The battery life numbers provided are confusing. The iPhone 13 gets 2.5 more form 12 and 13 Pro gets 1.5 more than 12 Pro (which is the same as 12 and maybe even a bit less due to 6GB RAM ?). Eg. 13 last longer than 13 Pro The video playback numbers they provided jump a lot more with the pro phone having a larger increment. And according to the stream the 13 Pro and 13 are quite different on the inside unlike 12 and 12 Pro.
The ProMotion is variable refresh, only kicking into 120Hz when motion is detected on the screen. So it's conceivable that it's not super battery intensive if it drops down to 10 or even 1Hz on static screens. Hard to tell with how apple never providing battery capacity though.
The much higher battery life increases in video playback on the Pro models is because of the variable refresh rate display on the Pros, dropping down to 24Hz, 30Hz, or 48Hz depending on the content. So it makes sense that video playback is much more efficient on the Pro models as long as you're not watching 60fps or even 120fps video.
I agree that the performance claims were quite poor, although they did the same thing last year with the A14. Based on Apple's own comparisons it doesn't seem there is much of an improvement CPU wise, and a decent improvement in GPU. In the iPad Air, going from A12 -> A14, Apple claimed +40% CPU and +30% GPU. In the iPad mini, going from A12 -> A15 (5 core GPU), Apple claimed +40% CPU and +80% GPU. Maybe the reason for the poor CPU improvements is because of the move to ARMv9, adapting the CPU cores to the new ISA instead of improving them. It would be quite weird that they didn't mention it at all, though Apple being Apple not entirely impossible. Either way, we'll have to wait for the deep dive. Looking forward to it.
Apple is usually very conservative with performance claims though. Wait for benchmarks.
Also, We are at a point where CPU performance on the iPhone is more than enough. They chose to improve the GPU and neural engine more. Much of the new features depend heavily on the neural engine rather than the CPU.
A redesign that improves power efficiency instead of focusing on raw performance is really what is called for, since we've already run into the handheld device thermal wall.
As for Macs, we're moving towards designs that pack many cores together, so power efficiency will be important there as well.
Go back and look at the battery life issues the Pixel 4 had when they adopted a 90Hz refresh rate (even though the higher refresh rate was mostly off by default) and the number of hours of battery life you gave up on Samsung's Galaxy line when you turned high refresh rates on.
You quickly see how cutting power elsewhere is important.
Yeah conservative AF, if you meant exaggerated as much as they can every single time. 30% more than snap, when 102 leads 86 on peak and looses on sustained ? gut job as always. +2h means they still have ~3.5k batteries, so still they cannot survive whole day use without life support. I hope they did redesign internally after belkin & anker gave them 65W chargers sized like 2 of their 5W ones, and phones will also take >15W when possible. overall it's not bad device, not a revolution as they claim EACH TIME, but weak battery and slow charge is a deal killer imho.
Well TBH Apple isn`t usually very conservative with performance claims. Quite the contrary. But (!) they usually do make performance claims relative to some older models (their own and competitions), which is a bit (deliberately) moot at best.
Why don't we look at the actual benchmarks? The "competition" of A14 at the moment of release was probably Snapdragon 865+. In single-core SPEC (Anandtech's measurements), A14 is between 60 and 70% faster. It's over 50% faster on average in single-core Geekbench and 30% faster on average in multi-core Geekbench. I think that claims of "up to 50% faster" are very reasonable in this context. Compare it to someone like Intel, who would cherry pick a singular benchmark where they have a lead and reported that instead.
Also, look at Anandtech's information on high end Android SOC power usage:
>In terms of power and power efficiency, red alert, red alert!
Both the Exynos 2100 and Snapdragon 888 are showcasing outrageous peak power figures around 8W, which are figures that are simply impossible to sustain or dissipate in a phone.
I beg to disagree. For regular use that isn't some heavy calculation like say (patience while I empty my stomach content into porcelain) mobile gaming, the peak performance while unsustainable makes the device feel snappy. Like intel's old "race to iddle" paradigm that lets you finnish the task (like processing user input) ASAP and then powergate everything you can while waking for the monkey so slowly touch the screen again. It makes sense to have unsustainable peak power.
Agreed. That's a lame sheeple excuse for a gap year devoid of talent and innovation. When a company wastes die space on fixed function nonsense and doesn't improve, you can guarantee they will eventually get passed up. Intel did the same thing though they never had a 0% CPU improvement YoY. Even Skylake to Kaby Lake, their most lackluster YoY gain during the dreaded 14nm lull, saw an improvement of 7% performance. 40% versus A12 and 40% versus A12 for A14 and A15 means 0% improvement in CPU performance YoY. That's a company who is lacking talent and innovation.
"When a company wastes die space on fixed function nonsense" Why is fixed-function hardware a waste of die space?
"you can guarantee they will eventually get passed up" For what? Who else makes iPhones? People who buy iPhones are rarely cross-shopping with Android devices, and vice-versa. People upgrading to this will be upgrading from devices like the X and XS, and the improvements are solid for them.
Skylake to Kaby wasn't even Intel's most lackluster YoY. Kaby to Coffee and Coffee to Comet were all pretty dreadful aside from core increases (not much of an option in thermally constrained environments), and Comet to Rocket showed regressions. Yet, Intel remain the #1 PC CPU manufacturer.
"That's a company who is lacking talent and innovation." Maybe, maybe not. Probably better to see what they use the device to enable before making those judgements - if they've not improved performance by much but have designed a device that can actually sustain peak performance, that would be impressive. Your numbers are off too - the figures they've given imply about a 6% YoY performance increase on the CPU.
It's weird to see the invective Apple is still able to inspire, in spite of being objectively the best mobile SoC designer on the planet. If they've entered a lull, that's a shame, but they were never going to be able to sustain the pace of progress that got them this far ahead.
"It's weird to see the invective Apple is still able to inspire, in spite of being objectively the best mobile SoC designer"
I think it's got to do with a peculiar atmosphere that clings to Apple and its products. Whether it's their aesthetic, their status-symbol connotation, or something else, I'm not fully sure. No doubt, Android-Windows folk, like myself, have to have some circuit in the brain reversed before Apple can be seen with eyes of love. Then, conversion has been successful, and anything non-Apple will be lamentable.
Having said all that, I fully admit their excellence, and enjoy watching Tim, Craig, and the gang every year.
You sound like a salty hater. A14 still blows away everything out never mind M1. A15 has a proven 15-20% increase over A14 so stop with your lame comparison to intel.
Doubling the already very large system level cache is interesting though. There are likely going to be some cases where the performance improves significantly more than the figures suggest if they were heavily bandwidth and cache bound.
