The new chip is comprised of two separate clusters of quad cores, one being an ARM Cortex-A15 and the other a Cortex-A7. Rather than simply having 8 cores in total, the 2 clusters are managed via ARM’s big.LITTLE technology which allows for the processor to switch between the more or less powerful clusters depending on the type of usage.
This is good news for those who really want the most out of their battery life since it can revert to the less powerful of the 2 clusters in idle or low-performance needs.
Samsung promises a 70% savings in power consumption versus the Exynos 5 Dual, but still boasts top class performance because of the 4 Cortex-A15 cores. They also mentioned that it can deliver twice the 3D performance as compared to the Exynos 4 Quad. We’re guessing the S IV will be the first to carry this chip.
It’s obviously a smart move since there are very few apps that actually take advantage of quad-core technology, much less the kind of power being offered by the Cortex-A15 or even the present Exynos 4 Quad. With battery life being a major problem these days, we hope that this balancing act can be the start of something new to provide a stop-gap until new battery technology hits the market.
