TLC NAND being dumped by Apple ?

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
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If you believe this story : http://www.dailytech.com/Report+128...pt+Apple+to+Abandon+TLC+NAND/article36854.htm

BusinessKorea earlier this week surmised that the problem stems from the triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash used in 128GB models of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Today, the same publication stated that Apple will reportedly switch from TLC NAND to multi-level cell (MLC) NAND going forward for in the production of both the 64GB (users have reported similar issues with these devices, but to a much lesser extent) and 128GB iPhone 6/iPhone 6 Plus smartphones.
That would mean that there will be a glut of TLC NAND chips out there, and Apply buys all the MLC it can get.

Which would cause all MLC devices to go up in price, and the TLC ones to nosedive.

However, it would seem that the problem is actually the firmware, and not with the NAND itself, would it not ?
Or, is there more to the story about TLC NAND ?
 

Hellhammer

AnandTech Emeritus
Apr 25, 2011
701
4
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From the silicon perspective MLC and TLC are usually very similar. There tends to be minor differences in peripheral circuitry design since TLC needs more sensors and the gate pitches may be optimized for TLC and its voltage characteristics, but overall MLC and TLC share the same silicon design.

That said, the issue is very, very likely due to a problem in the firmware, although it's certainly possible that there is a hardware issue in the controller IC itself, but I'm inclined to say that it's purely firmware.