Seems almost like a Zen 3 with V-Cache moment. No big architecture change this year but a bigger cache can just brute force things into performing better, but the benefit is not always there.
Maybe Apple didn't want to close the gap between A and M series SOCs so in terms of performance A14 and A15 doesn't differ much. A13 is also very close to A14, 5-10% slower at most that Apple gave credit in the event.
"The Pro models have seen larger camera updates, in the literal sense. This year’s Pro models feature a much larger camera island, and a visibly larger camera lenses and thicker camera bumps."
This looks like a slam dunk upgrade for anyone who skipped the iPhone 12. Same price. More standard storage. More battery life. Better everything else.
However, the weight increases are bad. My XR is 190g and it’s already way too heavy for my liking. The smaller Pro is now 204g. That is insane. I’m effectively ruled out from ever buying a Pro if they don’t bring the weight way down.
I like the 5G improvements and battery life improvements, but I dont see a point in upgrading to 5G just yet, its just not super widespread yet (carrier depending). Battery life is always welcome, but my current phone (X XS Max) is doing just fine.
Oh you the troll again! Yea, it's worth the upgrade even you have the 12. Because the 13 is much newer but with the same old great design... and the same old notch. The new battery will last longer unlike the 12s get depleted from 100% to zero in less than 2.5 hours of gaming. And it only costs around $1200. You can use your Pandemic Unemployment Assistance money. Oh wait... the PUA has ended in September 4th but surely you can make 12 easy payments. C'mon sheeple, let's get in line today before they're sold out. Oh yea, the 13 will come with a bonus - ios 15 will automatically scan all your photos and messages without your consent.
Right! Because google cares so much about your privacy. You are such a troll. Go get a job if they stopped your pandemic unemployment hell there’s plenty out there.
Don't worry, for just $250 you can get a stronger belt from Apple so your trousers don't slink.
Seriously, you'll hardly notice the 14g difference, I 'member having a Nokia Communicator weighing like 900g. I for one welcome the change towards more functionality instead of shaving off a few grams and millimeters on the dimensions while sacrificing performance and/or battery life.
I'm just happy to see prices of something actually NOT going up. $800 is already a lot for the smallest most basic model. At least it has 128GB now. And there will always be the SE for people who need a cheap entry point to Apple.
Are you kidding me...They were already mispriced in Canada, even though our models lacked mmwave last year they were still way more expensive than conversion.
I actually wonder if that’s the main “feature” — maybe apple decided it’s better to hold the line on prices than to add the typical improvements in functionality that would necessitate a price increase in the current environment.
Prices were raised a bit in Europe, I paid 792€ (before taxes) for my iphone 12 128GiB. It's noticeable since over 800€ is the threshold for making it easily tax deductible.
Shoulda been named the 12S. Mild upgrade, not seeing anything earth shattering on the iPhone. iPad Mini was more interesting, but a big price bump to go along with.
The iPad mini is really more like the iPad Air mini (except it doesn't have the smart connector). It has evolved from the low-priced version into a premium product.
I imagine LPDDR5 / ARMv9 will fit more into a Mac livestream than an iPhone one.
But, yes: small improvements on A15 and maybe drawing on the node changes. Still, yes: the world over will be waiting for AnandTech’s analysis, myself included.
I’d hope it’s more than 5% PPC, but power is always welcome, especially with seemingly higher GPU draws.
I wonder if it would make more sense for anandtech to shift focus to analyzing the M series rather than A? Easier to analyze on the Mac due to greater software flexibility. Also, all this power seems wasted in a phone.
yes, it's binned differently, but also sold to OEMs as different products. Meanwhile Apple here called both A15 SoC the same even though it's binned differently. you'd think you'll get the same chip if you don't read their system specifications.
The watch is actually a much more interesting story. Bigger screen, blood oxygen sensor, better cycling support. If anything announced today were to tempt me, that would be it.
Series 6 already has the blood oxygen sensor. The processor on 7 is the exact same as 6. Watch was the most minimal upgraded announcement in the event. a nothing changed except the shrunken bezels.
The taller screen and A15 are decent upgrades for the iPad mini. But, yes, the Watch and iPhone have reached the point where annual upgrades don't make as much sense. I do wonder why Apple kept the Series 3 as the base model instead of bringing back the much more capable Series 4.
Still using Bluetooth 5.0, which means no Bluetooth Low Energy Audio and, presumably, no support for the LC3 bluetooth Codec.
And then there are the other standardized audio improvements in Bluetooth 5.2, covering better support for multiple devices (both sending and receiving audio).
It's going to take a while for support to become widespread, but lack of support from Apple is going to slow things down.
I still can't believe that Apple didn't do something (proprietary) about the lousy quality of two-way Bluetooth audio when they released the first AirPods. Now they are dragging their feet on an industry standard solution.
Why don't phone makers build the chassis out of hard rubber to cushion impacts, while remaining optimally slim? I've been saying this for years. I feel like once any major manufacture does this, it'll be so good that they all will follow. Someone tell me what I'm missing.
That's true you'd have less rigidity, but consider: 1. By far the most common failure is due to a drop, not due to the phone bending in half. Better to focus on the problem at hand. 2. A flat battery can be fairly rigid on its own. And the full inner stackup of the phone makes itself rigid. 3. If necessary they could even use a metal skeleton frame if bendability is a problem, and still make the outer mold like vulcanized rubber.
I rather replace my case annually, with the benefit of high hardness phone chassis that wear out slowly (iphone 5 and up). My iPhone 6, SE gen 1, Xs, 11p all aged very well, I still have all of these phones.
Consider the alternative plastic/rubber phone without a case, but requires a chassis replacement sourced from eBay 2 years out (personally owned these for my comparison to the above set: galaxy note 2 & 4, blackberries with keyboard).
I still have a Note Edge (out of use now) and never had to replace the plastic back. The plastic backs on my Nokia 808 and N900 are both perfectly fine (not even a scratch) and the plastic mix of my Sony Xperia X1c is perfect too.
PEJU, car tires are vulcanized rubber and drive thousands of miles supporting thousands of pounds without wearing out! It can be plenty durable for a phone.
Adding a case like you do has the obvious disadvantage of significantly increasing the phone size!
I genuinely hate the way glass phones feel. Glass backs and "waterfall" screens are some of the most user-hostile developments in phone design I've ever seen.
Plastic would do the job nicely. They don't do it because people whine that it's "cheap", thanks to Apple building devices out of fragile but tactile materials for more than a decade.
