On second thought, maybe not. It is apparently a custom ASIC fabbed at TSMC, so not an off the shelf fpga+arm.
Also another thing that I am wondering about is why the extra elpida DDR3 chip? THere is the 8GB system ram on the top side, the 512MB DDR3 for the SSD on the top of the PoP -- but whats that additional elpida 512MB DDR3 doing? (It's the one in green in this pic)..
You normally need DRAM for the SSD controllers, 512MB is a common size. It's quite complicated business and it's not something high-end SSD's do in cache/SRAM.
Apple uses 4Gb LPDDR2 to the RAM SSD controller needs. As iFixit found, there is one SK Hynix LPDDR2(it is not LPDDR3 as iFixit said.). Apple uses PoP package to put the LPDDR2 above the SSD controller and the package is Apple customized PoP.
I think the elpida RAM is used by the Broadcom "network processor" (the chip highlighted in light blue). If you look at motherboards from the other Macbook lines you will see a similar configuration.
Your sense of scale may be a bit off due to how tiny that PCB is (~37mm x 110mm). The SSD controller is right around 15.5 mm x 15.5 mm. It's almost a mm smaller per side than Samsung's UBX controller for the SM951. I highly doubt it's an FPGA. Just for the sake of power efficiency alone, Apple wouldn't go that route.
Good point, both of them... Apple is adept at designing new silicon and getting it ready without an leaks. My only question is, if they designed this and it is even a decent performer, why didn't they toot their own horn about it when they announced the Macbook? They do about everything else they design.
What confuses me is the other discrete DRAM package. You've got the 512 MB SK Hynix LPDDR2-1066 stacked with the SSD controller, but then what's that other 512 MB of Elpida DDR3L-RS 1600 doing there?
I think jay5 may be right. Since the MacBook Air (Mid 2013) you can find a similar constellation of Broadcom BCM15700A2 and 512MB of DDR3L-1600 SDRAM. Is this for Power Nap? The location and association with a Broadcom chip make me doubt the PSR theory, but it does only appear to be present on MacBooks, not on any of the desktop models.
Wouldn't the memory for PSR need to be located on the other end of the display connector (that is on the display controller itself, so actually on the panel)?
Yeah, I think that the location rules out PSR, and that it is probably for the broadcom chip. I wonder what they are doing there, though, because the silver module in dark blue seems to be a complete wifi module, and I wonder what the broadcom chip is doing anyways, and I guess that ddr3 is for it... Weird.
512MB SK Hynix LPDDR2 is for SSD controller. Elpida part is LPDDR3 not DDR3L. And the density is 4GB not 512MB. Two Elpida 4GB LPDDR3 is the system memory of MacBook. Total is 8GB.
It's still a 281 USD cpu, 256GB NAND, 8GB DDR3L and so on on there. Performance isn't really any or much worse than MBAir. Better screen and design obviously does sell here though. Something like the UX305 is like 700 USD and Apple could obviously start there too if they wanted to. For the end users it's as static and upgradeable as the MBAir. For the Apple technicians it's worse though as MBAir did have a removable battery and (custom no third party available) removable SSD. WiFi-module is still removable in the Air too. It by the way also has a Broadcom chip and 512MB ram on it's motherboard despite having the WiFi-module on a separate card.
The UX305 has better battery runtime and overall performance with a theoretically weaker chipset. This is what makes the macbook such a bad deal for the end user. The MBA is great, this one is not.
Cooling/size matters on these Core-M machines but these chips are also configurable by the OEM's. MBAir is a dated machine today though TB helps in some use cases.
Stay away from multitasking, and the Retina Macbook feels zippy enough for web browsing for example.
But as soon as you multitask heavily, or use heavily multithreaded apps, the performance is more like a 2011 Macbook than a 2014 Macbook according to benchmarks.
There may be folks that the Retina MacBook is awesome for. It'll make a good replacement for an iPad for example. But for the majority of customers it IS a bad deal.
Compared to the MBA you get a better screen and its a few hundred grams lighter. Sure. But with worse performance, 1/2-3/4 the battery life, less ports and upgrade options and a higher price.
So I want a portable work device mostly for reading websites, emails, and writing. Why would I want a low-resolution, TN panel for that when the Retina IPS panel offers a much better user experience for my needs?
Of course, which is why I only said it could start there, for a simpler setup at the low ranges if they really wanted to. The machine as is with "retina" is worth more and would be impossible to make money of at that starting price as just the parts price should be in that range.
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iwod - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
The thing that surprise me is the size of the controller, Compared to CPU+GPU, that thing is huge!liu_d - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
It's likely built on a much larger process node than the CPU/GPU's 14nm. Also, package vs die.Wolfpup - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Oh yeah, good point. Because like iwod, I'm like "why is that thing so freaking huge compared with a dual core broadwell!"Einy0 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
I would guess an FPGA with an embedded ARM core or two base on the sheer size of the chip.extide - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Yep, I bet you are spot on.extide - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
On second thought, maybe not. It is apparently a custom ASIC fabbed at TSMC, so not an off the shelf fpga+arm.Also another thing that I am wondering about is why the extra elpida DDR3 chip? THere is the 8GB system ram on the top side, the 512MB DDR3 for the SSD on the top of the PoP -- but whats that additional elpida 512MB DDR3 doing? (It's the one in green in this pic)..
