PC and mobile phone hardware why always "squeezing"? The truth is

Released outside of apple's new iPhone 7 early evaluation can be summed up in the word "boring". Reviewer for a number of improvements to the approval of the device, but people have also been agreed that apple didn't can come up with a convincing to current iPhone users to upgrade.

Why is this so? Why iPhone and PC, the evolution of the tablets and other computing devices not as fast as in the past? There are many reasons, but at the core of the problem is: to promote the progress of existing technology is becoming more difficult than ever before, the technology difficulty is higher, more expensive cost, more time consuming. Our equipment is complex, so that more essence, promote their further equals to breakthrough the limit of physics.

New way of innovation evolution

Of course, we don't have to despair. These devices built the way technology is evolving, can open the possibility for new equipment and new experience.

Intel's PC chip production similar to apple's situation. Both are usually every two years to a major upgrade of its core products, but they are slowing down the pace.

Intel said it will launch once every three years to make it into more transistors new technology in the chip. It will be the latest processor called Kaby Lake - the "optimization" of former generation technology. It means that the upgrading of PCS and related equipment amplitude will be smaller, those in the field of sales will be slow.

In the two larger models iPhone 6 and the iPhone appeared Plus two years later, the iPhone this year also should have a substantial redesign. But apple has just brought new models longer battery life, faster processors, waterproof function and better cameras - 7 Plus iPhone equipped with double rear camera. With the Wall Street journal technology columnist Joe Mr Fowler (Geoffrey Fowler), these upgrades "chamber is very practical, but don't let a person eyes."

However, a careful study, the two companies of technology will make more and more new features and applications are possible.

Intel's latest microprocessors, for example. It may only on traditional computing tasks faster than the old one, but it is equipped with an estimated rate of twice older graphics processors. The chip is able to handle 4 times pixel traditional 4 k video of high-definition video. This in itself may sound modest to ascend. But in the virtual reality is expected to become the next killer application of PC's era, it is not a small thing.

Apple is also for the new iPhone A10 core components of the chip to build a better graphics processors. This has brought the new camera support, apple marketing chief Phil Schiller (Phil Schiller) called it a "super computer" photos. Stressed that apple iPhone 7 greatly improved graphics processing ability can bring great benefits to game players, but it is likely to be for the iPhone support virtual reality or enhance it lay the foundation. Allegedly, the company is involved in the emerging field.

Special custom chip

The emergence of these features is just the beginning. For chip performance slows, hardware manufacturers is the main approach to build custom chip to handle a specific task.

This kind of chip processing tasks faster than has long been known as PC and smart phones "brain" of the universal chip is much more quickly. Gartner research vice President marc hong (Mark Hung), points out that they can be used in artificial intelligence, machine vision, such as audio processing tasks.

For example, with the image and display function improvement, apple and its competitors is heading for 3 d future - in the form of virtual reality 3 d video and 3 d. Other special chip of enabling driverless cars of machine vision and drive apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, amazon Alexa, etc. The depth of the virtual assistant learning AI.

As mark hung said, the special chip is part of the "heterogeneous computing" trend, the trend is refers to the use of different equipment driven by different chips. In the Apple last week's conference, for example, the company introduced three new chip: 7 A10, Apple iPhone Watch Series 2 modified S1 chip and AirPod W1 chip of wireless headphones.

Apple layout, in other words, a device by using custom chips of ecological system, various custom chip for different tasks. It is beyond of the chip itself a form of heterogeneous computing, visible in the device level.

Apple are not the only go this way. Intel has been heavily on mergers and acquisitions, has swallowed up several devoted to vision, artificial intelligence, the server and the chip company of Internet of things.

Through these developments, apple and Intel in handing developers technology, which will be able to create the future necessary function, from the 3 d interface and indoor maps, to encourage the growth of the new way of human-computer interaction in artificial intelligence.

It is worth remembering that "delta" upgrade from apple and its competitors has given rise to some by far the most valuable startup, from Uber to reality. Seemingly trivial innovation can bring about great change a classic case, about 2003 began to appear in a new Android smartphone function, the function until the iPhone 4 in 2010 caused the biggest stir too. Is there who would have thought that increase the front-facing camera will produce Snapchat?