I'm a bit disappointed with this release from Apple. I live in Australia and we still don't get an mmWave capable phone. Last year I held off buying the iPhone 12 because the model released in Australia didn't support mmWave frequencies and the same thing has happened again this year. I expect to keep my phone for about 5 years or more so it needs to be up to date. The mmWave spectrum auction took place at the start of this year and the telcos are starting to install equipment. Apple is being lazy and cheap by not rolling out mmWave modems to more countries with this release. Apple advertised that mmWave modems would be rolled out to more countries but it doesn't look like any changes from iPhone 12. The battery tech is slightly better in the 13 but I get 2 full days of use from my iPhone 7+ with new battery. I might just keep using my current phone now for another year. It was the top model at the time of purchase. Also do we know what DAC chips Apple put into the new devices? Do they support Apple Lossless codecs on Apple Music? Pretty pointless to skimp on the DAC chip if you want people to use Apple Lossless.
Finally it on. Airpods 3 are not here, a15 seems to have smaller performance gain across the chip generations. iPhone 13 may focus on display power efficiency and try to take over android’s s888+, s870, e2200, d1200 and tensor.
Is iPhone 13 use 60Hz VRR? Is iPhone 13 Pro’s Screen can produce 1200 nits in 100% APL HDR content? Is iPhone and iPad’s promotion same as the G-SYNC / FreeSync?
Or it just use LTPO to improve the power efficiency? Can iPhone 13 pro use 60 Hz VRR Mode?
We know apple provided 25W PD2.0 since iPhone 2019, does iPhone 13 series having upgrade to 30W or 35W PPS PD?
The emphasis in VRR should be on V - it is variable 10 - 120Hz. Meaning most of the time it will run 10Hz (thus saving energy) and only on special (rare) occasions on 120Hz.
No point in upgrading if you are on 11 or 12 or the mini. The pro one too, except for the ProMotion nothing else really stands out. In day to day use, you won’t notice the performance difference. Lacklustre announcement this time by Apple, except perhaps for the iPad mini.
"In fact, if I’m not wrong, this would be the first time ever we see a functional block binned SoC in a mobile phone at all, as I don’t remember any company ever doing this before today (Normally mobile SoCs are power binned)." Mediatek does it in the Dimensity 700, 800 and 1000 series.
Not an iPhone fan, but their cameras, especially for video, tend to be top notch. The focus on photography and videography is clearly notable in the Pro models, which makes a lot of sense, and are among the key reasons why I would even consider switching from Android phones. @Andrei, I know it's not usually a focus of your reviews, but if you get a Pro model in for review, please test the video, especially in Pores. Really curious how well (or not) they do.
Wow why are they still using lightning ports? It's still stuck at USB 2 speeds and is incompatible with literally everything on the market, even their own products. Unbelievable.
Yeah, it is totally bizarre. Guess the average Joe/Jane seems the lightning port as a sign of exclusivity and Apple fears they will look down at having "android ports".
I'm guessing it's the accessory market. Apple upset a lot of people in 2012 when they switched from the 30-pin port and promised that they would use Lightning for a long time. They have migrated the premium iPads to USB-C or Thunderbolt, and of course fully embraced Thunderbolt on Macs. Long term, I think Apple is more likely to eliminate iPhone ports altogether rather than switch to USB-C.
Maybe I misread the term, but to me a "functionally binned" chip is if the same CPU, GPU or SoC chip are used, but some functions or cores are disabled, depending on either defects, target price, or both. Mobile SoCs are usually different in size and design when produced. It reads like Apple uses one SoC with different numbers of cores enabled in these iPhones.
If you live in the USA, none of those CPUs are used in ANY phones over here. I've honestly never seen a mediatek phone in person, sicne they are not sold here often. Huawei is unobtanium in the US and has been for several years after the sanctions were put in place.
With these prices either apple has terrible purchasing department, they order flash made from gold or are just price gouging. Well we all know what it is. $120 more for 128gb of flash. you kidding me?
Apple has a very long history of gouging with RAM (Apple IIGS and first Mac). Gouging with storage is an extension of that, now that it’s not a hard disk. Consumers have made it profitable.
A little surprised the pro max gets nothing but bigger. But it's nice because a lot of people want a somewhat smaller phone. And I was thinking seriously of switching to Apple this generation because nothing exciting seems to be coming on the android side. But ... lightning connector? No thanks. I'm going all usb-c everywhere and don't want to have to carry a converter.
I want to love apple's A series chips, but I cant. If they would allow side loading and would put a bigger battery in like androids do, I'd have switched back to the fruit camp by now. That A15 GPU looks sweet.
>>Another theory is that Apple decided to focus more on reducing power and energy efficiency this generation, given their massive lead in CPU performance.
Yes, it's a theory but it is well supported by the data. We have seen small performance improvements but more notably battery life has been extended. Now, the silicon process has (probably) been improved a bit, the screen is said to be more efficient and new battery saving techniques, for instance, in the operation of the 5G modem, have been implemented. So, Apple has found a number of ways to take power consumption down a notch and it is also clear that Apple has been able to give the batteries used in the different iPhone models a capacity bump. But, accounting for the battery life increases would be easier if power consumption of the CPU cluster was also being reduced or held in check rather than increased because in that case CPU power demands would eat into any power savings made elsewhere. Now, power consumption of the new SoC is yet to be tested so we can't be certain about anything yet. Still, that we are seeing so little performance improvement from the CPU does suggest that Apple isn't pushing hard on that front and that this time round it is putting most of its effort into raising energy efficiency and reducing power consumption. I think that makes sense as a strategy - it is already very difficult for Apple's mobile peocessors to offer sustained performance anywhere near their peak capability.
Andrei, I haven't been able to find the source of your comments in this article about the SPECint2017 scores for the Snapdragon 888. Looking at SPECint2006, however, peak performance of the Apple A14 already looks to be more than 50% greater than the SD888.
actually i welcome apple's insistence on a steel frame. it has saved my iphone from being utterly destroyed many times. i know this is subjective, but i drop my phone "regularly" and as a consequence all my aluminium iphones had shattered screens/backs whereas none of my stainless steel framed iphones have ever had a cracked screen/back.
Yet my boss has had and used two iPhones with shattered screens in the last 5 years while the Gorilla glass on my Samsung Galaxy S7 still stays strong.
I would never get OLED on a phone, a TV is fine because no burn in issues anymore, but a phone is static screen..lots of time. Hell even my Pixel 3 has burn in now from static icon, not the first time or only one to see that too.
