It wouldn’t surprise me to see Apple claim that
machine learning tasks are at least twice as fast as on
the A13. Apple doesn’t really provide performance
details for its imagine processing engine, but the
push for better camera quality is never-ending, so it’ll
probably be better, too.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that I think the A14 will
be Apple’s first chip with hardware decoding of the AV1
video codec, and might even have hardware encoding
support. If so, expect Apple to spend some time on
stage talking about how videos shot with the iPhone 12
are smaller and higher quality than ever before.Faster LPDDR5 RAM
Apple has been using LPDDR4 memory in its iPhone
SoCs for years. It first made the jump from LPDDR3 to
LPDDR4 in the A9 in 2015, and then to LPDDR4x (a
faster and slightly more power-efficient version) in the
A11 in 2017. The A12 and A13 used the same RAM, as
far as the teardowns can determine.
But we’re on the cusp of the next generation of
low-power mobile memory. The spec for LPDDR5 was
finalized last year, and already Samsung has begun
production, with SK-Hynix (another popular RAM
supplier for Apple) to begin soon. High-end Android
phones will first ship with the RAM in the first half of
this year, making it likely that the iPhone (at least the
high-end models) will follow suit at the end of the year.
What’s the benefit? Well, the current LPDDR5 being
produced by Samsung is about 30 percent faster than
the LPDDR4x used in the iPhone 11, and at least 30
percent more power efficient. Memory bandwidth isItwouldn’tsurprisemetoseeAppleclaimthat
machinelearningtasksareatleasttwiceasfastason
theA13.Appledoesn’treallyprovideperformance
detailsforitsimagineprocessingengine,butthe
pushforbettercameraqualityisnever-ending,soit’ll
probablybebetter,too.
I’llgooutonalimbandsaythatIthinktheA14will
beApple’sfirstchipwithhardwaredecodingoftheAV1
videocodec,andmightevenhavehardwareencoding
support.Ifso,expectAppletospendsometimeon
stagetalkingabouthowvideosshotwiththeiPhone 12
aresmallerandhigherqualitythaneverbefore.
FasterLPDDR5RAM
ApplehasbeenusingLPDDR4memoryinitsiPhone
SoCsforyears.ItfirstmadethejumpfromLPDDR3to
LPDDR4intheA9in2015,andthentoLPDDR4x(a
fasterandslightlymorepower-efficientversion)inthe
A11in2017.TheA12andA13usedthesameRAM,as
farastheteardownscandetermine.
Butwe’reonthecuspofthenextgenerationof
low-powermobilememory.ThespecforLPDDR5was
finalizedlastyear,andalreadySamsunghasbegun
production,withSK-Hynix(anotherpopularRAM
supplierforApple)tobeginsoon.High-endAndroid
phoneswillfirstshipwiththeRAMinthefirsthalfof
thisyear,makingitlikelythattheiPhone(atleastthe
high-endmodels)willfollowsuitattheendoftheyear.
What’sthebenefit?Well,thecurrentLPDDR5being
producedbySamsungisabout 30 percentfasterthan
theLPDDR4xusedintheiPhone11,andatleast 30
percentmorepowerefficient.Memorybandwidthis