Apple A10 Fusion is ** Quad-core big.LITTLE **

[Eug]

How do you know if the HEVC hardware is there? Not to mention what HEVC versions are actually supported?

Dunno what versions are supported but Apple itself indirectly told us that hardware HEVC encode and decode support is there with A8. The HEVC encoding was used for FaceTime for iOS 8. In fact it was listed right in the specs. No, it didn't explicitly say it was hardware encoding, but we can be pretty sure this means hardware, since I wouldn't expect the A8 to do real-time HEVC encoding in software obviously.

I was all excited to see that at the iPhone 6 launch because I thought that meant any new iPad I bought would have hardware video decoding once the developers implemented it. But that never happened because never exposed this feature to developers, and in fact, Apple stopped talking about it altogether for whatever reason.

AnandTech smartly captured a screengrab of those specs, in its iPhone 6 review:

In any case, while we can’t identify individual blocks on A8 we do know that Apple has added a few features to A8 that are present in some form or another among these blocks. New to A8 is some mix of H.265 (HEVC) hardware, which would be necessary to enable the FaceTime over H.265 functionality that is being introduced on the iPhone 6.

 

[nvgpu]

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Artic...rds-Based-Codec-and-Good-Riddance-111602.aspx

Apple included HEVC in FaceTime but removed any mention of the technology from its spec sheets after the second HEVC patent group formed.

Even Apple can't stand the BS from the greedy patent pools.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Dunno what versions are supported but Apple itself indirectly told us that hardware HEVC encode and decode support is there with A8. The HEVC encoding was used for FaceTime for iOS 8. In fact it was listed right in the specs. No, it didn't explicitly say it was hardware encoding, but we can be pretty sure this means hardware, since I wouldn't expect the A8 to do real-time HEVC encoding in software obviously.

I was all excited to see that at the iPhone 6 launch because I thought that meant any new iPad I bought would have hardware video decoding once the developers implemented it. But that never happened because never exposed this feature to developers, and in fact, Apple stopped talking about it altogether for whatever reason.

AnandTech smartly captured a screengrab of those specs, in its iPhone 6 review:

In any case, while we can’t identify individual blocks on A8 we do know that Apple has added a few features to A8 that are present in some form or another among these blocks. New to A8 is some mix of H.265 (HEVC) hardware, which would be necessary to enable the FaceTime over H.265 functionality that is being introduced on the iPhone 6.

The problem is a lot of SoCs as suchs supporte HEVC. But they dont support it in anything useful outside custom stuff. 30FPS, 720P etc etc.

 

[Eug]

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Artic...rds-Based-Codec-and-Good-Riddance-111602.aspx

Even Apple can't stand the BS from the greedy patent pools.

Ah, that explains it. So indeed it is a licencing thing.

It sounds like the patent holders may suffer the same fate with HEVC that Apple suffered with Firewire. It was a great technology but they got greedy and killed the standard by charging too much for it.

Meanwhile, I will purchase my Chromecast Ultra with AV1 support (not because I have any 4K hardware but because I wanted to get a Chromecast with a faster CPU and with a network jack).

The problem is a lot of SoCs as suchs supporte HEVC. But they dont support it in anything useful outside custom stuff. 30FPS, 720P etc etc.

Well, apparently Snapdragon 82x plays a mix of different 8-bit 1080p+ HEVC h.265 just fine via hardware using appropriate software on Android.

 

[ShintaiDK]

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Artic...rds-Based-Codec-and-Good-Riddance-111602.aspx



Even Apple can't stand the BS from the greedy patent pools.

That article looks more like something from a Google PR machine. VP8/VP9 is perhaps the biggest atrocities there is. Forcing even more people to buy new hardware.

But else as such I agree.

 

[nvgpu]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOMedia_Video_1

No hardware supports AV1 and will not likely until 2018 earliest, because AV1 hasn't been finalized yet, March 2017 is the target date.

Apple won't support open codecs though though since Apple has NOT INVENTED HERE(NIH) syndrome like many other big tech companies.

 

[Eug]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOMedia_Video_1

No hardware supports AV1 and will not likely until 2018 earliest, because AV1 hasn't been finalized yet, March 2017 is the target date.

Apple won't support open codecs though though since Apple has NOT INVENTED HERE(NIH) syndrome like many other big tech companies.