I see no reason to get a iphone anymore, the prices they list are simply absurd, its not like softwar NEEDS the CPU speed anymore on phones, phones have reached a plateau in terms of what you use them for. Data/network speed is getting to the point of old days of PC hardware days, when computers got faster, but internet connection didn't. We are seeing that with phones. No wifi 6 is not the save all for most places.
I'm sorry, can you please explain? I tried a Google search, but could not find what you are talking about. My kids have iPhones, and as far as I can tell their icons and such stay in the same place, just like on an Android.
"Data/network speed is getting to the point of old days of PC hardware days"
According to the networking and telco folk, 5G is going to revolutionise the world, with edge computing, software-based networks, slices, and other things. Apparently, these things are going to make the world a better place.
I'm waiting for your in-depth Apple A15 review. The new Avalanche core doesn't seem to be different from the Firestorm core found in A14. However, your professional review may found some actual differences.
This isn't being looked at from a practical standpoint. Nobody needs a $1600 smartphone with 1TB of storage, a 120 Hz OLED display, 3 cameras, over a 3 GHz "super efficient, high powered CPU blah blah blah". Most likely you're spending your time scrolling social media, sending emails, and casually browsing the internet. Maybe you play a 2D game to pass the time. These parts that are being shoved into these phones are so much more powerful and expensive than they need to be. No wonder the battery life is always an issue - Apple keeps putting more and more strain on it every year. The wheel has already been invented, and to keep redesigning it and adding more unnecessary crap is not the answer. Just sell an affordable phone that will last longer than 3 years before becoming obsolete.
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GC2:CS - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
The battery life numbers provided are confusing. The iPhone 13 gets 2.5 more form 12 and 13 Pro gets 1.5 more than 12 Pro (which is the same as 12 and maybe even a bit less due to 6GB RAM ?). Eg. 13 last longer than 13 ProThe video playback numbers they provided jump a lot more with the pro phone having a larger increment.
And according to the stream the 13 Pro and 13 are quite different on the inside unlike 12 and 12 Pro.
ss96 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Probably due to the 120Hz display. It would still be pretty impressive if they manage to improve battery life while adopting a HRR display.chaose - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The ProMotion is variable refresh, only kicking into 120Hz when motion is detected on the screen. So it's conceivable that it's not super battery intensive if it drops down to 10 or even 1Hz on static screens. Hard to tell with how apple never providing battery capacity though.mattbe - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
They already said that 10hz is the lower range.https://www.phonearena.com/news/apple-first-120hz-...
I am not even sure how well 10hz will works due to a potential problem with flickering. Hope it's not an issue.
caribbeanblue - Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - link
The much higher battery life increases in video playback on the Pro models is because of the variable refresh rate display on the Pros, dropping down to 24Hz, 30Hz, or 48Hz depending on the content. So it makes sense that video playback is much more efficient on the Pro models as long as you're not watching 60fps or even 120fps video.ss96 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I agree that the performance claims were quite poor, although they did the same thing last year with the A14.Based on Apple's own comparisons it doesn't seem there is much of an improvement CPU wise, and a decent improvement in GPU.
In the iPad Air, going from A12 -> A14, Apple claimed +40% CPU and +30% GPU.
In the iPad mini, going from A12 -> A15 (5 core GPU), Apple claimed +40% CPU and +80% GPU.
Maybe the reason for the poor CPU improvements is because of the move to ARMv9, adapting the CPU cores to the new ISA instead of improving them. It would be quite weird that they didn't mention it at all, though Apple being Apple not entirely impossible.
Either way, we'll have to wait for the deep dive. Looking forward to it.
lemurbutton - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Apple is usually very conservative with performance claims though. Wait for benchmarks.Also, We are at a point where CPU performance on the iPhone is more than enough. They chose to improve the GPU and neural engine more. Much of the new features depend heavily on the neural engine rather than the CPU.
ikjadoon - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Yet these CPU cores will also be used in MacBooks, Mac Pros, etc.Unless we see Apple going out of left-field and developing one architecture for mobile vs one for desktops, architectures do need to improve YoY.
Kuhar - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
AFAIK not "these" CPU cores but CPU cores of the same arhitecture.MetaCube - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
The M1 literally uses the same cores as the A14BillBear - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
A redesign that improves power efficiency instead of focusing on raw performance is really what is called for, since we've already run into the handheld device thermal wall.As for Macs, we're moving towards designs that pack many cores together, so power efficiency will be important there as well.
Go back and look at the battery life issues the Pixel 4 had when they adopted a 90Hz refresh rate (even though the higher refresh rate was mostly off by default) and the number of hours of battery life you gave up on Samsung's Galaxy line when you turned high refresh rates on.
You quickly see how cutting power elsewhere is important.
deil - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Yeah conservative AF, if you meant exaggerated as much as they can every single time.30% more than snap, when 102 leads 86 on peak and looses on sustained ?
gut job as always.
+2h means they still have ~3.5k batteries, so still they cannot survive whole day use without life support. I hope they did redesign internally after belkin & anker gave them 65W chargers sized like 2 of their 5W ones, and phones will also take >15W when possible.
overall it's not bad device, not a revolution as they claim EACH TIME, but weak battery and slow charge is a deal killer imho.
caribbeanblue - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The without life support thing is not true at all. iPhone 12 Pro Max had one of the best battery lives of any phone in 2020-21.Kuhar - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Well TBH Apple isn`t usually very conservative with performance claims. Quite the contrary. But (!) they usually do make performance claims relative to some older models (their own and competitions), which is a bit (deliberately) moot at best.misan - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Why don't we look at the actual benchmarks? The "competition" of A14 at the moment of release was probably Snapdragon 865+. In single-core SPEC (Anandtech's measurements), A14 is between 60 and 70% faster. It's over 50% faster on average in single-core Geekbench and 30% faster on average in multi-core Geekbench. I think that claims of "up to 50% faster" are very reasonable in this context. Compare it to someone like Intel, who would cherry pick a singular benchmark where they have a lead and reported that instead.BillBear - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Also, look at Anandtech's information on high end Android SOC power usage:>In terms of power and power efficiency, red alert, red alert!
Both the Exynos 2100 and Snapdragon 888 are showcasing outrageous peak power figures around 8W, which are figures that are simply impossible to sustain or dissipate in a phone.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16463/snapdragon-88...
When your design can't sustain performance due to heat, power efficiency becomes the bottleneck.
Dodozoid - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
I beg to disagree. For regular use that isn't some heavy calculation like say (patience while I empty my stomach content into porcelain) mobile gaming, the peak performance while unsustainable makes the device feel snappy. Like intel's old "race to iddle" paradigm that lets you finnish the task (like processing user input) ASAP and then powergate everything you can while waking for the monkey so slowly touch the screen again. It makes sense to have unsustainable peak power.Dodozoid - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
*while waitingI know its futile to call for edit button but here we are again.
