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    Apple Daily Tech Support Thread [October 08]

    October 09, 2018

    Apple Daily Tech Support Thread [October 08]

    Daily Tech Support Thread [October 08]

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 08:15 AM PDT

    Welcome to the daily Tech Support thread for /r/Apple.

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    Here is an archive of all previous "Tech Support" threads. This is best viewed on a browser. If on mobile, type on the searchbar [title:"Daily Tech Support Thread" author:"AutoModerator"] (without the brackets, and including the quotation marks around the title and author.)

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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    Apple Releasing iOS 12.0.1 With Fixes for Wi-Fi 2.4GHz Bug, Lightning Charging Issue

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 09:53 AM PDT

    Exclusive: iPad Pro Face ID details, 4K HDR video over USB-C, AirPods-like Apple Pencil 2 pairing, more

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 05:12 PM PDT

    Apple really undersold the A12 CPU. It's almost caught up to desktop chips at this point. Here's a breakdown [OC]:

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 01:03 PM PDT

    This is a long post. The title is basically the Tl;Dr... if you care about the details, read on :)

    I was intrigued by the Anantech comparison of the A12 with a Xeon 8176 on Spec2006, so I decided to find more spec benchmarks for other chips and run them.

    Comparisons to Xeon 8192, i7 6700k, and AMD EPYC 7601 CPUs.

    Notes: All results are Single-Core. If the processor is multithreaded, I tried finding the Multithreaded results. In the case of Big+Little configurations (like the A12) one Big core was used. The 6700k was the fastest Intel desktop chip I could find on the Spec2006 database.

    Spec_Int 2006 Example Apple A12[1] Xeon 8176[3] i7 6700k[2] EPYC 7601[3]
    Clock speed (Single Core Turbo) 2.5Ghz 3.8Ghz 4.2Ghz 3.2Ghz
    Per-core power con. (Watts) 3.64W 5.89W 18.97W 5.62W
    Threads (nc,nt) 1c,1t 1c,2t 1c,1t 1c,2t
    400.perlbench Spam filter 45.3 50.6 48.4 40.6
    401.bzip2 Compression 28.5 31.9 31.4 33.9
    403.gcc Compiling 44.6 38.1 44.0 41.6
    429.mcf Vehicle scheduling 49.9 50.6 87.1 44.2
    445.gobmk Game AI 38.5 50.6 35.9 36.4
    456.hmmer Protein seq. analyses 44.0 41.0 108 34.9
    458.sjeng Chess 36.6 41 38.9 36
    462.libquantum Quantum sim 113 83.2 214 89.2
    464.h264ref Video encoding 66.59 66.8 89.2 56.1
    471.omnetpp Network sim 35.73 41.1 34.2 26.6
    473.astar Pathfinding 27.25 33.8 40.8 29
    483.xalancbmk XML processing 57.0 75.3 74.0 37.8

    The main takeaway here is that Apple's A12 is approaching or exceeding the performance of these competing chips in Spec2006, with lower clock speeds and less power consumption. The A12 BIG core running at 2.5GHz beats a Xeon 8176 core running at 3.8GHz, in 9 out of 12 of Spec_Int 2006 tests, often by a large margin (up to 44%). It falls behind in 3 tests, but the deficiency is 2%, 6%, and 12%. It also comes quite close to a desktop 6700k.

    No adjustment was made to normalize the results by clock speed. Core-for-Core Apple's A12 has a a higher IPC and at least 50% better Perf/Watt than competing chips, even with the advantage of SMT on some of these! (Apple doesn't use SMT in the A-series chips currently).

    CPU Width

    Monsoon (A11) and Vortex (A12) are extremely wide machines – with 6 integer execution pipelines among which two are complex units, two load units and store units, two branch ports, and three FP/vector pipelines this gives an estimated 13 execution ports, far wider than Arm's upcoming Cortex A76 and also wider than Samsung's M3. In fact, assuming we're not looking at an atypical shared port situation, Apple's microarchitecture seems to far surpass anything else in terms of width, including desktop CPUs.

