back to article Mole says Apple A5 chip runs too hot for iPhone

Will September's iPhone refresh be a true iPhone 5, a souped-up iPhone 4 branded as iPhone 5, or said revamp released as the iPhone 4S? The debate rages still, but Chinese-language site Sohu reckons it'll be the latter - because Apple hasn't yet figured out how to get the iPad 2's A5 processor into the iPhone case and keep it …

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  1. Kingsley

    Blast from the past....

    Wasn't the G5 too hot for laptops? maybe a switch to intel phone chips on the cards now then? :-/

  2. Jah

    Its late

    Well the next iPhone is late. So there must be a reason for this - eiher Apple are doing something really amazing and it is a bit tricky or they are having some fundamental technical problems with their design (a bit like the initial atenna problems and the white casing with the iphone 4).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @Jah

      It would only be late if Apple had set a date for the release. Since they haven't even admitted a new model exists yet, the new one can't actually *be* late. (obviously one does)

      Reasons above: 1) Amazing, 2) Problems

      Or: 3) Apple changing release date to different time of year, 4) ???, 5) Profit?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's a kind of

      "Apple are doing something really amazing and it is a bit tricky".

      Neither. They are doing something "magical".

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh

    and I thought the whole delay was just down to the fact that Samsung provide the chips to Apple and Apple are taking Samsung to court over product designs...no?

    1. Robert Synnott

      RE: Oh

      No; Apple will have contracts with Samsung. If a supplier could choose to break its supply contracts with clients if the clients sued a different, unrelated part of the business, that would make the supplier essentially unsueable, and for a dominant supplier like Samsung, there'd be serious anti-trust issues.

      It's not uncommon for clients to sue their suppliers, because the suppliers are often also competitors, and for various other reasons. Microsoft, back in their peak, actually attempted to make OEMs sign an agreement not to sue them for anything in exchange for Windows licensing, but I gather they ran into legal issues; the deal never went into operation.

      1. Jedit Silver badge
        WTF?

        Unrelated part of the business?

        Since when was Samsung's department that designs mobile phones unrelated to the department that designs mobile phone components?

  4. BristolBachelor Gold badge

    Not just heat

    All this heat means more juice, and that means less battery life. Smartphones already have little battery life when you do anything smart with them; less battery life will not be welcomed.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    I can help them.....

    I have an old Pentium 4M laptop going spare. I can even provide oven gloves so they can use it. Not that it runs hot or anything, but it used to thermal shutdown so often, I could barely finish a post on the regi

  6. Code Monkey
    Trollface

    It's not too hot

    You're holding it too long in your sweaty, overheated palms.

  7. K
    Mushroom

    Yawn...

    Fact is iPhone and iPad are now getting behind the times, they're no longer "value" for money and the devices are no longer cutting edge.

    I ditched mine a few months ago and moved to Android, there will be no going back... Mac-Tards.. transform and roll out.. to a new platform!! :D

    1. bill 36
      Thumb Down

      ditto

      except that i have a contract that runs for another year and certainly will NOT be buying another iphone even if it has a Cray supercomputer inside it.

      Once bitten and all that!!

      1. Craig Mulvaney

        Why?

        As someone who switched the other way, I just wonder if you coudl say why you switched? Not having a go or anything - actually interested...

    2. Giles Jones Gold badge

      Erm

      The value is in that fact that the iPad has loads of quality software while most Android tablets are running software that is just being scaled up. 100,000 applications.

      The value of the iPhone is having a phone where you get a few years of upgrades and the updates are available worldwide to anyone, not just those who happen to have a phone from a manufacturer who is feeling generous.

      Not to mention if you buy HTC you're paying the Microsoft patent tax.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Microsoft patent tax.

        As apposed to the Apple fanboi taxes.

        Ridiculously high profit margins on hardware.

        30% of everything you spend in the app store/iTunes.

        Upgrade tax as not having the latest model means excommunication from the cult.

        1. David Barrett

          exactly...

          IPhone 4 over 24 months ~£1700 my HTC Mozart win pho 7 same 24 months ~£750

          I don't care if it makes coffee and womens clothes fall off in its presence I'm not paying £45 a month for a bloody phone.

          1. It wasnt me

            What a load of bollocks.

            Thats cherry picked data that is. Go to tesco. Iphone 4 is £325 for the phone, and then £25/month on a 12 month contract. Doesnt exactly add up to £1700 does it? Or if you want more minutes you can pay £35 a month for 12 months and £235 for the phone.

            Interestingly those are both cheaper than your HTC.

            I suspect you're just a mac hater.

            Disclaimer: I am not a fanboi. I have a HTC phone. I couldn't really care who made my phone and its OS, so long as they do what I want. I just dont like people spouting shite on message boards.

        2. stuff and nonesense
          Flame

          As apposed to the Apple fanboi taxes?????