Zoolook - Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - link
Samsungs process is much worse than TSMC's especially on power efficiency, would be interesting to see snapdragon on N5psonny73n - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
"Apple is usually very conservative with performance claims"Blatant lie from one of the sheeple.
Hifihedgehog - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Agreed. That's a lame sheeple excuse for a gap year devoid of talent and innovation. When a company wastes die space on fixed function nonsense and doesn't improve, you can guarantee they will eventually get passed up. Intel did the same thing though they never had a 0% CPU improvement YoY. Even Skylake to Kaby Lake, their most lackluster YoY gain during the dreaded 14nm lull, saw an improvement of 7% performance. 40% versus A12 and 40% versus A12 for A14 and A15 means 0% improvement in CPU performance YoY. That's a company who is lacking talent and innovation.Spunjji - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
"When a company wastes die space on fixed function nonsense"Why is fixed-function hardware a waste of die space?
"you can guarantee they will eventually get passed up"
For what? Who else makes iPhones? People who buy iPhones are rarely cross-shopping with Android devices, and vice-versa. People upgrading to this will be upgrading from devices like the X and XS, and the improvements are solid for them.
Skylake to Kaby wasn't even Intel's most lackluster YoY. Kaby to Coffee and Coffee to Comet were all pretty dreadful aside from core increases (not much of an option in thermally constrained environments), and Comet to Rocket showed regressions. Yet, Intel remain the #1 PC CPU manufacturer.
"That's a company who is lacking talent and innovation."
Maybe, maybe not. Probably better to see what they use the device to enable before making those judgements - if they've not improved performance by much but have designed a device that can actually sustain peak performance, that would be impressive. Your numbers are off too - the figures they've given imply about a 6% YoY performance increase on the CPU.
It's weird to see the invective Apple is still able to inspire, in spite of being objectively the best mobile SoC designer on the planet. If they've entered a lull, that's a shame, but they were never going to be able to sustain the pace of progress that got them this far ahead.
GeoffreyA - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
"It's weird to see the invective Apple is still able to inspire, in spite of being objectively the best mobile SoC designer"I think it's got to do with a peculiar atmosphere that clings to Apple and its products. Whether it's their aesthetic, their status-symbol connotation, or something else, I'm not fully sure. No doubt, Android-Windows folk, like myself, have to have some circuit in the brain reversed before Apple can be seen with eyes of love. Then, conversion has been successful, and anything non-Apple will be lamentable.
Having said all that, I fully admit their excellence, and enjoy watching Tim, Craig, and the gang every year.
Irish910 - Friday, September 24, 2021 - link
You sound like a salty hater. A14 still blows away everything out never mind M1. A15 has a proven 15-20% increase over A14 so stop with your lame comparison to intel.tipoo - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Doubling the already very large system level cache is interesting though. There are likely going to be some cases where the performance improves significantly more than the figures suggest if they were heavily bandwidth and cache bound.Seems almost like a Zen 3 with V-Cache moment. No big architecture change this year but a bigger cache can just brute force things into performing better, but the benefit is not always there.
waiaudi - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
arm v9 is it confirmed?Ju1iet - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Maybe Apple didn't want to close the gap between A and M series SOCs so in terms of performance A14 and A15 doesn't differ much. A13 is also very close to A14, 5-10% slower at most that Apple gave credit in the event.nandnandnand - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
"The new design follows Apple’s 2+6 CPU configuration that we’ve seen being used for the last couple of generations."Correction: 2+4
nandnandnand - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
"The Pro models have seen larger camera updates, in the literal sense. This year’s Pro models feature a much larger camera island, and a visibly larger camera lenses and thicker camera bumps."This is repeated twice.
cknobman - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Still a huge notch?Nothing really new to warrant an upgrade really.
Not like the 12's were hurting for performance.
Skip year!!!
Spunjji - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
Is anyone upgrading $700+ phones every year? If so, whyyyyyyyy?lemurbutton - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
This looks like a slam dunk upgrade for anyone who skipped the iPhone 12. Same price. More standard storage. More battery life. Better everything else.However, the weight increases are bad. My XR is 190g and it’s already way too heavy for my liking. The smaller Pro is now 204g. That is insane. I’m effectively ruled out from ever buying a Pro if they don’t bring the weight way down.
Blastdoor - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I have an 11pro and am not feeling any urge to upgrade.CoreLogicCom - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I like the 5G improvements and battery life improvements, but I dont see a point in upgrading to 5G just yet, its just not super widespread yet (carrier depending). Battery life is always welcome, but my current phone (X XS Max) is doing just fine.easp - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Yeah. Typical iPhone upgrade cycle is ~3 years now.I have a XR and this doesn't have me in any hurry to upgrade. I'll probably go 4-5 years before getting a new phone, barring a catastrophe.
willis936 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I stretched my 6S to an 11 pro. My mom is still on her 6S. Five year+ seems the norm.29a - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I'm using a 5 year old 7+ and am still having a hard time justifying an upgrade.eek2121 - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I upgrade every year because thanks to Apple's trade in plan combined with cash back I only pay a couple hundred bucks.Yamazakikun - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I currently have a 11 Pro Max, and I’d be preordering a 13 ASAP if it had a fingerprint reader. Hopefully the Pixel 6 will be good.sonny73n - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Oh you the troll again! Yea, it's worth the upgrade even you have the 12. Because the 13 is much newer but with the same old great design... and the same old notch. The new battery will last longer unlike the 12s get depleted from 100% to zero in less than 2.5 hours of gaming. And it only costs around $1200. You can use your Pandemic Unemployment Assistance money. Oh wait... the PUA has ended in September 4th but surely you can make 12 easy payments. C'mon sheeple, let's get in line today before they're sold out. Oh yea, the 13 will come with a bonus - ios 15 will automatically scan all your photos and messages without your consent.29a - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Did you really just call someone else a troll?Spunjji - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
Yeah, bit rich from someone using the term "sheeple" without a hint of irony.Irish910 - Friday, September 24, 2021 - link
Right! Because google cares so much about your privacy. You are such a troll. Go get a job if they stopped your pandemic unemployment hell there’s plenty out there.nils_ - Friday, September 17, 2021 - link
Don't worry, for just $250 you can get a stronger belt from Apple so your trousers don't slink.Seriously, you'll hardly notice the 14g difference, I 'member having a Nokia Communicator weighing like 900g. I for one welcome the change towards more functionality instead of shaving off a few grams and millimeters on the dimensions while sacrificing performance and/or battery life.
