Apple A5

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Apple A5
Apple A5 Chip.jpg
Produced From March 2011 (A5) to Present
Designed by Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer(s)
Max. CPU clock rate 800 MHz (iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 5th generation)  to 1 GHz (iPad 2, iPad mini) 
Min. feature size 45 nm to 32 nm
Instruction set ARM v7
Microarchitecture Cortex-A9
Product code S5L8940X (45 nm)
S5L8942X (32 nm)
S5L8947X (Single core, 32 nm)
Cores 1 or 2
L1 cache 32 KiB instruction + 32 KiB data
L2 cache 1 MiB
Predecessor Apple A4
Successor Apple A6
Variant
  • Apple A5 (S5L8940, 45 nm)
  • Apple A5 (S5L8942, 32 nm)
  • Apple A5 (S5L8947, 32 nm)
  • Apple A5X

The Apple A5 is a system-on-a-chip designed by Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung[1][2] to replace the Apple A4. The processors commercially debuted with the release of Apple's iPad 2 tablet, and also powers the iPhone 4S, iPod Touch fifth generation, and the iPad mini. This is consistent with how Apple debuted the A4 chip: first in the original iPad, followed by the iPhone 4, and then the iPod Touch (fourth generation).[3]

The part model numbers are: S5L8940 (45 nm version), S5L8942 (32 nm version) and S5L8947 (32 nm, single core version).[4][5]

Contents

Design [edit]

The A5 consists of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU[6] with NEON SIMD accelerator and a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU.[7] Apple lists the A5 to be clocked at 1 GHz on the iPad 2's technical specifications page,[8] though it can dynamically adjust its frequency to save battery life.[9][6] The unit used in the iPhone 4S is clocked at approximately 800 MHz.[10] Apple has also included an image signal processor unit (ISP) that will do advanced image post-processing such as face detection, white balance and automatic image stabilization[11] and an "earSmart" unit from Audience for noise canceling.[12]

Apple has stated that the CPU portion of the A5 is twice as powerful as the original iPad,[clarification needed] and that the graphics processing unit (GPU) up to seven times as powerful as its predecessor, the Apple A4. The A5 package contains 512 MB of low-power DDR2 RAM clocked at 533 MHz.[13][14][15][16] When the A5 was first released, it was estimated at that time to cost 75% more than the previous generation, with the difference expected to diminish as production increased.[17]

As of August 2012,[18] the A5 is manufactured at Samsung's Austin, Texas factory. Samsung invested $3.6 billion in a facility in Austin to produce chips such as processors, and nearly all of that wing's output is dedicated to Apple components.[19] Samsung has invested a further $4.2 billion at the Austin facility in order to transition to a 28 nm fabrication process by the second half of 2013.[18]

A version of the A5 with a wider memory subsystem and four graphic cores is called Apple A5X and is found in the third generation iPad.

Apple A5 (S5L8940) [edit]

Apple uses the first version A5 chip in the iPhone 4S, and iPad 2.[20] Its manufacturing process is 45 nm having 122.2 mm2 of die area[21] and manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with RAM.

Apple A5 (S5L8942) [edit]

Apple uses a second version of the A5 chip in the Apple TV third generation, announced on March 7, 2012,[22] the iPod Touch fifth generation, the iPad mini and the 32 nm revision of the iPad 2.[23] This chip is manufactured with a 32 nm fabrication process, with ID code S5L8942 and it has one core disabled in the Apple TV.[24] The new A5 measures nearly 41% smaller than first-generation A5, coming in at 69.6 mm2[25] and manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with RAM.

Apple A5 (S5L8947) [edit]

In March 2013, Apple released an updated version of the third generation Apple TV (AppleTV3,2) containing a smaller, single core version of the A5 processor, and with no stacked RAM in the package. The chip is very small, just 6.1×6.2 mm, but as the decrease in size is not due to a decrease in feature size (it is still on a 32 nm fabrication process), this indicates that this A5 revision is of a new design.[26] Markings tell that it's named APL7498, and in software, the chip is called S5L8947.[27][5]

Products that include the Apple A5 [edit]

  • iPad 2 (A5 dual-core 45 nm) – March 2011; (A5 dual-core 32 nm) – March 2012
  • iPhone 4S (A5 dual-core 45 nm) – October 2011
  • Apple TV 3rd generation (A5 single-core, 32 nm) – March 2012
  • iPod Touch 5th generation (A5 dual-core 32 nm) – October 2012
  • iPad Mini (A5 dual-core 32 nm) – November 2012

Gallery [edit]

These images are illustrations and not to scale.

