 The A7 processor | |
| General information | |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 20, 2013 (APL0698) November 1, 2013 (APL5698) |
| Discontinued | March 21, 2016 (APL5698) March 21, 2017 (APL0698) |
| Designed by | Apple Inc. |
| Common manufacturer | |
| Product code | S5L8960X[2][3] |
| Performance | |
| Max.CPUclock rate | 1.3 GHz[4] to 1.4 GHz[5] |
| Cache | |
| L1cache | Per core: 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data[6] |
| L2 cache | 1 MB shared[6] |
| L3 cache | 4 MB[5] |
| Architecture and classification | |
| Application | Mobile |
| Technology node | 28 nm[1] |
| Microarchitecture | Cyclone[6] |
| Instruction set | ARMv8-A:[7][8]A64,A32,T32 |
| Physical specifications | |
| Cores |
|
| GPU | PowerVRG6430 (quad-core)[9] |
| History | |
| Predecessors | Apple A6 (iPhone) Apple A6X (iPad) |
| Successors | Apple A8 (iPhone) Apple A8X (iPad) |
TheApple A7 is a64-bitsystem on a chip (SoC) designed byApple Inc., part of theApple silicon series. It first appeared in theiPhone 5S, which was announced on September 10, 2013, and theiPad Air andiPad Mini 2, which were both announced on October 22, 2013. Apple states that it is up to twice as fast and has up to twice the graphics power compared to its predecessor, theApple A6.[10] It is the first 64-bit SoC to ship in a consumersmartphone ortablet computer.[11] On March 21, 2017, theiPad mini 2 was discontinued, ending production of A7 chips. The latest software update for systems using this chip wasiOS 12.5.7, released on January 23, 2023, as they were discontinued with the release ofiOS 13 andiPadOS 13 in 2019.
The A7 features an Apple-designed[4] 64-bit[7] 1.3[4]–1.4[5] GHzARMv8-A[6][8]dual-core CPU,[4] calledCyclone.[6] The 64-bit A64 instruction set in the ARMv8-A architecture doubles the number ofregisters of the A7 compared to the ARMv7 architecture used in A6.[12] It has 31 general purpose registers that are each 64-bits wide and 32 floating-point/NEON registers that are each 128-bits wide.[7]
The A7 also integrates agraphics processing unit (GPU) whichAnandTech believes to be aPowerVR G6430 in a four cluster configuration.[9]
The A7 has a per-coreL1 cache of 64 KB for data and 64 KB for instructions, a L2 cache of 1 MB shared by both CPU cores,[6] and a 4 MB L3 cache that services the entire SoC.[5]
The A7 includes a newimage processor, a feature originally introduced in theA5, used for functionality related to the camera such as image stabilizing, color correction, and light balance.[13][14] The A7 also includes an area called the "Secure Enclave" that stores and protects the data from theTouch ID fingerprint sensor on theiPhone 5S andiPad mini 3.[10] It has been speculated that the security of the data in the Secure Enclave is enforced by ARM'sTrustZone/SecurCore technology.[15] In a change from theApple A6, the A7 SoC no longer services the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass. In order to reduce power consumption, this functionality has been moved to the newM7 motioncoprocessor[16][17] which appears to be a separate ARM-based microcontroller fromNXP Semiconductors.[18]
Apple uses the APL0698 variant of the A7 chip, running at 1.3 GHz,[4] in theiPhone 5S,iPad Mini 2, andiPad Mini 3.[19] This A7 is manufactured bySamsung on ahigh-κmetal gate (HKMG) 28 nm process[20][21] and the chip includes over 1 billion transistors on a die 102 mm2 in size.[4] According to ABI Research the A7 drew 1100 mA during fixed point operations and 520 mA during floating point operations, while its predecessor, the A6 processor in the iPhone 5, drew 485 mA and 320 mA.[22] It is manufactured in apackage on package (PoP) together with 1 GB ofLPDDR3 DRAM with a 64-bit wide memory interface onto the package.[6][23]
Apple uses the APL5698 variant of the A7 chip, running at 1.4 GHz,[5] in theiPad Air. Its die is identical in size and layout to that of the first A7 and is manufactured by Samsung.[24] However, unlike the first version of the A7, the A7 used in the iPad Air is not on a PoP, having no stacked RAM. Instead it uses a chip-on-board mounting, immediately adjacent DRAM, and is covered by a metallic heat spreader, similar to theApple A5X andA6X.[24][25]
The A7'sbranch predictor was claimed to infringe on a 1998 patent.[26] On October 14, 2015, a district judge found Apple guilty of infringing U.S. patentUS 5781752 , "Table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer", on the Apple A7 andA8 processors.[27] The patent is owned byWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), a firm affiliated with theUniversity of Wisconsin. On July 24, 2017, Apple was ordered to pay WARF $506 million for patent infringement. Apple filed an appellate brief on October 26, 2017, with theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, that argued that Apple did not infringe on the patent owned by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.[28] On September 28, 2018, the ruling was overturned on appeal and the award thrown out by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.[29] The patent expired in December 2016.[30]
It isn't news, but I've also confirmed that there are the appropriate references to Apple's S5L8960X SoC (otherwise known as Apple's A7) in the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display software bundles, same as the iPhone 5s.
| Preceded by | Apple A7 2013 | Succeeded by |
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