Samus - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I'm just happy to see prices of something actually NOT going up. $800 is already a lot for the smallest most basic model. At least it has 128GB now. And there will always be the SE for people who need a cheap entry point to Apple.Alistair - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
sadly raised the price in Canada ...tipoo - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Are you kidding me...They were already mispriced in Canada, even though our models lacked mmwave last year they were still way more expensive than conversion.Blastdoor - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I actually wonder if that’s the main “feature” — maybe apple decided it’s better to hold the line on prices than to add the typical improvements in functionality that would necessitate a price increase in the current environment.nils_ - Friday, September 17, 2021 - link
Prices were raised a bit in Europe, I paid 792€ (before taxes) for my iphone 12 128GiB. It's noticeable since over 800€ is the threshold for making it easily tax deductible.shady28 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Shoulda been named the 12S. Mild upgrade, not seeing anything earth shattering on the iPhone. iPad Mini was more interesting, but a big price bump to go along with.Alistair - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
S models are usually faster, but the A15 isn't really faster vs the A14 unless you buy the iPhone ProKPOM - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The iPad mini is really more like the iPad Air mini (except it doesn't have the smart connector). It has evolved from the low-priced version into a premium product.Oxford Guy - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I have a non-jumbo 8 and I keep the phone in low power mode at all times. I prefer having the battery life.In typical Apple fashion, the phones knows best, though, and forces me to re-enable low power mode every time I charge it.
Perhaps the firm can use its groovy neural AI to realize that the people who buy the products are the ones who should be in charge.
tipoo - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
That is annoying that you can't tell it not to turn low power mode off.Maybe there's a way to keep turning it on with shortcuts
teryan2006 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
You can already set it up automatically. In the Shortcuts app, create an automation:"When charger is disconnected" as a trigger.
Add action: "Set Lower Power Mode", parameter: "On".
Oxford Guy - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
It should be in the normal GUI.ikjadoon - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I imagine LPDDR5 / ARMv9 will fit more into a Mac livestream than an iPhone one.But, yes: small improvements on A15 and maybe drawing on the node changes. Still, yes: the world over will be waiting for AnandTech’s analysis, myself included.
I’d hope it’s more than 5% PPC, but power is always welcome, especially with seemingly higher GPU draws.
Blastdoor - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I wonder if it would make more sense for anandtech to shift focus to analyzing the M series rather than A? Easier to analyze on the Mac due to greater software flexibility. Also, all this power seems wasted in a phone.anonym - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
According to japanese company techanalye, Dimensity 1000 family(1000+,1000,1000L,maybe 1000C also) shares same die.Fulljack - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
yes, it's binned differently, but also sold to OEMs as different products. Meanwhile Apple here called both A15 SoC the same even though it's binned differently. you'd think you'll get the same chip if you don't read their system specifications.Blastdoor - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
The watch is actually a much more interesting story. Bigger screen, blood oxygen sensor, better cycling support. If anything announced today were to tempt me, that would be it.Teckk - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Series 6 already has the blood oxygen sensor. The processor on 7 is the exact same as 6. Watch was the most minimal upgraded announcement in the event. a nothing changed except the shrunken bezels.Blastdoor - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
That’s funny - I missed the oxygen sensor on the 6.Oh well, I’m still happy with my 4.
Teckk - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Yeah, none of the announced devices warrant an upgrade honestly if you’re on the last 1/2 gen devices.KPOM - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The taller screen and A15 are decent upgrades for the iPad mini. But, yes, the Watch and iPhone have reached the point where annual upgrades don't make as much sense. I do wonder why Apple kept the Series 3 as the base model instead of bringing back the much more capable Series 4.easp - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Still using Bluetooth 5.0, which means no Bluetooth Low Energy Audio and, presumably, no support for the LC3 bluetooth Codec.And then there are the other standardized audio improvements in Bluetooth 5.2, covering better support for multiple devices (both sending and receiving audio).
It's going to take a while for support to become widespread, but lack of support from Apple is going to slow things down.
I still can't believe that Apple didn't do something (proprietary) about the lousy quality of two-way Bluetooth audio when they released the first AirPods. Now they are dragging their feet on an industry standard solution.
ikjadoon - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Yeah, this was not an eager omission on these flagship phones.No WiFi 6E. No Bluetooth 5.2. No LIDAR improvements.
AnnonymousCoward - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Why don't phone makers build the chassis out of hard rubber to cushion impacts, while remaining optimally slim? I've been saying this for years. I feel like once any major manufacture does this, it'll be so good that they all will follow. Someone tell me what I'm missing.easp - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Rigidity to protect the display, PCB, battery.AnnonymousCoward - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
That's true you'd have less rigidity, but consider:1. By far the most common failure is due to a drop, not due to the phone bending in half. Better to focus on the problem at hand.
2. A flat battery can be fairly rigid on its own. And the full inner stackup of the phone makes itself rigid.
3. If necessary they could even use a metal skeleton frame if bendability is a problem, and still make the outer mold like vulcanized rubber.
michael2k - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
You’re asking why Apple doesn’t ship their iPhone with a built in silicone case?MetaCube - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
LmaoPEJUman - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I rather replace my case annually, with the benefit of high hardness phone chassis that wear out slowly (iphone 5 and up). My iPhone 6, SE gen 1, Xs, 11p all aged very well, I still have all of these phones.Consider the alternative plastic/rubber phone without a case, but requires a chassis replacement sourced from eBay 2 years out (personally owned these for my comparison to the above set: galaxy note 2 & 4, blackberries with keyboard).
Tams80 - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
What on Earth do you do to your phones?!I still have a Note Edge (out of use now) and never had to replace the plastic back. The plastic backs on my Nokia 808 and N900 are both perfectly fine (not even a scratch) and the plastic mix of my Sony Xperia X1c is perfect too.
The glass back of my Fold on the other hand...
AnnonymousCoward - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
PEJU, car tires are vulcanized rubber and drive thousands of miles supporting thousands of pounds without wearing out! It can be plenty durable for a phone.Adding a case like you do has the obvious disadvantage of significantly increasing the phone size!
Fulljack - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
doesn't feels ✨rich✨no, I'm serious. the metal and glass sandwich trend are all because of how premium it feels.
