Apple A11

Apple A11 Bionic
Produced From September 12, 2017 to present
Designed by Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer(s)
Max. CPU clock rate to 2.39 GHz[2] 
Min. feature size 10 nm[1]
Instruction set A64
Microarchitecture ARMv8‑A compatible
Product code APL1W72[3]
Cores Hexa-core (2× Monsoon + 4× Mistral)[1][4]
L1 cache 64 KB instruction, 64 KB data[5]
L2 cache 8 MB
Predecessor Apple A10 Fusion
Successor Apple A12 Bionic
GPU Apple-designed 3 core[6]
Application Mobile

The Apple A11 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC), designed by Apple Inc.[6] and manufactured by TSMC.[1] It first appeared in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X which were introduced on September 12, 2017.[6] It has two high-performance cores which are 25% faster than the Apple A10 and four high-efficiency cores which are up to 70% faster than the energy-efficient cores in the A10.[6][7]

Design

The A11 features an Apple-designed 64-bit ARMv8-A six-core CPU, with two high-performance cores at 2.39 GHz, called Monsoon, and four energy-efficient cores, called Mistral.[1][6][4] The A11 uses a new second-generation performance controller, which permits the A11 to use all six cores simultaneously,[8] unlike its predecessor the A10. The A11 also integrates an Apple-designed three-core graphics processing unit (GPU) with 30% faster graphics performance than the A10.[6] Embedded in the A11 is the M11 motion coprocessor.[9] The A11 includes a new image processor which supports computational photography functions such as lighting estimation, wide color capture, and advanced pixel processing.[6]

The A11 is manufactured by TSMC using a 10 nm FinFET process[1] and contains 4.3 billion transistors[7] on a die 87.66 mm2 in size, 30% smaller than the A10.[10] It is manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with 2 GB of LPDDR4X memory in the iPhone 8[3] and 3 GB of LPDDR4X memory in the iPhone 8 Plus[10] and iPhone X.[11][12]

Neural Engine

The A11 also includes dedicated neural network hardware that Apple calls a "Neural Engine". This neural network hardware can perform up to 600 billion operations per second and is used for Face ID, Animoji and other machine learning tasks.[8] The neural engine allows Apple to implement neural network and machine learning in a more energy-efficient manner than using either the main CPU or the GPU.[13][14] Bloomberg says that the neural engine is the fruit of Apple's efforts to improve its AI team, since the 2015 report by Bloomberg that Apple's secretive nature made it difficult to attract AI research scientists.[14] Apple has since recruited people and multiple companies working on AI, and has published papers related to AI research.[14] In October 2016, Apple hired Russ Salakhutdinov as its director of AI research.[15]

Products that include the Apple A11 Bionic

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cutress, Ian (September 12, 2017). "Apple 2017: The iPhone X (Ten) Announced". AnandTech. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  2. ↑ "iPhone X Benchmarks - Geekbench Browser". Geekbench. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "iPhone 8 Teardown". iFixit. September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Clover, Julie (September 10, 2017). "iOS 11 GM Leak Reveals Details on Face ID, Apple Pay, Wireless Charging, and A11 Chip in iPhone X". MacRumors. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Measured and Estimated Cache Sizes". AnandTech. October 5, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus: A new generation of iPhone" (Press release). Apple. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "iPhone 8: A11 Bionic". Apple. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "The future is here: iPhone X" (Press release). Apple. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  9. ↑ "iPhone 8 - Technical Specifications". Apple. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Apple iPhone 8 Plus Teardown". TechInsights. October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  11. ↑ Gartenberg, Chaim (September 26, 2017). "iPhone X confirmed to have 3GB of RAM and 2,716mAh battery". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  12. ↑ "iPhone X Teardown". iFixit. November 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  13. ↑ "What to Expect From Apple's Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic SoC – ExtremeTech". ExtremeTech. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 Gurman, Mark (26 May 2017). "Apple Is Working on a Dedicated Chip to Power AI on Devices". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  15. ↑ "Apple's latest hire could signal a big shift in the company's approach to AI". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
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