Penti - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
You normally need DRAM for the SSD controllers, 512MB is a common size. It's quite complicated business and it's not something high-end SSD's do in cache/SRAM.Penti - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
There's also no access to system RAM.Penti - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Dunno about the Elpida though. But it could be for other embedded cpu's or microcontrollers.extide - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
The SSD controller has it's own separate DRAM. The elpida ram is not used for the SSD controller.JJ Wu - Monday, April 27, 2015 - link
Apple uses 4Gb LPDDR2 to the RAM SSD controller needs. As iFixit found, there is one SK Hynix LPDDR2(it is not LPDDR3 as iFixit said.). Apple uses PoP package to put the LPDDR2 above the SSD controller and the package is Apple customized PoP.jay5 - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
I think the elpida RAM is used by the Broadcom "network processor" (the chip highlighted in light blue). If you look at motherboards from the other Macbook lines you will see a similar configuration.Samus - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
The size could also be from a large SRAM.repoman27 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
Your sense of scale may be a bit off due to how tiny that PCB is (~37mm x 110mm). The SSD controller is right around 15.5 mm x 15.5 mm. It's almost a mm smaller per side than Samsung's UBX controller for the SM951. I highly doubt it's an FPGA. Just for the sake of power efficiency alone, Apple wouldn't go that route.Pissedoffyouth - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Encryption engine? VRAM?willis936 - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Then spin an ASIC. FPGA is the last chip you'd want to put in a thin, low power device.Einy0 - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Good point, both of them... Apple is adept at designing new silicon and getting it ready without an leaks. My only question is, if they designed this and it is even a decent performer, why didn't they toot their own horn about it when they announced the Macbook? They do about everything else they design.solipsism - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
I seem to recall they did mention the SSD being 2x faster.repoman27 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
What confuses me is the other discrete DRAM package. You've got the 512 MB SK Hynix LPDDR2-1066 stacked with the SSD controller, but then what's that other 512 MB of Elpida DDR3L-RS 1600 doing there?repoman27 - Thursday, April 16, 2015 - link
(ninja'd by extide on my last comment)But once again, to put the size of that PCB in perspective, it's not much larger than an m.2 2280 SSD which is only 22 mm x 80 mm.
extide - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Haha, yeah, it's weird, nobody has said anything about that extra DDR3Kristian Vättö - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
It's likely for PSR (Panel Self Refresh). E.g. the 2015 13" rMBP has an extra 512MB of DRAM as well.repoman27 - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
I think jay5 may be right. Since the MacBook Air (Mid 2013) you can find a similar constellation of Broadcom BCM15700A2 and 512MB of DDR3L-1600 SDRAM. Is this for Power Nap? The location and association with a Broadcom chip make me doubt the PSR theory, but it does only appear to be present on MacBooks, not on any of the desktop models.mczak - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Wouldn't the memory for PSR need to be located on the other end of the display connector (that is on the display controller itself, so actually on the panel)?extide - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
Yeah, I think that the location rules out PSR, and that it is probably for the broadcom chip. I wonder what they are doing there, though, because the silver module in dark blue seems to be a complete wifi module, and I wonder what the broadcom chip is doing anyways, and I guess that ddr3 is for it... Weird.JJ Wu - Wednesday, April 29, 2015 - link
512MB SK Hynix LPDDR2 is for SSD controller.Elpida part is LPDDR3 not DDR3L. And the density is 4GB not 512MB.
Two Elpida 4GB LPDDR3 is the system memory of MacBook. Total is 8GB.
GotThumbs - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
I wonder how much this assembled "logic board" (not even qualifies as a motherboard?) costs Apple?While the OS is unchanged, I get the feeling this Apple product is moving towards a high-end Chromebook like device.
Low-powered CPU (4.5 TDP), zero upgrade-ability and more like an expensive disposable device.
Just my thoughts
Penti - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
It's still a 281 USD cpu, 256GB NAND, 8GB DDR3L and so on on there. Performance isn't really any or much worse than MBAir. Better screen and design obviously does sell here though. Something like the UX305 is like 700 USD and Apple could obviously start there too if they wanted to. For the end users it's as static and upgradeable as the MBAir. For the Apple technicians it's worse though as MBAir did have a removable battery and (custom no third party available) removable SSD. WiFi-module is still removable in the Air too. It by the way also has a Broadcom chip and 512MB ram on it's motherboard despite having the WiFi-module on a separate card.id4andrei - Friday, April 17, 2015 - link
The UX305 has better battery runtime and overall performance with a theoretically weaker chipset. This is what makes the macbook such a bad deal for the end user. The MBA is great, this one is not.Penti - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Cooling/size matters on these Core-M machines but these chips are also configurable by the OEM's. MBAir is a dated machine today though TB helps in some use cases.V900 - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
Stay away from multitasking, and the Retina Macbook feels zippy enough for web browsing for example.But as soon as you multitask heavily, or use heavily multithreaded apps, the performance is more like a 2011 Macbook than a 2014 Macbook according to benchmarks.
There may be folks that the Retina MacBook is awesome for. It'll make a good replacement for an iPad for example. But for the majority of customers it IS a bad deal.
Compared to the MBA you get a better screen and its a few hundred grams lighter. Sure. But with worse performance, 1/2-3/4 the battery life, less ports and upgrade options and a higher price.
Not exactly a no-brainer...
solipsism - Sunday, April 19, 2015 - link
So I want a portable work device mostly for reading websites, emails, and writing. Why would I want a low-resolution, TN panel for that when the Retina IPS panel offers a much better user experience for my needs?KPOM - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
The screen is worse in the UX305, and it also weighs more (about as much as a MacBook Air). Everything comes with trade-offs.Penti - Saturday, April 18, 2015 - link
Of course, which is why I only said it could start there, for a simpler setup at the low ranges if they really wanted to. The machine as is with "retina" is worth more and would be impossible to make money of at that starting price as just the parts price should be in that range.