7 Things you should know about the Apple A7 processor

Apple’s new A7 processor has stirred quite a commotion in the tech world and has raised a handful of questions about some of its components. In this segment, we’ll take a closer look at this 64-bit dual-core SoC and straighten out some of the misconceptions that people may have about it.

1. Apple’s 64-bit processor isn’t new, and it’s been around since last year. Although the concept behind 64-bit mobile processor has been around since late last year (when ARM announced the Cortex-A57 processor), the A7 is the first one to be integrated into a consumer-ready device (Apple iPhone 5S).

apple a7

2. A 64-bit processor is useless unless the device have 4GB or more of RAM. While it’s true that one of the more prevalent advantages of 64-bit chips over 32-bit ones is its ability to handle 4GB or above RAM, that doesn’t mean that procs like the A7 won’t fare any better if the memory drops below 4GB.

In one of their entries, Wikipedia has cited some instances where a 64-bit chip is better than 32-bit builds.

3. The A7 is faster than current 32-bit processors. Not necessarily. It’s true that a 64-bit chips are more capable handling huge chunks of data compared to 32-bit processors, but when it comes to basic tasks, the difference in speed between the two is indistinguishable. Moreover, given the right conditions, a current 32-bit chipsets can even outpace the A7 at will.

4. iOS7 won’t work on A7 because it’s 32-bit. In case you missed it, Apple did mention that iOS 7 will also be 64-bit. Nuff said.

ios7

5. Ok forget about iOS7, CURRENT 32-bit apps won’t work on the A7. I can’t blame you for being cynical about this, considering that compatibility was once an issue with older 64-bit architectures. But the same cannot be said for newer processors such as the A7.

That goes without saying that the A7, and the fact that it’s a 64-bit processor, will not have an effect on app compatibility even though it’s optimized to run 64-bit programs. And besides, it doesn’t make any sense for Apple to waste its vast apps selection over this incremental processing upgrade.

6. If compatibility isn’t really an issue, then how come Apple is asking devs to submit iOS 7 compatible apps? – Simple, Apple just wants developers to leverage the new elements that come with the A7 (OpenGL ES 3.0 support, the new M7 processor, etc.) to further enhance their apps. Better apps, means more potential switchers.

Apple M7

7. I’m not a fitness buff, thus I won’t benefit from the M7 processor. The motion-tracking capability is actually just an added feature of the M7. However, its main function is to be a front-liner for the A7, particularly when dealing with basic tasks.

Moreover, the M7 has its own API which can then be used by devs to build an app that makes use of the iPhone 5S’ array of sensors and requires less power to launch/use.

Theoretically speaking, the real reason behind Apple’s decision to switch from 32 to 64-bit processor is to make their devices future-proof, hence the “Forward Thinking” tagline. Most users won’t be able to truly appreciate these minor improvements, but as technology becomes more and more complex, a phone such as the iPhone 5S with its A7 processor should be able to handle tasks with relative ease.

Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

https://www.yugatech.com

49 Comments

gg says:

11 years ago

To make a long story short, the move from 32-bit to 64-bit is currently a useless “innovation”.
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epol says:

11 years ago

wala..parang useless nga..di bale, may iphone 6,7,8, up to 1000 pa naman.
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Jun says:

11 years ago

From our 32-64bit port testing project, we bench our algorithms in servers and the result: 32bit still runs faster then 64bit! Until we figure out how to fully conform to 64bit we decided it’s not worth the time and effort to implement— because the result will be just as same!

64bit = great for OS and hardware, not much for apps.
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diorarat says:

11 years ago

What really happened at Cupertino:
Cook: we need a better processor to sell 5s!
Apple engineer: lets make a quad-core cpu!
Cook: too androidy, what else?
Apple engineer: uhmm make it 64bit?
Cook: Sounds nice. Market it, say its better it in some ways make it vague.

sheeps will come.
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simultaneous says:

11 years ago

http://www.jeremyperson.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/macpc.jpg

For apple fanboys out there.
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Napadaan lang... says:

11 years ago

Waiting for abuzalzal’s insights… =)

actually kahit ano naman ang i release ng apple regardless of its specs/price people will still buy it.
kahit i pa utang pa sa CC, 2nd hand, mag skip ng meals or so… kasi nga trip nila and IOS at iba ung sinasabing “user experience” nila.

Anyway, Lets see kung ano ang mangayayare kay Apple at sa products nila and sa tinatawag nilang innovation =)
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tarush says:

11 years ago

OK, you should write another article when you know a lot of facts about the 64 bit processors, will you?:)
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jackiz says:

11 years ago

im just waiting for a 4gb ram on-board of an android smartphone with a 64-bit architecture….. and that will be insanely beast ^^
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vino says:

11 years ago

I will wait for samsung 64bit phone :)… IP5s chips was made of samsung.
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Late_Reaction says:

11 years ago

Does 64-bit A7 provide any actual performance boost?

medium.com/tech-talk/fb96c0d7fd4e
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garz says:

11 years ago

Fitness apps are for noobs. Counting all the steps and calories and stuff? Nobody ain’t got time for those.