GeoffreyA - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
Conspicuous consumption, alas.Oxford Guy - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
This.Spunjji - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
I genuinely hate the way glass phones feel. Glass backs and "waterfall" screens are some of the most user-hostile developments in phone design I've ever seen.Spunjji - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
Plastic would do the job nicely. They don't do it because people whine that it's "cheap", thanks to Apple building devices out of fragile but tactile materials for more than a decade.AnnonymousCoward - Sunday, September 26, 2021 - link
Yeah plastic is better, but still doesn't absorb like hard rubber. Also it would make sense add small lips that stick out higher than the screen.snooksy - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
I'm a bit disappointed with this release from Apple. I live in Australia and we still don't get an mmWave capable phone. Last year I held off buying the iPhone 12 because the model released in Australia didn't support mmWave frequencies and the same thing has happened again this year. I expect to keep my phone for about 5 years or more so it needs to be up to date. The mmWave spectrum auction took place at the start of this year and the telcos are starting to install equipment. Apple is being lazy and cheap by not rolling out mmWave modems to more countries with this release. Apple advertised that mmWave modems would be rolled out to more countries but it doesn't look like any changes from iPhone 12. The battery tech is slightly better in the 13 but I get 2 full days of use from my iPhone 7+ with new battery. I might just keep using my current phone now for another year. It was the top model at the time of purchase. Also do we know what DAC chips Apple put into the new devices? Do they support Apple Lossless codecs on Apple Music? Pretty pointless to skimp on the DAC chip if you want people to use Apple Lossless.Vitor - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
There is no dac since there is no analog output. The conversion is up to the headphones internal dac or the dongle you use.Vitor - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
By the way, there is a dac for the speakers, but that's not something anyone cares.Vitor - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Better wait for next year with the soc made in TSMC 3nmMetaCube - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
You're going to be disappointed thenfuicharles - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
iphone 13 pro series got Lidar sensor or not ? Cannot find this info5j3rul3 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Finally it on.Airpods 3 are not here, a15 seems to have smaller performance gain across the chip generations.
iPhone 13 may focus on display power efficiency and try to take over android’s s888+, s870, e2200, d1200 and tensor.
iPhone 13 Pro Max the Battery king?
5j3rul3 - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
Is iPhone 13 use 60Hz VRR?Is iPhone 13 Pro’s Screen can produce 1200 nits in 100% APL HDR content?
Is iPhone and iPad’s promotion same as the G-SYNC / FreeSync?
Or it just use LTPO to improve the power efficiency?
Can iPhone 13 pro use 60 Hz VRR Mode?
We know apple provided 25W PD2.0 since iPhone 2019, does iPhone 13 series having upgrade to 30W or 35W PPS PD?
Exotic - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
"Is iPhone and iPad’s promotion same as the G-SYNC / FreeSync?"Yes its a VRR 120htz. But battery life is better because of LTPO.
arashi - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
It's not the same as Gsync/Freesync.Kuhar - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The emphasis in VRR should be on V - it is variable 10 - 120Hz. Meaning most of the time it will run 10Hz (thus saving energy) and only on special (rare) occasions on 120Hz.Teckk - Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - link
No point in upgrading if you are on 11 or 12 or the mini. The pro one too, except for the ProMotion nothing else really stands out. In day to day use, you won’t notice the performance difference.Lacklustre announcement this time by Apple, except perhaps for the iPad mini.
KarlKastor - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
"In fact, if I’m not wrong, this would be the first time ever we see a functional block binned SoC in a mobile phone at all, as I don’t remember any company ever doing this before today (Normally mobile SoCs are power binned)."Mediatek does it in the Dimensity 700, 800 and 1000 series.
TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Well that'd be why. We dont get too many mediatek phones in the US.eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Not an iPhone fan, but their cameras, especially for video, tend to be top notch. The focus on photography and videography is clearly notable in the Pro models, which makes a lot of sense, and are among the key reasons why I would even consider switching from Android phones. @Andrei, I know it's not usually a focus of your reviews, but if you get a Pro model in for review, please test the video, especially in Pores. Really curious how well (or not) they do.sonicmerlin - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Wow why are they still using lightning ports? It's still stuck at USB 2 speeds and is incompatible with literally everything on the market, even their own products. Unbelievable.Vitor - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Yeah, it is totally bizarre. Guess the average Joe/Jane seems the lightning port as a sign of exclusivity and Apple fears they will look down at having "android ports".jospoortvliet - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
But their laptops and tablets and desktops are all full of these "Android ports", so that would be a strange argument...Alistair - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
and no USB-C headphones either, for the new iPad mini for example, irritating as all heck that I can't use Earpods with my Apple productsTams80 - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
But now you can be a 'cinematographer in your pocket using Dolby Super-Res Pro Vision'!Or something like that. With USB 2.
KPOM - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I think the USB-C to Lightning cable supports USB 3.0 speeds.Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
Lightning doesn't have the physical pins for USB 3.0.KPOM - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I'm guessing it's the accessory market. Apple upset a lot of people in 2012 when they switched from the 30-pin port and promised that they would use Lightning for a long time. They have migrated the premium iPads to USB-C or Thunderbolt, and of course fully embraced Thunderbolt on Macs. Long term, I think Apple is more likely to eliminate iPhone ports altogether rather than switch to USB-C.DougMcC - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Wut? What would they do for charging? Require you to carry a wireless charging pad with you everywhere?nils_ - Friday, September 17, 2021 - link
Yes.yeeeeman - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Why they bother to release the same style of phones 3 years in a row?Alistair - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Fourth year if you include the XSksec - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
No mention of Modem.SoC CPU / GPU Performance are likely results of Doubling System Cache. NPU seems to be the outliner here. Since it is a 40-50% increase.
WiFi6 and Bluetooth - May be next year? Or Apple going to make WiFI 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 by themselves?
dotjaz - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
"first time ever we see a functional block binned SoC in a mobile phone at all"So you've never seen Kirin 9000e and Dimensity 1000L?
dotjaz - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Also Kirin 820, 990e, Snapdragon 888 4G, Dimensity 1000C.arashi - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
They actually do change the name.For Apple be the same as those chips would be like calling the SoC in the Pro the A15 Pro. Instead you get A15 for both variants.
eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
Maybe I misread the term, but to me a "functionally binned" chip is if the same CPU, GPU or SoC chip are used, but some functions or cores are disabled, depending on either defects, target price, or both. Mobile SoCs are usually different in size and design when produced. It reads like Apple uses one SoC with different numbers of cores enabled in these iPhones.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
If you live in the USA, none of those CPUs are used in ANY phones over here. I've honestly never seen a mediatek phone in person, sicne they are not sold here often. Huawei is unobtanium in the US and has been for several years after the sanctions were put in place.anonym - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
T-mobile version of LG Velvet has Dimensity 1000C over there.TrevorH - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The graphic on the front page for this article says "CAMERAS+DISPALY". Whatever a dispaly is...beginner99 - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
With these prices either apple has terrible purchasing department, they order flash made from gold or are just price gouging. Well we all know what it is. $120 more for 128gb of flash. you kidding me?Oxford Guy - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
Apple has a very long history of gouging with RAM (Apple IIGS and first Mac). Gouging with storage is an extension of that, now that it’s not a hard disk. Consumers have made it profitable.GeoffreyA - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
A Chipworks' teardown recently revealed that Apple's flash was made from 24-karat gold. The current theory is that it picks up endurance quite a bit.Tams80 - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
The marketing fluff has gotten to rather an extreme for the iPhone.Frankly, I think it's so misleading now that I think some fines and legal action are due.