    — Anandtech

    By comparison, Zen and Coffee Lake have 6-wide decode + 4Int ALU per core. Here are the WikiChip block diagrams: Zen/Zen+ and Coffee Lake Even IBM's Power9 is 6-wide.

    Why does this matter?

    width in this case refers to Issue Width on the CPU μArch. Or "how many commands can I issue to this CPU per cycle.The wider your issue-width on a CPU, the more you instructions can be issued at once. By stacking these instructions very close to one another, you can achieve multiple instructions per Cycle, resulting in a higher IPC. This has drawbacks -- it requires longer wire length, as the electrons need to travel more to execute all the instructions and because you're doing so many things at once, the design complexity of the CPU increases. You also need to do things like reorder instructions so they'll better fit, and you need larger caches to keep the cores fed. On that note...

    Cache sizes (per core) are quite large on the A12

    Per core we have:

    • On the A12: Each Big core has 128kB of L1$ and 8MB L2$. each Little core has 32kB of L1$ and 2MB of L2$. There's also an additional 8 MB of SoC-wide$ (also used for other things)
    • On EPYC 7601: 64kB L1$, 32kB L1D$, 512 KB L2$, 2MB shared L3$ (8 MB per 4-core complex)
    • On Xeon 8176: 32kB L1$, 32kB L1D$, 1MB shared L2$, 1.375MB shared L3$
    • On 6700k: 128kB L1$, 128kB L1D$, 1MB L2$, 2MB shared L3$

    What Apple has done is implement a really wide μArch, combined with a metric fuckton of dedicated per-core cache, as well as a decently large 8MB Shared cache. This is likely necessary to keep the 7-wide cores fed.

    RISC vs CISC

    Tl;Dr: RISC vs CISC is now a moot point. At its core, CISC was all about having the CPU execute commands in as few lines of code as possible (sparing lots of memory/cache). RISC was all about diluting all commands into a series of commands which could each be executed in a single cycle, allowing for better pipelining. The tradeoff was more cache requirements and memory usage (which is why the A12 cache is so big per core), plus very compiler intensive code.

    RISC is better for power consumption, but historically CISC was better for performance/$, because memory prices were high and cache sizes were limited (as larger die-area came at a high cost due to low transistor density). This is no longer the case on modern process nodes. In modern computing, both of these ISAs have evolved to the point where they now emulate each other's features to a degree, in order to mitigate weaknesses each ISA. This IEE paper from 2013 elaborates a bit more.

    The main findings from this study are (I have access to the full paper):

    1. Large performance gaps exist across the implementations, although average cycle count gaps are ≤2.5×.
    2. Instruction count and mix are ISA-independent to first order.
    3. Performance differences are generated by ISA-independent microarchitecture differences.
    4. The energy consumption is again ISA-independent.
    5. ISA differences have implementation implications, but modern microarchitecture techniques render them moot; one ISA is not fundamentally more efficient.
    6. ARM and x86 implementations are simply design points optimized for different performance levels.

    In general there is no computing advantage that comes from a particular ISA anymore, The advantages come from μArch choices and design optimization choices. Comparing ISA's directly is okay, as long as your benchmark is good. Spec2006 is far better than geekbench for x-platform comparisons, and Is regularly used for ARM vs x86 server chip comparisons. Admittedly, not all the workloads are as relevant to general computing, but it does give us a good idea of where the A12 lands, compared to desktop CPUs.

    Unanswered Questions:

    We do not know if Apple will Scale up the A-series chips for laptop or desktop use. For one thing, the question of multicore scaling remains unanswered. Another question is how well the chips will handle a Frequency ramp-up (IPC will scale, of course, but how will power consumption fare?) This also doesn't look at scheduler performance because there's nothing to schedule on a single-thread workload running on 1 core. So Scheduler performance remains largely unknown.

    But, based on power envelopes alone, Apple could already make an A12X based 3-core fanless MacBook with 11W power envelope, and throw in 6 little cores for efficiency. The battery life would be amazing. In a few generations, they might be able to do this with a higher end MacBook Pro, throwing 8 (29W) big cores, just based on the current thermals and cooling systems available.

