iFixit and Chipworks have conducted a teardown Apple’s new A7 processor that powers the new iPhone 5 and found out that it uses Samsung’s 28 nm fabrication process by measuring and comparing the distance between each transistor on the A7 and the previous gen A6 processor.
Turns out that the A7’s ‘gate pitch’ — the distance between each transistor — is 114 nm, compared to the A6’s 123 nm. Big whoop, you say? Those 9 nm are a big deal. It turns out that the A7 is made with the same 28 nm process as the eight-core Samsung Exynos 5410, the current flagship CPU for Samsung’s own Galaxy line.
“Applying some mathematrickery,” iFixIt said, “this seemingly small change equates to having the same computing power, but in 77% of the original area. And given that the A7 processor is even larger in area than the A6, that means even more processing power to lead a healthy, smartphone-laden lifestyle.”
So it’s fast, Samsung is making it, it uses the same process as Samsung’s Exynos 5410 octa-core processor powering some of Samsung’s high-end devices outside the U.S., and it has more than a billion transistors on it. That’s all pretty interesting.
[via]