>:)
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IOS gamer says:

11 years ago

Mas mabilis pa rin siya kesa iPhone 5 at approx. 55 fps (graphics)
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Mr. Curious says:

11 years ago

Sorry for this noob question but

if iOS 7 is 64 bit, then how come my friends are running it on their ip4s and ip5?
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fandroid says:

11 years ago

Mr Yuga,
Palagay ko masyadong slanted itong review na i-putdown ang achievement ng Apple. Ito ay tech blog kaya sana OS agnostic ang pagresearch sa mga bagong tech. E pinakaunang mobile 64-bit CPU tapos panay naman paninira ang labas ng review. Di ba dapat ikatuwa natin na meron na 64-bit kasi sa bandang huli lahat naman ng mobile equipment vendors ay maglalabas nyan kasi shared nila ang technology sa ARM Alliance. Ang website nga ng Anandtech (katukayo nyo) di pa naglabas ng review ng IOS7 kasi nga wala pa silang actual na celphone na maikukumpara.
Kung gusto nating maghakaha, e di basahin natin mismo ang sabi ng ARM Holdings sa paglabas ng Cortex A-53/A-57. Galing sa kanila mismo ang benchmarking results. Di naman siguro “marketting” lang ang ipinablish nila. 2011 pa natape-out na sucessful ang ARMv8 (Cortex A-53/57) so ibig sabihin mga 2 years prior at least pa natapos ang 64-bit architecture so kasama na ang Apple sa pagdesign ng architecture dahil may license sila dito. Kaya yung sttaement na matagal ng may 64-bit at ngayon lang naglabas ang Apple ay maling analogy.
Eto sabi ng ARM website.
The Cortex-A53 processor is the most efficient application processor ever, delivering mainstream smartphone experience in a quarter of the power in the respective process nodes.

The Cortex-A53 extremely power efficient ARMv8 processor is capable of supporting 32-bit ARMv7 code in AArch32 state and 64-bit code in the AArch64 execution state. It delivers more performance at higher power efficiency than the Cortex-A9 processor, and is capable of deployment as a standalone main applications processor which defines today’s high-end mobile platforms.

The Cortex-A53 processor can be implemented individually or paired with the Cortex-A57 processor in a big.LITTLE configuration for optimum performance, scalability and energy efficiency.
Using ARM big.LITTLE technology the Cortex-A53 processor will efficiently run your connected life. This connected life will not just be the social media, news and email updates that you receive today, but will also enable devices to be contextually aware and connect to the Internet of things. Contextual awareness is already happening in smartphones today, but the Cortex-A53 processor’s ultra-efficiency will allow your smartphone to use its sensor information, calendar, contact information and location-based services to provide relevant information.

The Cortex-A53 processor can deliver the compute power of today’s high-end smartphone, in lowest power and area footprint, enabling all-day battery life for typical device uses, Efficiently runs legacy ARM 32-bit applications; Features cache coherent interoperability with ARM Mali family graphics processing units (GPUs) for GPU compute applications; Offers optional reliability and scalability features for high-performance enterprise applications; Connects seamlessly to ARM interconnect IP with up to 16 core configurations with more in the future.

The Cortex-A57 processor delivers significantly more performance than Cortex-A15 processors, at a higher level of power efficiency. The performance increase on a range of integer and memory workloads: 75% faster browsing,96.4% better SPEC benchmark, 66% faster streaming, 135% better Dhrystone benchmark, based on 32-bit code. Performance for floating point code is expected to increase even more, and general object oriented code is also expected to improve significantly when recompiled to AArch64 to fully take advantage of the architectural features of ARMv8.
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Adrian says:

11 years ago

Yung nagsasabing gagayahin ng Samsung yung 64bit CPU’s ng 5S.. antayin nyo munang malaman naten kung saan at sino gagawa nung chip.. baka yung inaangking technology ng Apple eh originally gawa nanaman ng Samsung :D

anyways imho walang pagkakaiba sa performance yan kung less than 4gb naman ang ram parang windows OS lang yan 32 bit vs 64 bit parehas lang kung 2gb lang ang ram mo, pero ramdam mo na yung difference pag naka atleast 4gb ram ka na :)
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playboy says:

11 years ago

Yuga u forget to incorporate that android is using dalvik vm and is actually running under 64bit environment since after ginger bread iteration. In android, 32/64 does not matter because android is neither 32 or 64 bit. The bit thing is pure gimmick in apple, see double floating ek ek, its a gimmick to mimic the hyperthread system like in pc chips because their engineers could not come up with quad core design. Simple as dat, but yes malaki impact sa mga tanga pag sinabing 64bit na d nman alam ang style pakulo drama ek ek boladas ng apple always jafakes king liar, like retina display nila na only 640 pixels lang nman when even chery mobile has 720 pixel as minimum heheh. True 64bit multicore will be when qualcomm decides to out theirs with support for at least 4gb ram. Un lang, who needs a raptor f22 when ur plain biznes is just going to sm to buy a pair of everyday shoes?
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sean says:

11 years ago

nonsense

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/166244-iphone-5s-the-64-bit-a7-chip-is-marketing-fluff-and-wont-improve-performance
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tarush says:

11 years ago

fyi, if you have Feedly, the author of this article is Ronnie Bulalong, a known Android fan :)
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