System-on-chip in the context of Hardware design

An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC /ˈeɪsɪk/) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficiency video codec. Application-specific standard product chips are intermediate between ASICs and industry standard integrated circuits like the 7400 series or the 4000 series. ASIC chips are typically fabricated using metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) technology, as MOS integrated circuit chips.

As feature sizes have shrunk and chip design tools improved over the years, the maximum complexity (and hence functionality) possible in an ASIC has grown from 5,000 logic gates to over 100 million. Modern ASICs often include entire microprocessors, memory blocks including ROM, RAM, EEPROM, flash memory and other large building blocks. Such an ASIC is often termed a SoC (system-on-chip). Designers of digital ASICs often use a hardware description language (HDL), such as Verilog or VHDL, to describe the functionality of ASICs.

Processor design is a subfield of computer engineering and electronics that deals with creating a processor, a key component of computer hardware. While historically focused on the central processing unit (CPU), modern design often involves system-on-chip (SoC) architectures, which integrate multiple processing units such as CPUs, graphics processing units (GPUs), and neural processing units (NPUs) onto a single die or set of chiplets.

The design process involves choosing an instruction set and a certain execution paradigm (e.g. VLIW or RISC) and results in a microarchitecture, which might be described in e.g. VHDL or Verilog. For microprocessor design, this description is then manufactured employing some of the various semiconductor device fabrication processes, resulting in a die which is bonded onto a chip carrier. This chip carrier is then soldered onto, or inserted into a socket on, a printed circuit board (PCB).

The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 4s, and preceding both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. It was formally unveiled as part of a press event on September 12, 2012, and subsequently released on September 21, 2012. The iPhone 5 was the first iPhone to be announced in September, and setting a trend for subsequent iPhone releases, the first iPhone to be completely developed under the guidance of Tim Cook and the last iPhone to be overseen by Steve Jobs. The iPhone 5's design was used three times, first with the iPhone 5 itself in 2012, then with the iPhone 5s in 2013, and finally with the first-generation iPhone SE in 2016.

The iPhone 5 featured major design changes in comparison to its predecessor. These included an aluminum-based body which was thinner and lighter than previous models, a taller 4-inch screen with a nearly 16:9 aspect ratio, the Apple A6 system-on-chip, LTE support, and Lightning, a new compact dock connector which replaced the 30-pin design used by previous iPhone models. This was the second iPhone after the iPhone 4s to include Apple's new Sony-made 8 MP camera.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are smartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed by Apple. They are the ninth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 9, 2015, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco by Apple CEO Tim Cook, with pre-orders beginning September 12 and official release on September 25, 2015. They were succeeded by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on September 7, 2016 and were discontinued with the announcement of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR on September 12, 2018.

The iPhone 6s has a similar design to the iPhone 6 but includes updated hardware, including a strengthened 7000 series aluminum alloy chassis and upgraded Apple A9 system-on-chip, a new 12-megapixel rear camera that can record up to 4K video at 30fps (A first in the series), can take dynamic "Live Photos", the first increase in front camera photo resolution since the 2012 iPhone 5, and also features for the first time front facing "Retina Flash" which brightens up the display three times of its highest possible brightness for selfies, 2nd generation Touch ID fingerprint recognition sensor, LTE Advanced support, and "Hey Siri" capabilities without needing to be plugged in. The iPhone 6s also introduces a new hardware feature known as "3D Touch", which enables pressure-sensitive touch inputs. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are also the first smartphones to use the fastest high end flash storage NVM Express (NVMe). The 6s and 6s Plus, alongside the iPhone XS and XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, and iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are the longest supported iPhones ever released, through seven major versions of iOS from iOS 9 to iOS 15. They do not support iOS 16 due to hardware limitations.