    In any case, the A12 has almost caught up to x86 desktop and server CPUs (Keep in mind that Intel's desktop chips are faster than their laptop counterparts) Given Apple's insane rate of CPU development, and their commitment to being on the latest and best process nodes available, I predict that Apple will pull ahead in the next 2 generations, and in 3 years we could see the first ARM Mac, lining up with the potential release of Marzipan, allowing for iOS-first (and therefore ARM-first) universal apps to be deployed across the ecosystem.

    Table Sources:

    1. Anandtech Spec2006 benchmark of the A12
    2. i7 6700k Spec_Int 2006
    3. Xeon 8176 + AMD EPYC 7601 1c2t Spec_Int 2006

    Edits:

    • Edit 1: table formatting, grammar.
    • Edit 2: added bold text to "best" in each table.
    submitted by /u/WinterCharm
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    Hey r/Apple. Join us on r/GooglePixel tomorrow at 11:00 EDT for the 2018 Made By Google Launch Event!

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 04:03 PM PDT

    Apple Discontinues Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 10:35 AM PDT

    Apple still sells a 4-inch iOS device and that is the iPod Touch with an under-clocked A8 chip

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 02:10 AM PDT

    Is anyone else in the habit of occasionally, just occasionally, taking your iPhone out of the case to admire it before putting it back?

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 02:43 PM PDT

    I've used cases for as long as I've had iPhones. There's a bit of oddity to that since I never used phone cases at all before getting an iPhone, but kept my iPhone 3G in a case from day one and have done so for all of my iPhones since. I was pretty happy with the Bumper case on the iPhone 4, but after scratching it by dropping it down a mountain, I switched to a Lifeproof case and kept using those until the iPhone 7 when I could get away with a mere impact-protection case since water resistance was built in.

    Now that I've got an iPhone Xs and the Applecare+ copays have gone way up, protecting my glass back from injury is more important than ever before. I remember when I first got my 6 and lived dangerously with a cheap thin case from Best Buy and had to replace the screen not once but twice. I won't make that mistake again. But once in a while I like to take the case off for one reason or another - in my case usually to let it dry off after submersion so that I can charge it again. And whenever I do, I think, "Damn, that's a sexy phone."

    Right now I'm at home safely at my desk and I took it out for a few minutes for no particular reason. This time around I got the gold finish, even though it's really never visible in my daily life. Without a case, the balance and feel of the phone is even better than with one. And it's simply a beautiful piece of hardware. It's kind of a shame that I'm going to have to put it back in its rubber cocoon before leaving the house.

    submitted by /u/NotRoryWilliams
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    CBC News The National: Attacking the Apple empire

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 08:53 PM PDT

    Because this would somehow be construed as contextless if it's not in a text post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XneTBhRPYk

    A story on various right-to-repair related topics featuring Louis Rossmann (outspoken "unauthorized" repairman), iFixit, Geekbench, and others. 18 minutes long, but well worth the watch.

    submitted by /u/wickedplayer494
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    The iPhone XS Max screen has more pixel than the Macbook 12"

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 09:36 PM PDT

    And we're still stuck on 2880x1800 on the 2018 pro 15".

    Isn't it time we have 4k screen on the 15"?

    submitted by /u/thief_fighter
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    After 8 years, IDC admits Apple's iPad is leading the tablet market 'unabated'

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 10:49 AM PDT

    I miss the iPad Mini

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 07:14 AM PDT

    Guys, seriously, the 7.9 inch screen was perfect for reading ebooks and do anything an iPad can. What on earth happened to the lineup?

    submitted by /u/MDeSanta
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    A strange and glorious feeling to hear about an update to iOS and then be able to install said update

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 03:02 PM PDT

    I've been so long in the android world, no google phones, and hearing about an android update was news but, ultimately, never relevant to me for months. At which point I might get some further news from my phone manufacturer on whether my handset would get this new update or not. Mostly not.

    The hardware, software and support is why I came back to apple.

    Amazing.

    submitted by /u/SiameseDiaries
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    MRI disabled every iOS device in facility (crosspost r/sysadmin)

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 10:32 PM PDT

    Apple stops signing iOS 11.4.1, preventing downgrades from iOS 12 to iOS 11

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 04:29 PM PDT

    CBC investigative report into Apple ripping off customers on repairs

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 08:56 PM PDT

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2_SZ4tfLns

    This video is an interesting watch. It talks about the right to repair bill, and how it could affect apple.

    submitted by /u/StripelessCow
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    PSA: Your Apple Watch is supposed to easily last all day!

