Apple started developing the A11 Bionic Chip for the iPhone X three years ago
According to Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies and Phil Schiller, their senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Apple had been developing the A11 Bionic Chip for the iPhone X for over three years, with work commencing when “Apple was shipping the iPhone 6 and its A8 chip.”
As shown at the launch of the iPhone X last week, the A11 Bionic six-core chip has two performance cores that are 25%, and four high-efficiency cores that are 70% faster, than the A10 chip in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Mashable‘s editor-at-large Lance Ulanoff said the following…
Srouji told me that when Apple architects silicon, they start by looking three years out, which means the A11 Bionic was under development when Apple was shipping the iPhone 6 and its A8 chip. Back then we weren’t even talking about AI and machine learning at a mobile level and, yet, Srouji said, “The neural engine embed, it’s a bet we made three years ahead.” – Apple’s three-year roadmap can change if new features are planned, like the Super Retina HD Display in iPhone X. – “The process is flexible to changes,” said Srouji, who’s been with Apple since the first iPhone. If a team comes in with a request that wasn’t part of the original plan, “We need to make that happen. We don’t say, ‘No, let me get back to my road map and, five years later, I’ll give you something.”