February 28, 2014 09:20 China Electronic News
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The 64-bit processor on the iPhone 5S released by Apple last year became one of the highlights of the phone. It also pioneered the use of 64-bit processors in smartphones, attracting the envy of many mobile phone manufacturers who are eager to try it. At the recently held MWC2014, processor manufacturers such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Intel also launched their own 64-bit products. It is conceivable that in the future smartphone processor market, in addition to the dispute between "true and false 8-core", there will be another dispute between "32-bit and 64-bit".
Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Intel compete for 64-bit opportunities
Qualcomm, MediaTek, Intel, etc. have released 64-bit mobile phone processors, and 64-bit will become the latest topic of concern among enthusiasts.
After MWC2014, if you are still insisting on debating the so-called true eight-core and fake eight-core issues, it would be a bit OUT. Qualcomm, MediaTek, Intel and other mainstream processor manufacturers have released 64-bit mobile phone processors. In the future, 64-bit will become the latest hot topic among hardware enthusiasts.
Following its first 64-bit processor Snapdragon 410, Qualcomm released two latest 64-bit mobile chips at MWC2014 - Snapdragon 610 and 615. Among them, the Snapdragon 610 is equipped with 4 Cortex-A53s with ARMv8 architecture, and the Snapdragon 615 will be equipped with 8 cores.
The competition between MediaTek and Qualcomm has always been talked about in the industry, and they will naturally not fall behind in 64-bit. It recently officially released its first 64-bit processor MT6732, which integrates 4 Cortex-A53 and has a main frequency of 1.5GHz.
With experience in the PC field, Intel is more familiar with 64-bit, and will naturally not lag behind in the release of 64-bit mobile CPUs. It not only released the Atom Z3480 based on the 22-nanometer Silvermont microarchitecture, with the chip codename Merrifield, but also disclosed the details of the next-generation chip also named "Moorefield", adding two Intel architecture cores that can enable computing performance to reach 2.3GHz, an enhanced GPU and support for faster memory.
64-bit smartphones become mainstream in 2016
The release of 64-bit products is more about demonstrating technical strength and layout card slots. It is expected to be truly applied by the end of this year.
Currently, except for the 64-bit A7 processor used by Apple's iPhone 5S, 64-bit smartphones are rarely seen in the market. At this time, the release of 64-bit products by processor manufacturers is more to demonstrate technical strength and layout card slots, and is truly applied to terminal products, which is expected to be by the end of 2014. MediaTek's MT6732 is the third 64-bit ARM mobile processor to be released after Apple's A7 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 410. Officials said that they will provide finished products to manufacturers in the third quarter of this year, and related terminal equipment will be available by the end of the year. Qualcomm also said that Snapdragon 610 and 615 will start sampling in the third quarter and are expected to appear on mobile phones and tablets in the fourth quarter.
In the interview, ARM Vice President of Global Marketing Ian Ferguson pointed out to the China Electronics News reporter that the migration of a mainstream architecture will take at least three years, and it involves the migration and maturity of the entire ecosystem. ARM announced the launch of the 64-bit ARMv8 architecture in 2012, and 64-bit mobile processors are expected to be launched in the second half of 2014. Based on this calculation, mainstream CPUs will still be 32-bit by 2015. In 2016, 64-bit smartphones are expected to become mainstream.
Relatively speaking, Intel is more active in 64-bit migration. Intel expects multiple OEMs to begin shipping Merrifield-based devices in the second quarter of this year. Intel President Zhan Ruini pointed out at MWC2014: "64-bit computing is moving from desktops to mobile devices. We are currently the only company shipping 64-bit processors that support current multiple operating systems and can provide support when 64-bit Android is ready."
