Apparently, this next-gen GPU is supposed to support ray tracing, which has been hampered by issues like high power consumption.
The A16 Bionic chip used in the iPhone 14 Pro uses the same architecture as the A15 chip in the iPhone 13 Pro, but Apple has apparently been looking for improvements in another part of the chip.
According to new reports, the company had planned to add a next-generation GPU that would support ray tracing, but the tech giant’s engineers discovered a critical design flaw late in its development, prompting Apple to shelve its plans. put.
According to The Information, Apple’s planned chip for 2022 was supposed to support the ray tracing feature; A technique that makes light in video games behave as it does in the real world. Software simulations had shown it was possible, and the company continued prototyping anyway.
Apple’s design issues with this GPU
But apparently, the test hardware was drawing more power than Apple’s engineers expected, hurting the device’s battery life and causing it to overheat.
As the tech giant’s engineers discovered this design flaw late in the development of the next-gen GPU, Apple was forced to scrap plans for it and instead unveil the current A16 chip this fall. have been. In its September keynote, Apple only briefly mentioned that this GPU has up to 50% more memory bandwidth. Information sources have described this vandalism as “unprecedented” in the history of this sector.
The division, led by Apple VP Johnny Saroji, has faced challenges to continue to deliver industry-leading performance and improve energy efficiency. The Information notes that many of Apple’s top chip engineers have left the company in recent years.
For example, Gerard Williams III, a senior CPU designer, launched his own startup Nuvia in 2019. Apple replaced him with Mike Filippo, who reportedly ran into problems with the company’s engineers and joined Microsoft earlier this year. Since then, Apple has not yet announced a replacement for him.
