The Motion coprocessor that helps previous iPhone models track their exact location is reportedly getting such a huge upgrade it’ll have a new name. Code in iOS 13 indicates that the upcoming iPhone 11’s Apple A13 processor includes an “R1” or “Rose” coprocessor that can handle many more sensors.
This is location sensing that goes way beyond GPS, and will be used in augmented reality, finding item-tracking tags and much more.
Gordon Moore famously predicted back in 1965 that the number of transistors in a chip would double every 2 years. This held true for decades but there’s pessimism if it can continue.
TSMC, the company that’s produced every iPhone and iPad chip for years, disagrees. It’s loaded with optimism about the future of processor design.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will begin volume production of 5nm chips in the first half of 2020, according to the company’s chief financial officer.
The Taiwanese foundry manufactures all Apple’s processors. TSMC’s move to 5nm comes right on time to employ this cutting-edge process in the A14 CPUs for next year’s iPhone and iPad models.
This fall’s iPhone models will supposedly include a processor able to outperform any Android handset. It apparently won’t be just a little bit better, either. The source for this unconfirmed report on the A13 chip says it will offer “a one-year advantage” in graphics performance. Multi-core performance supposedly will get a large boost, too.
