A new Apple Watch, new iPhones and iPads: Apple had a lot to show at yesterday’s keynote. It is quite normal that not every detail of the devices can be presented. But this time, of all things, one of Apple’s favorite topics was largely absent.
A new Apple Watch, new iPhones and iPads: Apple had a lot to show at yesterday’s keynote. And of course, as one is used to, full of praise for the achievements of its own designers, developers and engineers. What was irritating, however, was that the company had surprisingly little to say about one of its specialty areas – the processors it developed itself. And important questions about the Apple Watch also remained unanswered.
It is not unusual for Apple to leave out individual details in its product presentations. In the short time – the revised entry-level iPad was devoted to just seven minutes – it is simply not possible to name every little detail. In order to save time, some information is only given on the overview slide of the presentation, an example was the introduction of the Wifi 6 standard in the iPhone 11. But this time Apple was strangely daring even with the core of the product innovations. Or left it out completely.
How fast is the A15 really?
Probably the most important example: the new processors. Since Apple has broken one performance record after the other with its self-developed chips, the company has not missed an opportunity to mention how much faster the latest chip is compared to its predecessor. But it was different with the A15 processor in the new iPhones. Instead of comparing it with the A14 of the iPhone 12, Apple only emphasized that it is up to 50 percent faster than comparable competing products. The group did not reveal exactly what that meant.
Some observers quickly suspected this: Is the performance leap on the A15 perhaps not as great as one is used to from Apple? A clue is the only point in the presentation where the A15 was compared to another Apple chip. The new iPad Mini, which also uses the new processor, has up to 40 percent more computing power and up to 80 percent more graphics performance compared to the previous model, Apple emphasized in the presentation. That sounds a little less impressive when you consider that the three-year-old A12 is in the old iPad Mini.
This indirectly enables a comparison: For the fourth generation of the iPad Air, Apple also switched from the A12 to a newer chip – the then current A14, which is also in the iPhone 12. According to the group, the increase in performance was 40 percent – just as high as it was when jumping from the A12 to the A15. However, the increase in performance for graphics and AI calculations between the A12 and the A14 was lower than the increase announced yesterday. The iPhone 13 and the iPad Mini should be faster in these areas.
Apple Watch Series 7: Kaum Details
Many questions also remained unanswered about the new Apple Watch. And it is not just about the unusually vague date of publication with “later in autumn”. Virtually nothing is known about the technical details of the watch. Apple neither reveals which chip is inside nor what resolution the new, larger display offers. Even the weight was not mentioned. And: While data such as the technical equipment, the case dimensions or the weight are otherwise listed on the manufacturer’s website, this information has so far been missing from the Apple Watch Series 7.
What exactly is behind this is currently still unclear. Compared to other tech companies, Apple peddles less technical data anyway. Details such as the specific equipment with RAM, which other manufacturers even use for advertising, are often only found out in the case of iPhones when a third party takes them apart. It fits into the picture that Apple does not mention such details, for example if the leap in performance is not big enough to aggressively advertise it. Potential iPhone 13 buyers do not have to worry anyway: The company nevertheless clearly describes the A15 as the “fastest chip in a smartphone”. Only tests can show how great the performance will be in the end.
With the Apple Watch, the lack of technical details on the website is quite unusual, but it can also be explained simply by the fact that Apple is not yet offering the watch for sale – and therefore does not see any benefit in the publication of the product details. However, there may also be something else behind it. The developer Steve Troughton-Smith claims to have found a reference in the source code of the latest watchOS update that the new watches simply use the processor of the previous model. Apple would then actually not advertise it.
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