Interesting deep dive on switching power supplies. I didn't see the need to frame it by attacking Apple.
Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
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Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#12While obviously Jobs’ claim was false, I will say that Apple is the only company I am aware of that manufacturers power supplies which are reliably completely free of perceptible inductor whine. I have very acute high-frequency hearing and I often have to replace non-Apple USB(-C) switching power supplies with Apple ones so I don’t go crazy from the whining. Teardowns of Apple PSUs typically reveal very favorable ele…
Don't worry, that problem will solve itself with time. Just let the lowpass in your ears grow a bit. ;) I will say I have been very impressed with Anker's GaN power bricks of late.
I have one(60W) but its output isn't very smooth. Still great to have just one small device to charge my phone, laptop and headphones.
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#13While obviously Jobs’ claim was false, I will say that Apple is the only company I am aware of that manufacturers power supplies which are reliably completely free of perceptible inductor whine. I have very acute high-frequency hearing and I often have to replace non-Apple USB(-C) switching power supplies with Apple ones so I don’t go crazy from the whining. Teardowns of Apple PSUs typically reveal very favorable ele…
> I have very acute high-frequency hearing... Doesn't take "acute," just takes "not destroyed." I've, at various points in my career, grumbled about various things whining audibly (one particular motion light sensor was defective and right outside my office for a while). The trick to getting other people to believe you ("I can't hear anything... are you sure?") is to wait for a bring-your-kids-to-work day. And ask if…
Gotta hand it to the kids. My 9 year old claims he can hear a whine from iPads and iPhones when their battery level is near 0%. And I thought I had good hearing...
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#14Interesting deep dive on switching power supplies. I didn't see the need to frame it by attacking Apple.
At the time, "Apple invented the switching power supply" was a notion going around in bad tech/sci reporting circles, so it deserved dismantling along with the power supplies.
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#15I'm guessing this article is from 2011, back when Apple fans were just ending their role as being a niche that believed anything. At this point it is - I think - a pretty common assumption that Apple just puts things together in a decent ecosystem. If Apple devices offers a new frequency range, its because Qualcomm's radio allowed for it, which was dependent on other things further in the stream. This is an interesti…
Not an Apple fanboy but I don’t this is completely correct. As a huge buyer of semiconductors they can, when they want to, exert a lot of pressure on suppliers. Famously they did this with Gorilla glass; they have done so with Intel and qcomm. Sometimes not so successfully (all the expense on the “liquid metal” company, for example).
It’s not all sheer pressure; they do a lot of collaborative design. After all they have one of the best semiconductor design teams (both digital and analog) around. And they are on standards bodies; they allegedly (some non-Apple people told me) contributed contributed significantly to USB-C.
I emphasized completely because in the modern ecosystem it’s broadly true (RAM, displays etc)
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#16Interesting deep dive on switching power supplies. I didn't see the need to frame it by attacking Apple.
It's only right to clear up a falsehood promoted by Steve Jobs himself. He's not above scrutiny.
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#17While obviously Jobs’ claim was false, I will say that Apple is the only company I am aware of that manufacturers power supplies which are reliably completely free of perceptible inductor whine. I have very acute high-frequency hearing and I often have to replace non-Apple USB(-C) switching power supplies with Apple ones so I don’t go crazy from the whining. Teardowns of Apple PSUs typically reveal very favorable ele…
It’s extremely frustrating, and I was always surprised when I returned mid-range USB chargers because of whine only to receive a replacement with the same problem and hundreds of reviews that failed to mention it. I’ve never had an issue with Apple chargers, and the extra cost is money we’ll spent. Buy genuine Apple chargers, if not for you, then for your dog.
All brands should put USB-A and USB-C ports on the power brick.
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#18Another article in IEEE Spectrum:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/a-half-century-ago-better-transist...
> A half century ago, better transistors and switching regulators revolutionized the design of computer power supplies
> Apple, for one, benefited, though it didn’t spark this revolution, as Steve Jobs claimed
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#19While obviously Jobs’ claim was false, I will say that Apple is the only company I am aware of that manufacturers power supplies which are reliably completely free of perceptible inductor whine. I have very acute high-frequency hearing and I often have to replace non-Apple USB(-C) switching power supplies with Apple ones so I don’t go crazy from the whining. Teardowns of Apple PSUs typically reveal very favorable ele…
This is so off-topic, but no one ever believes me when I'm complaining about a wall adapter across the room driving me mad. Glad to know I'm really not imagining things hah!
You're not imagining it at all.
This is an important consideration all electrical engineers should take seriously when designing products for people. It's a shame many don't.
https://product.tdk.com/en/techlibrary/solutionguide/acousti...
https://www.edn.com/reducing-mlccs-piezoelectric-effects-and...
Re: Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
#20well, in some sense Apple didn't invent personal computing, MOS 6502 did.