Oh. So Chromecast Ultra is probably VP9 then.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10729/google-announces-chromecast-ultra-4k-and-hdr

Unfortunately specifications on the hardware itself are limited at this time. Google isn’t saying much beyond the fact that the Ultra is capable of decoding and displaying 4K content. From the hardware capabilities alone it’s clear that the underlying SoC is something capable of decoding 4K content and outputting it over HDMI 2.0 with HDCP. This should, with any luck, also mean that we’re finally getting a Chromecast from Google that can handle 1080p60, which has been the Achilles Heel of the prior versions of the media streamer. Given that it’s a Google product, I’d also expect that VP9 support is present, while HEVC support is going to be more questionable.

On the video format front, the big news here of course is that the Chromecast Ultra can handle 4K video. However Google didn’t stop there; the Ultra also supports HDR video via both the HDR10 and Dolby Vision standards. The latter is a particularly interesting development, as to date Dolby Vision support has been very rare. I’m very curious to see where Dolby Vision factors into Google’s larger plans given that they’re bucking the trend here and have their own major content distribution platform. At least for owners of TVs that support he standard, this could help kickstart its use in streaming services.

But whatever case, it's moot for me. It's a sub-CAD$100 item that I'm buying for its faster OS and network jack, not for its 4K support. The last projector I bought (which just arrived a few days ago) is still 1080p - Sony VPL-HW45ES, so I'm good for a little while at least.

 

[Eug]

AnandTech Review

 

[raghu78]

The concluding sentence of anandtech iPhone 7 review is very true. Kudos to the team at Apple especially the folks who built the A10 Fusion SoC.

 

[Arachnotronic]

The concluding sentence of anandtech iPhone 7 review is very true. Kudos to the team at Apple especially the folks who built the A10 Fusion SoC.

Can't wait for the A10X in the spring and the A11 next fall. A10X has already taped out and the A11's tape out is happening as we speak

 

[tempestglen]

No SPEC2000/06 result, disappointed.

 

[Nothingness]

The concluding sentence of anandtech iPhone 7 review is very true. Kudos to the team at Apple especially the folks who built the A10 Fusion SoC.

The conclusion missed the obvious: Apple is cheating!!!!!11111!!! [/sarc]

No SPEC2000/06 result, disappointed.

I was too, but a more in depth review is coming, so it's a question of patience

 

[Mopetar]

Can't wait for the A10X in the spring and the A11 next fall. A10X has already taped out and the A11's tape out is happening as we speak

Is it confirmed that we're not getting A10X until the spring?

Typically they've been released alongside the non-X version or shortly after since new iPads are announced in October.

A9X came out alongside the A9
A8X came out a month later at the October iPad refresh
A7X didn't exist
A6X came out a month later at the October iPad refresh
A5X came out in the following Spring when the iPad 3 launched (when iPad's still were on a Spring refresh cycle)

It's certainly possible that they've delayed it for any number of reasons, but it's the same TSMC process (I assume) as the A9X which launched in step with the A9.

 

[asendra]

Is it confirmed that we're not getting A10X until the spring?

Typically they've been released alongside the non-X version or shortly after since new iPads are announced in October.

A9X came out alongside the A9
A8X came out a month later at the October iPad refresh
A7X didn't exist
A6X came out a month later at the October iPad refresh
A5X came out in the following Spring when the iPad 3 launched (when iPad's still were on a Spring refresh cycle)

It's certainly possible that they've delayed it for any number of reasons, but it's the same TSMC process (I assume) as the A9X which launched in step with the A9.

Nothing is confirmed, but all the rumors point to new iPads in spring, not now.
It doesn't necessarily mean that they delayed it for the SOC, maybe they just wanted to move the iPads to a spring schedule.
Also, the rumor is it will use TSMC new 10nm process.

 

[Mopetar]

Nothing is confirmed, but all the rumors point to new iPads in spring, not now.
It doesn't necessarily mean that they delayed it for the SOC, maybe they just wanted to move the iPads to a spring schedule.
Also, the rumor is it will use TSMC new 10nm process.

That seems unlikely though given that they specifically moved iPads from Spring refreshes to Fall refreshes to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. If they were going to move it back, it's only because they couldn't release them this fall for some reason. I find it highly unlikely that the iPad line has been moved to the Spring quarter intentionally. It makes no sense.

It is possible that we see a refreshed iPad (Air) and iPad mini line using the same A10 chip as found in the iPhone, albeit at higher clock speeds and that the iPad Pro (and A10X) isn't released until Spring. The iPad Pro is less of a mass market consumer product, so I'm fully willing to accept that it doesn't need to be on the typical fall launch for the holiday shopping season. I almost feel like the iPad Pro would be a more compelling option if it were like Microsoft's Surface Book, which I find more compelling from a hardware prospective. With Apple's app market and customer base, they could make a killing with a device like that which would also allow them a way to transition part of their notebook line to using their own SoCs.

