iOS Swap File - Page File - VM or Whatever You Want to Call It

[MrWillie]

Someone posted a link in another thread.

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html

The lady that wrote the article stated that none of the mobile OS's use a swap file.

Why not ? I have 19 gigs of flash memory free. Could iOS allow a swap file?

What is the gripe with iOS multitasking? If I stop playing ABs, it picks up where I left off, without going through the startup screen. If I use the Mediafly app, podcast continue playing in the background. Would you really want AB to continue playing while you were doing something else?

 

[Intell]

Why? Because the NAND flash is not designed to be used as swap. It is damaging to the overall health of the chips.

 

[old-wiz]

Why? Because the NAND flash is not designed to be used as swap. It is damaging to the overall health of the chips.

Exactly. The reason is not software it is hardware - while the software could perfectly well do it, it would shorten the life of the flash memory. Swap files are accessed OFTEN.

 

[Piggie]

This could be another reason why a jump to 1GB would be a wise move.

Both the Blackberry Playbook and Motorola Xoom will have 1GB of Ram to compete against the iPad2.

Whilst I know tech specs are not everything, it will look a bit poor of Apple to fit half the Ram of it's competitors. Perhaps with 1GB it would allow not only larger programs to run, but also run better as they can use the extra space as cache area to speed things up.

For App developers it would be better also to jump direct to 1GB which would probably be enough to use in the iPad3 also, then to jump from 256 to 512 and then to 1GB a year later.

Given the, I guess, minimal cost difference, I hope Apple just go with 1GB in one step and not mess about.

 

[MrWillie]

http://www.patriotmem.com/products/...e=8&group=Inferno Solid State Drives&catid=21

>1.5 million hours mean time before failure. NAND flash.

MBA is SSD only.

I believe NAND memory has improved the past few years.

 

[Night Spring]

Given the, I guess, minimal cost difference, I hope Apple just go with 1GB in one step and not mess about.

Minimal? Are we sure about that? Anyone know the exact cost difference between a 1GB and a 512mb RAM?

Also, do we have a price for the Xoom or Playbook yet?

 

[Piggie]

Minimal? Are we sure about that? Anyone know the exact cost difference between a 1GB and a 512mb RAM?

Also, do we have a price for the Xoom or Playbook yet?

When you are ordering 10 or 20 million I reckon they can strike a reasonable deal on the price.

At the moment I don't think we do. Right now, the Xoom would easily command a higher price as it's higher in about every spec there is.

larger screen
higher resolution screen
4x the amount of RAM
more powerful graphics
Twin cameras and flash unit on the rear 5 megapixel camera.
Micro SD slot for user memory expansion
hdmi

etc etc.


How this all compares with iPad2 and pricing we will have to see.
I don't expect the Xoom will be cheap.

 

[Night Spring]

When you are ordering 10 or 20 million I reckon they can strike a reasonable deal on the price.

But they are ordering 10~20 million of the thing anyway, so, 10~20 million of the lower spec RAM has got to be cheaper than 10~20 million of the higher spec RAM, no matter how you slice it.

Right now, the Xoom would easily command a higher price as it's higher in about every spec there is.

Operative word being "right now." Right now, Xoom isn't available for sale yet. It seems quite possible that Xoom and iPad2 will both hit the market at around the same time. The iPad2 will almost certainly be sold at the same price point as the current iPad, with whatever improved specs Apple decides to pack in. Will the Xoom's specs hold a significant enough advantage over iPad2 to justify a significant price differential?

Actually, now I'm thinking about it, if I were Motorola, I'd wait until the iPad2 is announced and its specs are revealed before deciding on a price for the Xoom.

 

[Piggie]

Actually, now I'm thinking about it, if I were Motorola, I'd wait until the iPad2 is announced and its specs are revealed before deciding on a price for the Xoom.

I agree with you fully about this and if I were Motorolla I'd do the same.

If the iPad2 is lower specced than the Xoom then Motorola can easily charge more and people would accept it I feel.

Until the iPad2 is launched, they, and we don't know the spec or the price. However I'm sure Motorola already have a price they are aiming for, and, just looking at the spec I'd put it at least $100 or $200 above the iPad with the same memory.

 

[MrWillie]

This sure turned into a train wreck...

 

[kdarling]

I believe NAND memory has improved the past few years.

It has. But AFAIK Apple still buys NAND Flash with only a 5,000 - 10,000 write cycle limit. It's less expensive and it makes sense for seldomly changed media and app storage.

Apple also has little control over how much of the Flash you fill with files, meaning you could be left with just 1 GB of swap, which could get killed pretty quickly.

This is also partly why they use RAM for web page cache instead of the Flash (besides speed).