The new A10 Fusion chip at the heart of the iPhone 7 is the most significant feature to be examined, with Chipworks noting the chip is indeed manufactured by TSMC with a die size of roughly 125 square millimeters. The iPhone 7 is also confirmed to include 2 GB of memory, compared to the 3 GB found on the iPhone 7 Plus.
The A10 is also extremely thin, due in large part to the InFO packaging technique used by TSMC which was seen as a major factor in TSMC winning exclusivity for A10 production.
[W]hatever node is being used, the A10 processor is incredibly thin, giving credibility to the reports that TSMC’s InFO packaging technique is being used.
The A10 sits below the Samsung K3RG1G10CM 2-GB LPDDR4 memory. This is similar to the low power mobile DRAM as the one we found in the iPhone 6s. Looking at the X-rays we see the four dies are not stacked, but are spread out across the package. This arrangement keeps the overall package height to a minimum. Assembled in a package-on-package assembly with the A10 InFO packaging technique reduces the total height of PoP significantly.
On the cellular modem side, Chipworks found an Intel part that is likely the XMM7360, paired with two SMARTi 5 RF transceiver chips and a power management chip also from Intel.
As we previously noted, Apple is producing two different models of both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, with models for AT&T and T-Mobile users not including support for CDMA networks. This is apparently a result of a modem supplier split between Intel and Qualcomm, with Intel's current chips unable to support CDMA networks due to licensing issues. iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models with Qualcomm modems can support both GSM and CDMA networks.
Finally, Chipworks notes that flash storage for the iPhone 7 is also being at least dual-sourced, with Hynix and Toshiba chips being found in its two teardown phones.
For the rest of the details on the chips found in the iPhone 7, check out Chipworks' full rundown.
Update: Chipworks has confirmed the A10 Fusion chip is still made on TSMC's 16 nm FinFET+ process and has shared an annotated die shot of the chip.
Saturday August 10, 2024 5:00 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
Apple's M3 MacBook Pro is seeing multiple high value discounts on Best Buy and Amazon today, with up to $1,000 off select models. This includes a new all-time low price on the entry-level M3 512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro at $1,299.00, down from $1,599.00, and a massive $1,000 discount on the high-end 16-inch model exclusively for Best Buy members. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best...
Tuesday August 13, 2024 4:01 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
Apple is beta testing iOS 18 and the first update to iOS 18 concurrently, and we got the second betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 today alongside the sixth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15. Many of the changes in iOS 18.1 are focused on bringing the .1 betas in line with the standard betas, which recently received updates to Photos and Safari, while...
Thursday August 8, 2024 4:40 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
Apple's rumored iPhone 17 "Slim" could be positioned as an iPhone "Air" to boost sales, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained how the "fourth" model in the iPhone lineup since 2020 (the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 15 Plus) has largely been a commercial failure. In the case of the Plus model,...
Amazing how far and ahead Apple is in the chip architecture in the mobile world and yet all you have is people complaining about the headphone jack...
The A10 is an absolutely fantastic SoC. But we're starting to hit the law of dminishing returns for mobile phone CPU performance. An A9 to A10 is not likely going to yield significantly large performance gains in everyday life because the A9 itself was already blazingly fast. when your App load times for most normal apps is in the miliseconds, a 10% increase isn't going to be really noticed.
Take away the most commonly used port in the world for audio, and people are going to notice.
So no, it's not amazing that the focus is on a functionality removal, and not an incremental update thats not going to be noticed by most.