 

[asendra]

They literally released the ipad pro 9,7" this spring. They released the 13" one last fall but was rumored to have shipped in spring and was delayed.

I believe the Air line is dead, sadly. They will release three new pros in the three ipad sizes in spring all of them with the A10X.

 

[Mopetar]

If the Air is going away and the Pro becomes the mainline for the 10" tablet space, there's no way Apple would miss the holiday shopping season with an entire product category. Even though iPads aren't a huge part of their revenue, it's still a sizable chunk. If the A10X doesn't come out until spring, there's going to be an iPad Air 3.

No new iPads until Spring is at the bottom of the list in terms of likelihood. It would take some rather strong evidence to suggest otherwise.

 

[Arachnotronic]

If the Air is going away and the Pro becomes the mainline for the 10" tablet space, there's no way Apple would miss the holiday shopping season with an entire product category. Even though iPads aren't a huge part of their revenue, it's still a sizable chunk. If the A10X doesn't come out until spring, there's going to be an iPad Air 3.

No new iPads until Spring is at the bottom of the list in terms of likelihood. It would take some rather strong evidence to suggest otherwise.

iPad isn't expected to get a refresh until Spring. They just released the iPad Pro 9.7-inch this year anyway, so there's no need for another iPad until next year.

 

[Eug]

They literally released the ipad pro 9,7" this spring. They released the 13" one last fall but was rumored to have shipped in spring and was delayed.

I believe the Air line is dead, sadly. They will release three new pros in the three ipad sizes in spring all of them with the A10X.

If that's the case, then Apple has just shot itself in the foot. The 9.7" Pro was a horrible release. Gimped in the RAM department but too expensive for a mainstream tablet. It's a full 50% more expensive than the 9.7" Air 2, for a 2 GB "Pro" tablet, in 2016. Lame.

Thus, I don't believe going forward it will all be Pros. Apple will release a direct replacement to the Air 2. Not sure when but I would have guessed in the fall of 2016, utilizing A10 Fusion.

 

[Mopetar]

iPad isn't expected to get a refresh until Spring. They just released the iPad Pro 9.7-inch this year anyway, so there's no need for another iPad until next year.

They did the same thing with the iPad 3 where it got refreshed about ~7 months after it was launched, so it's not as if there's not precedence. I don't see Apple not having an iPad refresh this fall.

The only way a Spring refresh makes sense is if the Pro line refreshes in the Spring, but we see a new Mini and Air model later this month. The current Mini and Air are both using A8/A8X which is on the 20 nm process, so I imagine that Apple would want to move off of that or cut back on it.

I can see the Air 2 sticking around much like the iPad 2 as its still a pretty solid workhorse and I think it could sell well in the education market at a discounted price, but they're probably going to have an Air 3 or something to target the $500 price point. It could very well be that to differentiate the pro and consumer lines, Apple only puts the X chip in the pro line, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They might even be more aggressive with the design given that case.

 

[Eug]

Remember also we got an iPhone SE. The iPad Air 3 will be the SE of iPads.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Frankly I'll be more than happy to see a sanely price refresh to the Air 2 with only the A10 and wide gamut screen as new features.

 

[Eug]

Frankly I'll be more than happy to see a sanely price refresh to the Air 2 with only the A10 and wide gamut screen as new features.

That's exactly what I'm expecting. iPad Air 3 this fall, priced at US$499 (32 GB WiFi), with 2 or 3 GB RAM (not sure which).

It should be noted that performance wise, it did not make sense for Apple to update A8X to A9 in a new iPad last year, because in some (multi-core) tests A8X is actually faster than A9. However, with A10, that is no longer the case. The dual-core A10 (I'm ignoring the low power cores for the moment) is faster than A8X in everything.

So, this is perfect timing for an iPad non-Pro refresh. The Pros in the spring will get a 2.8 GHz A10X, with a 20%+ CPU speed boost, and an even bigger GPU speed boost. And hopefully 4 GB RAM across the board.

 

[imported_ats]

So.. Apple destroys any ST opponent even Intel, but is brutalized in MT by everyone (even Mediatek and AMD), except Qualcomm? Interesting...

Then again, MT is beyond useless, so...

 

[dark zero]

Then again, MT is beyond useless, so...

With some games, video editing apps and even some remote desktop apps, I would say not....