  • The 45 nm S5L8940 introduced in March 2011. This device has 512 MB stacked RAM as part of the package.

  • The 32 nm S5L8942 introduced in March 2012. This device has 512 MB stacked RAM as part of the package.

  • The single core S5L8947 introduced in March 2013. This device has no stacked RAM in the package.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Updated: Samsung fabs Apple A5 processor". EETimes. March 12, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  2. ^ "Apple's A5 chip is built by Samsung". The Guardian. December 16, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2012.  "The powerful A5 processor, which uses technology licensed from Britain's ARM Holdings, is designed by Apple in California, by a team formerly part of PA Semi – an American chip design company that Apple bought in April 2008."
  3. ^ "iPhone 5 expected to have same A5 chip as iPad 2". Macworld. March 11, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2011. 
  4. ^ Foresman, Chris (February 27, 2012), iOS 5.1 code hints at simultaneous A5X and A6 processor development, Ars Technica, retrieved March 26, 2012 
  5. ^ a b Apple’s TV surprise – a new A5 chip!
  6. ^ a b "Apple iPad 2 Preview". AnandTech. March 12, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Apple iPad 2 GPU Performance Explored: PowerVR SGX543MP2 Benchmarked". AnandTech. March 12, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2011. 
  8. ^ "iPad – View the technical specifications for iPad". Apple. Archived from the original on March 16 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  9. ^ "Inside Apple's iPad 2 A5: fast LPDDR2 RAM, costs 66% more than Tegra 2". AppleInsider. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  10. ^ iPhone 4S Preliminary Benchmarks: ~800MHz A5, Slightly Slower GPU than iPad 2, Still Very Fast
  11. ^ "Apple Announces iPhone 4S: A5, 8 MP Camera, 1080p Video Recording". October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2011. 
  12. ^ "Why Apple's A5 is so big—and iPhone 4 won't get Siri". August 4, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012. 
  13. ^ "Apple iPad 2 feature page". Apple Inc. Archived from the original on March 16 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  14. ^ "Apple's A5 CPU in iPad 2 has 512MB of RAM, same as iPhone 4". Appleinsider. March 3, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  15. ^ "TiPb Answers: Apple A5 chip – what we know and what we guess". Tipb.com. March 3, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  16. ^ "The iPad 2". Daring Fireball. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on March 10 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2011. 
  17. ^ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (March 14, 2011). "It Costs $326.60 To Make An iPad 2 – Why That Matters". Business Insider. Retrieved March 14, 2011. 
  18. ^ a b "Samsung upgrades Texas mobile device chip factory". BBC News Online. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-21. "The Exynos 4 chip found in Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3 handset and Apple's A5X used in the iPad 3 both use transistors using a 32 nanometre fabrication process." 
  19. ^ Gupta, Poornima (December 16, 2011). "Exclusive: Made in Texas: Apple's A5 iPhone chip". Reuters. Retrieved December 16, 2011. 
  20. ^ "iPhone 4S CPU Clocked At 800MHz Is 73% Faster Than iPhone 4, Twice As Fast As Galaxy S II, And All Other Android Phones". Redmond Pie. October 11, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2012. 
  21. ^ "A First Look at Apple's A5 Processor". 
  22. ^ "Apple TV – Technical Specifications". Apple Inc. March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2012. 
  23. ^ "The iPad 2,4 Review: 32nm Brings Better Battery Life". Anandtech. 2012-05-04. 
  24. ^ "Update – 32-nm Apple A5 in the Apple TV 3 – and an iPad 2!". Chipworks. April 11, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012. 
  25. ^ "Update – 32-nm Apple A5 in the Apple TV 3 – and an iPad 2!". 
  26. ^ A5 Chip in Tweaked Apple TV Still Manufactured by Samsung at 32nm - MacRumors.com
  27. ^ Tweaked Apple TV Contains Die-Shrunk A5 Chip, Not A5X - MacRumors.com

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