iPhone 5S To Feature A 31% Faster Apple A7 Chip And Motion Tracking

iphone-5s-champagner-gold-01-FSMdotCOM1

 

Citing inside sources, Clayton Morris claims the so-called “iPhone 5S” will be powered by an Apple-designed “A7” system on a chip that is some 31 percent faster than the current A6 silicon used in the iPhone 5. In addition, mention of a totally new chip dedicated to “motion tracking” will be used to bring another layer of user interactivity to Apple’s flagship handset.

Screen Shot 2013-08-26 at 6.25.59 PM

A 31% bump should be noticeable to future iPhone 5S owners in day-to-day use. It is unknown what metrics were being used as a basis, an important question given an applications processor’s architecture includes both the number-crunching CPUs and graphics driving GPUs.

As for the motion tracking feature, Morris said in a follow-up tweet, “I’ve also heard there’s a separate chip devoted to motion tracking. Should be an interesting camera upgrade.” It would appear from the tweet’s wording that the unknown chip would be part of the iPhone’s camera package, perhaps as a special post processor.

Screen Shot 2013-08-26 at 6.27.26 PM

Apple owns a number of patents regarding post processing techniques, including a few that interpolate camera sensor data for tasks other than outputting an image such as “gaze detection.” Some of these patents include a separate chip, usually disposed on the sensor module’s circuit board, to handle processing duties.

Apple will reportedly unveil the next-generation iPhone on September 10, but it is still unclear whether the event will focus singularly on the iPhone 5S or include the announcement of the lower-cost iPhone 5C as well.

[via]