Apple iPhone 4S: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on October 31, 2011 7:45 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone
- iPhone 4S
The A6: What's Next?
Apple has somehow managed to get a lot of the mainstream press to believe it doesn't care about specs and that it competes entirely based on user experience. Simply looking at the facts tell us a different story entirely:
| Apple SoCs | ||||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |||
| Process | 90nm | 90nm | 65nm | 45nm | 45nm | 28/32nm | ||
| µArch | ARM11 | ARM11 | Cortex A8 | Cortex A8 | Cortex A9 | ? | ||
| CPU Clock | 412MHz | 412MHz | 600MHz | 800MHz | 800MHz | ? | ||
Apple has been at the forefront of the mobile hardware race, particularly if we look at the iOS platform as a whole (iPad + iPhone). Apple was among the first to move from ARM11 to the Cortex A8, and once again with the move to the A9. On the GPU side Apple has been even more aggressive.
Apple hasn't stayed on the same process node for more than two generations, echoing a philosophy maintained by even the high-end PC GPU vendors. It also hasn't shipped the same microprocessor architecture for more than two generations in a row.
Furthermore Apple even seems to be ok with combining a process shrink with a new architecture as we saw with the iPhone 3GS. It's generally thought of as a risky practice to migrate to both a new process technology and a new architecture in the same generation, although if you can pull it off the benefits are wonderful.
The truth of the matter is Apple is very focused on user experience, but it enables that experience by using the fastest hardware available on the market. With that in mind, what comes in 2012 with Apple's sixth-generation SoC?
It's fairly obvious that we'll see a process node shrink. Apple has been on 45nm for two generations now and the entire market will be moving to 28/32nm next year. If Apple sticks with Samsung, it'll be on their 32nm LP process.
The CPU architecture is a bit of a question at this point. We already know that Qualcomm will be shipping its next-generation Krait architecture in devices in the first half of 2012. TI, on the other hand, will deliver an ARM Cortex A15 based competitor by the end of next year. The aggressive move would be for Apple to once again migrate to a new process and architecture and debut a Cortex A15 design at 32nm next year.
Looking purely at historical evidence it would seem likely that we'd get a 32nm dual-Cortex A9 design at higher clocks first. If Apple wants to release an iPad update early next year, that's likely what we'll see. That still doesn't preclude a late 2012 release of a dual-Cortex A15 solution, perhaps for use in the next iPhone.
Note that we haven't talked much about potential GPU options for Apple's next silicon. Given the huge upgrade we saw going into the A5 and likely resolution targets for next-generation tablets, it's likely that we'll see pretty big gains there as well.
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thunng8 - Thursday, November 3, 2011 - link
You do realize that the top 3 results are all vsync limited? They are all close to 60fps. That makes it not a great test to show the full potential of the gpu.ReverendDC - Friday, November 4, 2011 - link
I was wondering why there were no WPs in your comparison. They have comparable screens, functionality, and features.This is NOT to start a flame war. I am curious about how some of the newer WPs especially line up (Titan, Lumina 800, Focus S, etc).
Thanks!
mymomentummedia - Sunday, November 6, 2011 - link
Here is a 360 degreee review of the iPhone 4s with a beautiful girl in a swimsuit... no complaints here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eNxXBIV9_s
yeatzeck - Sunday, November 6, 2011 - link
According to the Chipworks (http://www.chipworks.com/en/technical-competitive-... in iPhone 4S is Sony's camera (they even X-ray it).You probably have to update the review.
mosmov - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
You've run the Taiji for many devices so far.I'd like to see the number also for 4S to align the result with other devices in my memory.
tipoo - Monday, January 2, 2012 - link
Taiji is for Android...Conficio - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Here is the viral tip for Apple (or its competitors). Make it an option to deliver the text as well as the ability for the recipient to actually listen to the voice command recorded (sans the edit commands, etc.) That will become fast the fastest way to leave voice messages, because you don't have to wait for the phone to dial, time out and get through the voice mail instructions.
HelloChris - Monday, November 7, 2011 - link
Long time reader, but something in this review made me register a username so I could add to the comments...Anand's webpage-refreshing battery life test saw the iPhone 4S achieve around 10 and 11 hours, for 3G and WiFi, respectively. However, MANY new 4S owners (including myself) have been getting battery life which is roughly half of that. I just finished reading this whole review, and I have to wonder if the test unit sent to Anandtech might have been hand-picked by Apple? 10/11 hours is just so much more than everyone else seems to be getting. I've averaged 6.5 hours of total usage, and this includes several hours of use where I'm using absolutely no 3G/WiFi data, and minimal processing power (example: viewing a PDF, viewing pictures, reading items on my Google Reader feed)...
If you look on the major apple forums there are multiple threads where there are many users experiencing the same conditions.
Also, I'm aware of the battery issue with iOS 5 (which Apple acknowledged last week and has a beta update out already for) which implies that this is indeed a software, not a hardware issue.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but if it's the case that AnandTech received a well-performing test unit, that would explain their extraordinary battery life.
doobydoo - Friday, December 2, 2011 - link
I think you answer your own question.It sounds like your phone is affected by the battery life issue for which a software patch has been released, wheras Anand's probably wasn't.
The vast majority of iPhone 4S owners didn't experience any issues with battery life.
medi01 - Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - link
To care about "improved vibration" I have first to be somehow concerned with current "unimproved" vibration. Which I don't. And I don't know any person that is.