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ricardonest
I wonder if they discovered any possible solutions to keep the iPad temperature ...
eewiz
which macbook are u using? I use a 2011 macbook pro 13" and the display ...
iPad teardown reveals IC design winners
Peter Clarke
3/16/2012 9:59 AM EDT
LONDON – Consumer electronics repair company iFixit Inc. (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) has disassembled the latest iPad tablet computer from Apple to reveal the details of how it is put together including the IC design wins.
The latest iPad is not called iPad 3, as would be logical, but does support LTE communications. Qualcomm got the design win for that with a two chip solution; the RTR8600 multiband, multimode RF transceiver for 3G and 4G and the MDM9600 3G and 4G capable wireless modem. The teardown firm acknowledges the help of Chipworks Inc. (Ottawa, Canada) in identifying some of the chips in the iPad. Triquint (quad-band PA), Avago and Skyworks won design slots in the RF front end.
Broadcom has been selected to provide the BCM4330 combo chip supporting WiFi with integrated Bluetooth 4.0 and FM transceiver.
The main processor is, as expected and previously reported, the Apple-designed A5X, a revision of the A5 processor deployed in the iPad 2. The A5X is a 1–GHz dual-core CPU that has been upgraded from A5 through the inclusion of a higher performance GPU.
The tear-down company does not comment on who made the A5X on Apple's behalf. The dual-core A5 was made for Apple by Samsung and implemented in 45-nm silicon. The chances are that the graphics boosted A5X is still being made for Apple by Samsung but a handle on the process technology would be interesting. Both Samsung and TSMC were rumored to be trying to make a quad-core A6 processor for Apple in 28-nm CMOS.
The graphics boost in the A5X, almost certainly a doubling of the Imagination PowerVR core, is necessary because of the improved display on the latest iPad. According to Apple the retina display features 2048 by 1536 pixel resolution (3.1 million pixels). The model number format leads iFixit to identify it as a Samsung LCD.
On the memory front Toshiba is selected supplier of NAND flash with the THGVX1G7D2GLA08, a 16- Gbyte 24-nm MLC memory and a multichip package memory marked Y0A0000. Struggling Elpida is included in the iPad with two 4-Gbit LPDDR2 DRAMs arranged in a 64-bit configuration.
One of the main changes between the iPad 2 and the latest version is an upgrading of the battery. According to iFixit the latest iPad has a capacity of 42.5 watt-hours, which compares with 25 watt-hours in the iPad 2. The equipment battery life is said to be 10 hours of use, or 9 with a cellular data connection, to the implication is that the beefed-up battery is necessary to drive increased memory, GPU and display requirement.
Other design winners revealed by iFixit include Fairchild, Cirrus Logic for audio codec and Texas Instruments for the touch screen driver IC. The company did not identify any of the MEMS devices on the various boards inside the iPad, possibly because they do not carry identifying marks?
Related links and articles:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad-3-4G-Teardown/8277/3
News articles:
New iPad may shave Apple’s tablet margins
Apple steps up graphics with new iPad
Apple bought half of ST's MEMS in 2011, says IHS
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goafrit
3/16/2012 2:31 PM EDT
These guys are amazingly fast. Did they get a pre-order/ This stuff started selling today!
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digital_dreamer
3/16/2012 4:48 PM EDT
From a arstechica.com story posted yesterday:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/03/ipad-3-teardown-my-god-its-full-of-lithium-ions.ars
"iFixit flew halfway around the world to be there when March 16 rolled past the International Date Line into Australia. iFixit's team was the first in line to buy an iPad at a Telstra store in Melbourne, and set immediately to disassembling the device to poke at its innards."
MAJ
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Patk0317
3/16/2012 4:55 PM EDT
That's dedication. I will wait awhile before I decide if I need to get the latest iPad. How about you?
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JPBO
3/18/2012 8:03 PM EDT
Nobody needs an iPad. Just many wants to have it, including me.
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t.alex
3/16/2012 8:07 PM EDT
Broadcom chipset support FM transceiver? Is this linked to any feature of iPad?
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hm
3/16/2012 10:29 PM EDT
What software does Apple employs to design schematic, PCB for this product? It is also nice to know what kind of simulation tools do they use for for this.
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Daniel Payne
3/17/2012 8:03 PM EDT
I just bought the new iPad yesterday and can tell you two things: The 600dpi resolution does NOT make photos look better, in fact my 2009 MacBook Pro displays better resolution for both portrait and landscape images. Secondly, the Apple claim of 4X faster performance than a Tegra 3 is false, the tech folks at Gizmodo proved that yesterday in their benchmarks. Buyer beware, you have been warned.
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eewiz
3/20/2012 11:03 AM EDT
which macbook are u using? I use a 2011 macbook pro 13" and the display ,1280x800, looks like its from the late 90s. Cant even remotely compare with the new iPad resolution.
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chipmonk
3/19/2012 12:43 PM EDT
Looked up the teardown photos at iFixit. the A5x chip looks huge, nearly 15 mm sq., larger than the A5, just the 2 additional GPUs in the A5x seems to have blown up die size by 30 %. Is it already at 28 nm or is that on hold till the A6 ?
TSMC has finally fessed up to yield problems at 28 nm but Samsung ( A5,..A6 ) is still persisting on " no problemo at 28 nm ".
Any comments ?
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chipmonk
3/19/2012 1:21 PM EDT
answering my own question !
It can now be confirmed that the A5X is built by Samsung at 45 nm NOT 28 nm and it costs 50+ % more than the A5 ( perhaps becuase of the larger die size and the heat sink - something new for iPads ).
The heat sink would be needed to spread the heat away from the hot spots generated on the chip when driving a higher - res screen. Memory can no longer be stacked over the Processor, thus increasing real estate and delays.
Looks like SoCs are finally having to deal with CPU type problems.
They must be really waiting for SoCs at 28 nm with HKMG.
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the_floating_ gate
3/19/2012 4:19 PM EDT
They must be really waiting for SoCs at 28 nm with HKMG.
Monsieur Godot will come tomorrow - he promised for sure...now I am asking myself why and who does Apple's 45nm A5X ? - supposedly Samsung Austin. Obviously Apple was not willing to take risk stuck with a bloated chip fabbed with legacy technology.
Unless Apple going to upgrade prior to introduction of A6 they are stuck for it for the next 12 months
see quote:
Another nugget from the day was the public announcement that Samsung is in full production with their 32-nm HKMG process, and it appears in Austin as well as Korea. I was hoping that we might see it in the new iPad, but we’ve now confirmed that the A5x chip is 45-nm. I guess we’ll have to wait for one of the new phones or tablets that will be out soon.
ttp://www.electroiq.com/blogs/chipworks_real_chips_blog/2012/03/glofo-s-finfets-are-better-than-intel-s-musings-from-cptf.html
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ricardonest
4/5/2012 1:45 PM EDT
I wonder if they discovered any possible solutions to keep the iPad temperature down, since that seemed to be the hot topic of the week when it was released.
-Ricardo Nest
Member of the semiconductor group at Patexia:
http://www.patexia.com/pages/semiconductors/content
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