1st generation) Tablet computer developed by Apple (2013–2016)

The iPad Air is a tablet developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on October 22, 2013, and was released on November 1, 2013. Part of the iPad line of tablet computers, the iPad Air features a thinner design than its predecessors, with similarities to the contemporaneous iPad Mini 2.

iPad Mini 2 Tablet computer developed by Apple (2013–2017)

The iPad Mini 2 is a tablet computer designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It has a nearly identical design to its predecessor, the first-generation iPad Mini, but features internal revisions such as the use of an A7 system-on-a-chip and a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution Retina Display. Internally, the second-generation iPad Mini has nearly the same hardware as its sibling device, the iPad Air. Apple released the second-generation iPad Mini in space gray and silver colors on November 12, 2013.

This is a comparison of ARM instruction set architecture application processor cores designed by ARM Holdings and 3rd parties. It does not include ARM Cortex-R, ARM Cortex-M, or legacy ARM cores.

The Apple A8 is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, It first appeared in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which were introduced on September 9, 2014. Apple states that it has 25% more CPU performance and 50% more graphics performance while drawing only 50% of the power of its predecessor, the Apple A7. The latest software updates for the 1.1GHz and 1.4GHz variants systems using this chip are iOS 12.5.7, released on January 23, 2023 as they were discontinued with the release of iOS 13 in 2019, and 1.5 GHz variant for the iPad Mini 4 is iPadOS 15.8.2, released on March 5, 2024 as it was discontinued with the release of iPadOS 16 in 2022, while updates for the 1.5 GHz variant continue for Apple TV HD. The A8 chip was discontinued on October 18, 2022, following the discontinuation of the Apple TV HD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A9</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A9 is a 64-bit ARM-based system-on-chip (SoC)designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. Manufactured for Apple by both TSMC and Samsung, it first appeared in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus which were introduced on September 9, 2015. Apple states that it has 70% more CPU performance and 90% more graphics performance compared to its predecessor, the Apple A8. On September 12, 2018, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus along with the first-generation iPhone SE was discontinued, ending production of A9 chips. The latest software updates for the iPhone 6s & 6s Plus including the iPhone SE variants systems using this chip are iOS 15.8.3, released around August, 2024, as they were discontinued with the release of iOS 16 in 2022, and for the iPad using this chip was iPadOS 16.7.10, also released on September 3, 2024, as it was discontinued with the release of iPadOS 17 in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A9X</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A9X is a 64-bit ARM architecture-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It first appeared in the iPad Pro, which was announced on September 9, 2015 and was released on November 11, 2015. The A9X has the M9 motion coprocessor embedded in it, something not seen in previous chip generations. It is a variant of the A9 and Apple claims that it has 80% more CPU performance and twice the GPU performance of its predecessor, the A8X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A12</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A12 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, It first appeared in the iPhone XS and XS Max, iPhone XR, iPad Air, iPad Mini, 8th generation iPad and Apple TV 4K. Apple states that the two high-performance cores are 15% faster and 40% more energy-efficient than the Apple A11's, and the four high-efficiency cores use 50% less power than the A11's. It is the first mass-market system on a chip to be built using the 7 nm process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A14</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A14 Bionic is a 64-bit ARMv8.4-A system on a chip (SoC)designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It appears in the fourth generation iPad Air and tenth generation iPad, as well as iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Apple states that the central processing unit (CPU) performs up to 40% faster than the A12, while the graphics processing unit (GPU) is up to 30% faster than the A12. It also includes a 16-core neural engine and new machine learning matrix accelerators that perform twice and ten times as fast, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A15</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A15 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series. It is used in the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, iPad Mini, iPhone SE, iPhone 14 and 14 Plus and Apple TV 4K.

References

  1. 1 2 Tanner, Jason; Morrison, Jim; James, Dick; Fontaine, Ray; Gamache, Phil (September 20, 2013). "Inside the iPhone 5s". Chipworks. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ Gurman, Mark (July 31, 2013). "Apple's upcoming A7 iPhone chip will have Samsung components, code inside iOS 7 reveals". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  3. ↑ Klug, Brian (October 24, 2013). "iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina Display include Qualcomm's MDM9615 baseband". AnandTech. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013. It isn't news, but I've also confirmed that there are the appropriate references to Apple's S5L8960X SoC (otherwise known as Apple's A7) in the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display software bundles, same as the iPhone 5s.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lal Shimpi, Anand (September 17, 2013). "The iPhone 5s Review: A7 SoC Explained". AnandTech. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
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  13. ↑ "iPhone 5s - Design". Apple. September 10, 2013. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ Panzarino, Matthew (September 12, 2013). "A Photographer's Take On The iPhone 5S Camera". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ Mogull, Rich (September 23, 2013). "Investigating Touch ID and the Secure Enclave". Securosis. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  16. ↑ Lal Shimpi, Anand (September 17, 2013). "The iPhone 5s Review: M7 Motion Coprocessor". AnandTech. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  17. ↑ Lawler, Richard (September 10, 2013). "iPhone 5s packs M7 motion-sensing chip, CoreMotion API for more accurate tracking". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Inside the iPhone 5s". triksimple.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  19. ↑ "iPad Mini Retina Display Teardown". IFixit. November 12, 2013. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ "triksimple.com". triksimple. December 24, 2021. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Chipworks Confirms Apple's A7 is Built On Samsung's 28nm HK+MG Process". AnandTech. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  22. ↑ Google/Motorola Mobility’s Moto X Outpaces Competition with New Innovations Archived October 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine , ABI Research
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  28. ↑ Wolfe, Jan (October 26, 2017). "Apple urges appeals court to toss $506 million patent loss to WARF". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  29. ↑ Stempel, Jonathan (September 28, 2018). "Apple wins reversal in University of Wisconsin patent lawsuit". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  30. ↑ Wolfe, Jan (July 25, 2017). "Apple ordered to pay $506 million to university in patent dispute". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
Preceded by
Apple A6 (iPhone)
Apple A6X (iPad)
 Apple A7
2013		Succeeded by
Apple A8 (iPhone & iPad Mini)
Apple A8X (iPad Air)
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