Published in PC Hardware

Apple Watch S1 SoC demystified, looks like plain old A5

by on24 April 2015


iPhone 4S part in drag

It appears that Apple’s S1 smartwatch module uses a design eerily similar to the Apple A5 of iPhone 4S and iPad 2 fame. 

Ever since Apple announced the Apple Watch last fall, chip buffs were wondering what the S1 was all about. It was speculated that the module would contain a custom chip, specifically designed for smartwatches, and that it would help boost battery life.

Those hopes were dashed as soon as we got a chance to see the first Apple Watch reviews, as the device features terrible battery life, on par with Android Wear devices, if not worse.

Apple developer Steve Troughton-Smith did some digging and found out that the S1 processor is pretty much “equivalent” to the A5. However, it remains unclear whether the S1 uses the old 28nm node, or the 20nm node used by Apple’s latest processors.

The S1 uses the same PowerVR SGX543 GPU and shares much of the A5’s DNA. However, even with Troughton-Smith’s findings we still don’t know whether or not the actual SoC is just a plain A5, or possibly a redesigned version of the 2011 chip.

Whatever the case, the S1 did not help the Apple Watch trump the competition in terms of battery life. However, if it’s just a repackaged A5 instead of a custom design, it did help Apple’s bottom line.

Last modified on 24 April 2015
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