Apple’s new M7 chip is probably for the iWatch
Yesterday, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5S, with a fancy new fingerprint sensor, a dual-LED flash, and a handful of other ‘flagship’ features. But to me the most interesting part of the announcement was that of a new coprocessor inside the phone.
The new M7 coprocessor is designed to make iPhone 5s even more efficient. It offloads work from the A7 chip by collecting motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass. Apps can then use this data without constantly engaging the A7 chip. Because M7 is engineered for this specific task, it uses significantly less power than A7 would require. So again, battery life is spared.
On stage, Phil Schiller emphasized that this chip will “enable a whole new generation of health and fitness apps”. Sure, that’s a big deal for Apple. So is squeezing every bit of battery life out of the device. I don’t think those were the main motivations to create this chip, though. I can practically hear Schiller extolling about the iWatch when it’s announced: “and it has the same great motion tracking technology already in millions of iPhone’s around the world — our M7 chip”.