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 09:45 AM PDT

    I got an Apple Watch Series 3 last Christmas as a gift. It always had trouble making it throughout the day without being charged. I never thought anything of it. The watch died a week ago and the replacement easily lasts all day!

    I can't believe I suffered for so long. If you're having to top off your watch, take it in.

    submitted by /u/johndoeiswhoiam
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    I don't know why I waited so long to go with Apple Leather cases, but got-damn!

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 12:46 PM PDT

    I've only used 2 brands during my decade using iPhones: Otterbox (left due to bulkiness), and Spigen (cheap on Amazon, yet great looking).

    Unfortunately, with the "swipe up" gesture of the X and XS, most cases prevent a nice "flick" of the thumb. That's why I went to go look at the Apple cases and similar ones that have a "missing bottom".

    I'm in love with my Apple leather case for my Spacy Gray XS Max. I got the Product Red and Saddle Brown. Pricey, but first uses prove worth it.

    It fits so snugly and feels great in hand. Doesn't even add bulk. I'm not sure what the drop protection is, but I've never shattered a phone so I hope my luck continues.

    They look great and I can't wait until I "weather" them a bit.

    submitted by /u/razeus
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    A week ago I bought the iPhone XS

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 11:54 PM PDT

    I feel that the battery does not last so long, I come from an 8 plus, is it normal? I do not play any heavy games or anything, and from 8 am to 100% and at 3 in the afternoon I have like 50%.

    submitted by /u/condefle
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    Dynamic wallpaper from illustrator Tommy Parker—an interesting take on dynamic wallpapers!

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 09:37 AM PDT

    For those unfamiliar, 21wallpaper commissions artists and illustrators to create custom wallpapers for desktop and mobile.

    Tommy Parker was recently featured and created a dynamic wallpaper for macOS Mojave (along with other static wallpapers). What do you guys think?

    It'll be interesting to see more and more custom dynamic wallpapers pop up. Has anyone found any other cool ones?

    submitted by /u/wafflehat
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    TIL Find my iPhone also works on Apple TV

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 06:38 AM PDT

    Just ask Siri

    submitted by /u/CokeZero81
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    PSA: If you have an older Apple Watch that barely lasts a full day, try changing these settings

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 11:12 AM PDT

    • General - Accessibility - Reduce motion: On - This turns off all the UI animations which can help off-load the processing power.
    • General - Accessibility - Reduce Transparency: On - This makes it so that the certain UI elements does not have the "see through" effect, such as notification center, control center, or an incoming notification. Making the "see through" effect costs more processing power and not only that with this setting turned off, the rest of the OLED display can remain as black thus saving even more battery.
    • General - Background App Refresh: Off - Leaving this turned off will prevent certain app to refresh without knowing you in the background (such as Weathers app, which will pre-fetch some weather data in the background so when you are using the app after certain period of time the data is more relevant and accurate).
    • Brightness: Turn down all the way - This does not need any explanation. I experimented with my old S0 before upgrading to my S4, and I have to say that the difference between the highest vs lowest brightness has a significant impact on battery life.
    • Sounds & Haptics: Default (instead of Prominent) and if you have the option to, turn down the haptic feedback level to lowest setting possible (not off). With this, the haptic engine vibrates less throughout the day, which uses lot less battery power.

    These are not massive, dramatic difference, but with this setting I was able to get my watch from not being able to last full day before bed time to having 10~15% battery left at the end of the day in my old S0. I just upgraded to S4 when it launched and I am planning on preserving these settings to have maximum battery life out of my watch. Feel free to share your tips!

    Edit: Corrected as per u/DictatorRelax

    Edit: As u/mrharoharo pointed out, turning on Theater mode on a pinch is also a good idea to disable "raise to wake" feature.

    submitted by /u/andycho7
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    The Apple Watch – Tipping Point Time for Healthcare

    Posted: 08 Oct 2018 06:28 AM PDT
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