          Link to O2 for

          HTC Salsa, 900 minutes, 500MB data, £41, initial purchase £0

          Galaxy S II 900 minutes, 500MB data, £43, initial purchase £50

          iPhone 4 16GB, 900 minutes, 500MB data, £48, initial purchase £100

          Link to O2 for each

          http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/pay_monthly/init/Apple/iPhone%204%2016GB%20Black

          http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/pay_monthly/init/Samsung/Galaxy%20S%20II

          http://shop.o2.co.uk/mobile_phone/HTC/Salsa

          (My own bill, last year's prices, 900 mins, 750Meg, £40, initial purchase £87 iPhone 4 16gig)

          I used to use an iPaq handheld thingy. It worked ok but it was hardly "mass market".

          Somewhere along the line came the iPhone. It made smart phones accessible to everyone (provided they wanted to pay).

          It is natural for competitors to build to a price cap. The competitor smartphones are on the whole cheaper than the feature compatible iPhones. This does not mean that they are better or worse, merely DIFFERENT.

          Subjectively, the iPhone has never felt cheap. Some Android handsets do, others don't.

          Hardware wise the iPhone is good enough for the price. Android handset manufacturers provide as good for less or better for the same price.

          An aside

          /rant on

          I have one problem with Google, IT IS GOOGLE. The biggest data mining operation on the planet. The sole reason for the existence of Android is to provide a data collection platform. It might be free to use but I'm paying for it. Google charges Advertisers/Manufacturers for the adverts and the collected anonymised data who in turn charge Customers.

          Google is a seductive company, they appear to give their jewels away for free, they claim to do no evil. They ONLY want to make money. (At least Microsoft and Apple are honest about that)

          Adblock and Noscript are my friends. All the Google scripts are blocked on my PC. Scroogle is my search engine of choice (http://scroogle.org/)

          /rant off

          1. Peter 48
            Holmes

            fair enough

            google certainly isn't an angel when it comes to collecting data, but have you actually bothered to read apple's T&C - they are just as bad when it comes to collecting information on you. Choosing one over the other based on that is utterly pointless.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          @Norfolk 'n' Goode

          Would these be the same taxes that softies fanboys pay everytime they by something from the beast of Redmond?? Or are you one of those leeches who think they should get everything for nothing? Why is it that fuckwits like you think that Apple are the only ones to charge commission? 30% is nothing next to what most other retailers charge. Finally, isn't the point of a business to make as much profit as possible. If people are happy to pay those 'Ridiculously high profit margins on hardware.', then surely Apple must be doing something right? Or are you just going to offer up the usual trite strawman about Apple users being brainwashed? Nobber.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      does not compute

      So if you buy an android phone or tablet, the hardware magically stays cutting edge, even years after it has been released?

      Or perhaps if you buy an android phone or tablet, the manufacturere will continue to release patches, firmware updates and OS updates so your phone can always be up-to-date?

      Oh wait, you think "transformers" are cool, I shouldn't pick on a 13-year old!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        RE: does not compute

        "Oh wait, you think "transformers" are cool, I shouldn't pick on a 13-year old!"

        13-year old?

        You're the one throwing insults.

  8. Robert Synnott

    Chip size

    There've been persistent rumours that Apple will move A5 production to TSMC's 25nm process. That should reduce size a good bit.

    1. Benchops
      Meh

      Size?

      The reason the A5 chip is in the iPad and not the iPhone is obvious. iPads are bigger than A5 and iPhones are smaller than A5.

      1. Fibbles

        Can't tell if troll...

        I'm seriously hoping that you don't really think the A5 chip is the size of an A5 piece of paper...

  9. noboard
    Paris Hilton

    Hmmmmm

    Hmmm it is a tough one to call. Apple will happily release an overheating phone, they'll just blame the user. However re-releasing the iPhone4 with an S moniker will allow them to drag out the upgrades that bit longer.

    I think I'll vote 4S. Watching people trip over themselves to give you money for the same phone must be fun to watch.

  10. Tom Wood

    It's not too hot

    You're just holding it wrong.

  11. tmTM

    Underclock it?

    The A4 was underclocked in the iPhone 4, so would it not be underclocked in the iPhone 5 - better battery life and less heat output.

    I doubt fanboi's will care if the new iPhone is a bloated whale as it needs to accommodate it's large chip, they'll buy anything and it'll mean in 6-9 months Apple can release the 5S with a thinner chip that actually fits.

    1. farizzle
      Thumb Up

      hmmmm...

      I'm tempted to say underclocked 45nm 'Sammy' A5 in iPhone 4S, with full-power 28nm TSMC A5 in iPhone 5, followed by the intel 22nm tri-gate in the iphone 6...

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  13. JeeBee
    WTF?

    But other phone makers can do dual-core over 1GHz...

    If Samsung can put a dual-core 1.2GHz processor inside a phone that is thinner than the iPhone 4, then Apple can surely put a dual-core 1.0GHz processor made on Samsung's fabs within their next iPhone. Even if they have to clock the graphics portion down a little to accommodate (I expect it isn't the CPUs themselves that would be generating the heat).

    Therefore I suspect that this rumour hasn't got all that much credence to it.

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