What SOC is in the leaked iPhone 4G

[douglaswilliams]

In case you have missed it, they guys over at Gizmodo were able to get their hands on the next iteration of Apple's iPhone.

They mention some of the upgraded features:

• Front-facing camera
• Higher-res back-camera with a flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM
• Higher-res display
• Possibly a secondary mic for noise cancellation
• Split volume buttons
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

They say they did a tear-down, but no mention of what SOC they found!

Why do y'all think they wouldn't mention this?

And, what SOC do you guys predict will be in it?

 

[Phynaz]

A4

 

[douglaswilliams]

If I had bought a speedy iPad and shortly there after a new iPhone came out with just as much power...I'd feel short-changed and be a little pissed off.

 

[yh125d]

If I had bought a speedy iPad and shortly there after a new iPhone came out with just as much power...I'd feel short-changed and be a little pissed off.

Why? iPad is pretty much an iphone that ran into an enlarging ray

 

[Qbah]

If I had bought a speedy iPad and shortly there after a new iPhone came out with just as much power...I'd feel short-changed and be a little pissed off.

Why? Will it somehow run slower when the iPhone 4 launches ? Won't you be able to do something you were able to before the iPhone 4 launch? Can the iPhone 4 magically increase its screensize? I have a 3GS and it's incredibly fast and offers a very smooth experience. I am really thinking what they can still do faster... Okay, I guess the browser can be improved a bit as I get checkered spaces when scrolling once in a while...

 

[IntelUser2000]

Why? iPad is pretty much an iphone that ran into an enlarging ray

That reminded me of this picture.

http://www.walyou.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/apple-iboard-imat-design-gadget.jpg

 

[PlasmaBomb]

That reminded me of this picture.

That is awesome!

 

[douglaswilliams]

Why? iPad is pretty much an iphone that ran into an enlarging ray

All I meant is that moving from the iPhone 3GS to the iPad, there is so much room in there to put very powerful application processors and graphics processors. If a few months later you could get the same power out of something so small, I would feel like they skimped on the iPad, like they should have put something more powerful in it. Thus, short-changed.

And it is not "pretty much an iphone that ran into an enlarging ray". It can't even make a phone call...or take pictures/video.

 

[EarthwormJim]

All I meant is that moving from the iPhone 3GS to the iPad, there is so much room in there to put very powerful application processors and graphics processors. If a few months later you could get the same power out of something so small, I would feel like they skimped on the iPad, like they should have put something more powerful in it. Thus, short-changed.

And it is not "pretty much an iphone that ran into an enlarging ray". It can't even make a phone call...or take pictures/video.

There really isn't a whole lot of room in the iPad. It's all battery and screen.

Since it's based on an Arm SoC, it's not like you get more performance out of it by making the SoC bigger. It's not really applicable to think of the iPad vs iPhone like you would a desktop vs a laptop. Things don't really scale up in speed like that.

Just like netbooks the iPad is supposed to be one of those "just fast enough" devices. It's just fast enough to navigate the OS with little to no stutter, and it's just fast enough for the apps available for it. Even if you made the iPad faster, it already has essentially perfectly smooth animations, is pretty snapping in navigating, you won't really see any benefits for the speed increase.

The only way it could have been made faster, is to have gone with a Cortex A9 chip, but that would have delayed the iPad.

 

[Borealis7]

That reminded me of this picture.

http://www.walyou.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/apple-iboard-imat-design-gadget.jpg

the exact opposite of Moore's law. you can hear Gordon crying.

 

[ElFenix]

apple A4, apparently.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Since it's based on an Arm SoC, it's not like you get more performance out of it by making the SoC bigger. It's not really applicable to think of the iPad vs iPhone like you would a desktop vs a laptop. Things don't really scale up in speed like that.

I've been doing some reading, and it seems that even the 3GS has more capable GPU than the iPad, despite the fact that iPad is MUCH larger. Of course, its opposite with the CPU.

 

[EarthwormJim]

I've been doing some reading, and it seems that even the 3GS has more capable GPU than the iPad, despite the fact that iPad is MUCH larger. Of course, its opposite with the CPU.

Apple has said it's the same GPU as the iPhone 3gs, a Power VR SGX535.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerVR#Series5_.28SGX.29

 

[IntelUser2000]

Apple has said it's the same GPU as the iPhone 3gs, a Power VR SGX535.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerVR#Series5_.28SGX.29

They can claim whatever they want:

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1423050&postcount=499

On the iPad , running at 1024x768 with sprites scaled up , it cannot pull more than 400 while maintaining 30 fps, which essentially means at that resolution it performs at about the same level as the original iPhone.

 

[EarthwormJim]

They can claim whatever they want:

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1423050&postcount=499

That doesn't mean that the GPU is less capable than the one in the iPhone 3gs (especially since they're identical) it just means that 1024x768 is more demanding.

I am surprised they weren't able to clock the GPU any higher. Isn't it built on a smaller process than the SoC on the iPhone 3gs (65nm vs 90nm).

 

[IntelUser2000]

I stand corrected.

Still, it does make the point you said earlier more valid, how it won't perform better cause the device itself is bigger, literally.

 

[extra]

If I bought a iPad I'd feel short-changed .

Fixed *giggles* (sorry, just had too lol)

 

[Acanthus]

if they use the A4 the battery life will be shit.

That is actually my main complaint about the Iphone 3GS and orig Iphone... You're always tethered to a damn power outlet.

 

[Modelworks]

It is really hard to say what it is because of the way ARM SOC are designed. Apple can mix and match for whatever they need, changing out the video, memory, ports, etc.
They haven't used the higher end powervr graphics yet in a product, probably due to power issues. I know that some of the powervr chips can do full 1080P video as well as gpu math and 3d functions, but the power cost is higher.

They should have just bought a beagleboard, slapped a screen on it and there is your product

 

[EarthwormJim]

if they use the A4 the battery life will be shit.

That is actually my main complaint about the Iphone 3GS and orig Iphone... You're always tethered to a damn power outlet.

The battery is almost 20% bigger in the new iPhone. I doubt there will be a decrease in battery life.


What makes you think the A4 uses a whole lot more power? It's clocked higher than the iPhone 3gS' Cortex A8, but that also means it can finish it's tasks faster and go into an idle state sooner.

The Cortex A8 in the iPhone 3GS is underclocked, so it's also very possible that Apple will underclock the A4.

 

[IntelUser2000]

What makes you think the A4 uses a whole lot more power? It's clocked higher than the iPhone 3gS' Cortex A8, but that also means it can finish it's tasks faster and go into an idle state sooner.

That actually only helps in applications that depend on such scenarios for power reduction, say for rendering. There will be a limit on how much you can gain of course. Especially when the task is limited in performance by other factors.