Lavkesh - Saturday, September 25, 2021 - link
Why dont you go ahead and file one if you think has merit?DougMcC - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
A little surprised the pro max gets nothing but bigger. But it's nice because a lot of people want a somewhat smaller phone. And I was thinking seriously of switching to Apple this generation because nothing exciting seems to be coming on the android side. But ... lightning connector? No thanks. I'm going all usb-c everywhere and don't want to have to carry a converter.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
I want to love apple's A series chips, but I cant. If they would allow side loading and would put a bigger battery in like androids do, I'd have switched back to the fruit camp by now. That A15 GPU looks sweet.ChrisGX - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
>>Another theory is that Apple decided to focus more on reducing power and energy efficiency this generation, given their massive lead in CPU performance.Yes, it's a theory but it is well supported by the data. We have seen small performance improvements but more notably battery life has been extended. Now, the silicon process has (probably) been improved a bit, the screen is said to be more efficient and new battery saving techniques, for instance, in the operation of the 5G modem, have been implemented. So, Apple has found a number of ways to take power consumption down a notch and it is also clear that Apple has been able to give the batteries used in the different iPhone models a capacity bump. But, accounting for the battery life increases would be easier if power consumption of the CPU cluster was also being reduced or held in check rather than increased because in that case CPU power demands would eat into any power savings made elsewhere. Now, power consumption of the new SoC is yet to be tested so we can't be certain about anything yet. Still, that we are seeing so little performance improvement from the CPU does suggest that Apple isn't pushing hard on that front and that this time round it is putting most of its effort into raising energy efficiency and reducing power consumption. I think that makes sense as a strategy - it is already very difficult for Apple's mobile peocessors to offer sustained performance anywhere near their peak capability.
Andrei, I haven't been able to find the source of your comments in this article about the SPECint2017 scores for the Snapdragon 888. Looking at SPECint2006, however, peak performance of the Apple A14 already looks to be more than 50% greater than the SD888.
Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, September 16, 2021 - link
All 13 series device received newer generation displays that are more efficient so you can't infer CPU efficiency gains.I haven't published 2017 scores yet, but I have the numbers. You'll see them in the A15 piece.
bernstein - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
actually i welcome apple's insistence on a steel frame. it has saved my iphone from being utterly destroyed many times. i know this is subjective, but i drop my phone "regularly" and as a consequence all my aluminium iphones had shattered screens/backs whereas none of my stainless steel framed iphones have ever had a cracked screen/back.bernstein - Wednesday, September 15, 2021 - link
as a consequence i will never buy an aluminium framed phone again.Gastec - Friday, September 24, 2021 - link
Yet my boss has had and used two iPhones with shattered screens in the last 5 years while the Gorilla glass on my Samsung Galaxy S7 still stays strong.imaheadcase - Friday, September 17, 2021 - link
I would never get OLED on a phone, a TV is fine because no burn in issues anymore, but a phone is static screen..lots of time. Hell even my Pixel 3 has burn in now from static icon, not the first time or only one to see that too.I see no reason to get a iphone anymore, the prices they list are simply absurd, its not like softwar NEEDS the CPU speed anymore on phones, phones have reached a plateau in terms of what you use them for. Data/network speed is getting to the point of old days of PC hardware days, when computers got faster, but internet connection didn't. We are seeing that with phones. No wifi 6 is not the save all for most places.
Oxford Guy - Friday, September 17, 2021 - link
Marketing departments will ensure that ads and profiling scripts become more demanding so that phones will need more RAM and more CPU speed.GeoffreyA - Saturday, September 18, 2021 - link
Not to mention newer software frameworks and languages that'll clean up any unused CPU cycles in no time.sonicmerlin - Friday, September 17, 2021 - link
iPhones don't have static icons like Android. You apparently have never owned one.Edgar_in_Indy - Monday, September 20, 2021 - link
I'm sorry, can you please explain? I tried a Google search, but could not find what you are talking about. My kids have iPhones, and as far as I can tell their icons and such stay in the same place, just like on an Android.GeoffreyA - Saturday, September 18, 2021 - link
"Data/network speed is getting to the point of old days of PC hardware days"According to the networking and telco folk, 5G is going to revolutionise the world, with edge computing, software-based networks, slices, and other things. Apparently, these things are going to make the world a better place.
Jasonovich - Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - link
Our brains are going to be cooked, just wait until they start with 6G, my ears are going to light up like LED, LOL!GeoffreyA - Wednesday, September 22, 2021 - link
A 6G Christmas ;)Gastec - Friday, September 24, 2021 - link
How about 300% increase in prices for electricity and gas, is that going to make the World a better place?GeoffreyA - Saturday, September 25, 2021 - link
They'll frame it in such a way that people will believe it is better.hassan0011 - Friday, September 24, 2021 - link
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hmdqyg - Sunday, September 26, 2021 - link
I'm waiting for your in-depth Apple A15 review. The new Avalanche core doesn't seem to be different from the Firestorm core found in A14. However, your professional review may found some actual differences.hmdqyg - Sunday, September 26, 2021 - link
BTW, if Apple indeed reuses the core from last year, Then Qualcomm may catch this opportunity to surpass Apple with their new core design.minihaz - Saturday, October 2, 2021 - link
Ditto!griffin_short - Thursday, September 30, 2021 - link
This isn't being looked at from a practical standpoint. Nobody needs a $1600 smartphone with 1TB of storage, a 120 Hz OLED display, 3 cameras, over a 3 GHz "super efficient, high powered CPU blah blah blah". Most likely you're spending your time scrolling social media, sending emails, and casually browsing the internet. Maybe you play a 2D game to pass the time. These parts that are being shoved into these phones are so much more powerful and expensive than they need to be. No wonder the battery life is always an issue - Apple keeps putting more and more strain on it every year. The wheel has already been invented, and to keep redesigning it and adding more unnecessary crap is not the answer. Just sell an affordable phone that will last longer than 3 years before becoming obsolete.