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Apple is Licensee and Investor of Imagination Technology

This might be the biggest thing to happen to PowerVR in a decade. I guess their hardware is pretty solid for mobile devices...maybe. Actually I don't know, as by this point even for mobile stuff it may be as old and crusty as ARM.
 
I'm not a gamer, but I've been following geeky technical stuff on processors, GPUs, etc for a long time. I have tried to follow the developments in the mobile space with ARM, PowerVR, etc, but I hadn't really gotten into the details, so I thought I'd try to gather some info. I can't vouch for the absolute accuracy of this information, but I have done my best to use reliable sources and official manufacturer specifications if possible. If any of the experts out there see any mistakes or can provide more information, please do so.


Current Generation PowerVR MBX

For the non-geeks, the iPhone/3G/Touch use an ARM processor that has an embedded graphics core, the "PowerVR MBX Lite", from Imagination Technologies Inc. The MBX is a popular chip for high-end smartphones, and is used in many smartphones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, etc.

The PowerVR MBX series consists of two versions of the same chip which have slightly different optimizations:
PowerVR MBX = optimized for speed (Nokia N95 and others)
PowerVR MBX Lite = optimized for power efficiency (iPhone)

Official specifications (from Imagination's website) for PowerVR MBX/MBX Lite

  • up to 200 Mhz
  • 3.4M-7.4M polygons @200mhz // graphics performance is measured in an variety of ways, but polygon (triangle) count per second is one of the most important

keep in mind these official specs are no doubt under optimal circumstances at the highest clockspeed. For a more real-world estimation, here are the specifications from Texas Instruments, which uses the MBX/MBX Lite in it's OMAP2xxx line of smartphone processors:

Specifications of Texas Instrument's OMAP2420, powered by PowerVR MBX
2M polygons/sec @ (unlisted mhz)

Specifications of Texas Instrument's OMAP2430, powered by PowerVR MBX Lite
1M polygons/sec (unlisted mhz)

Also keep in mind that Samsung's (iPhone) version of the MBX lite could be running at a different clock speed as the one in T.I.'s chips... but It should be similar however.
Various other sources mentioned similar numbers, placing the iPhone's PowerVR MBX lite at capable of up to ~1M polygons/sec.


Next Generation PowerVR SGX

Now, The next generation of embedded graphics cores from Imagination is the PowerVR SGX series, which comes in many versions targeted towards not just smartphones, but MIDs/netbooks, GPS devices, automotive displays/navigation, commercial kiosks, industrial equipment, etc.

Official specifications (from Imagination's website) for PowerVR SGX series

  • up to 200+ Mhz
  • 7M-40M polygons/sec @200mhz
  • multiple version in series: SGX520/530/531/535/540/545/555
  • Here are the listed performance numbers for each version. Keep in mind the higher-end parts are not going to be used in smartphones, and are meant for somewhat higher power applications like netbooks, GPS units, car displays/navigation, etc.

    PowerVR SGX performance:
    SGX520 = 7M poly/sec @ unknown mhz
    SGX530 = 14M poly/sec @...
    SGX535 = 28M poly/sec @...
    SGX540 = 35M poly/sec @...
    SGX545 = 40M poly/sec @...
    SGX555 = estimated up to ~100M poly/sec @...

Texas Instruments, which is a good judge to go by, has chosen the SGX530 to be integrated into their next-gen OMAP3 line of smartphone processors which most likely means that this chip will be popular in the industry with other manufacturers. The SGX530 is listed as doing up to 14M polygons/sec. Even acknowledging these statistics are from the manufacturer and most likely represent the best case scenario, the performance increase from the iPhone's MBX lite should be incredible! Hopefully, Apple is no doubt planning on using the SGX in the next iPhone/Touch.
 
Wolfpup said:
This might be the biggest thing to happen to PowerVR in a decade. I guess their hardware is pretty solid for mobile devices...maybe. Actually I don't know, as by this point even for mobile stuff it may be as old and crusty as ARM.
Click to expand...

Actually, PowerVR leads the field for embedded graphics, and is almost completely dominate in smartphones, PDAs, and other embedded devices. ARM is even more dominate in embedded devices, and their next-generation "Cortex" line of processors will blow away the iPhone's ARM11.
 
at jgowan:incredible post. Graced the forum with it.


Those are some fantastic news. , we were always very proud of owning our own brand of CPUs at apple, here's to having the better CPUs in our iPods iPhones mac tablets and airs of the future!!!!!
 
right on

globalhemp said:
Looks like Apple is lining up its ducks ... investing heavy into processors, etc ... perhaps more embedded devices to come?

From this listing, looks like Apple will get into more set-top box (Apple TV) and / or HD Radio. My opinion is ... say goodbye to satellite radio and say HELLO to HD Radio! Its free and the critical mass of people will no longer want to pay for radio.

From the web site, here is what they are into for embedded devices:

* Digital radio and audio
* Mobile multimedia & Personal Media Players (PMP)
* Car navigation/information
* Mobile Internet Devices (MID) & Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPC)
* Digital TV and Set-top Box (STB)
* Mobile TV
Apply some XML and Padora technologies, Apple will make money from "free HD Radio" by allowing users to purchase or add to "Wish List" music they are listening to. Hear an artist on HD Radio on your iPod or iPhone? A link to iTunes will apprear. Hear a radio show like Alex Jones, a link to iTunes podcast will appear for you to subscribe to. Apple may even go a step further and allow Wish Lists for iTunes. That would be nice.
Same goes for watching television. See "The Office," add it to your list. Buy past seasons from iTunes. Be reminded of tv shows that are coming by adding tv and radio schedules to your iCal app, etc!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried to pitch a concept like that to KICKER a couple years ago but they just nodded and smiled. Oh well.

Plus, I think Apple's long term road map is to design their own hardware, chips and all. Having Intel chips for them right now is just the price of being competitive. Let's see a hackintosh then...
 
Maybe for mobile stuff, but there's no way they can be competitive with AMD let alone Intel. It would just cost way too much money, and give them not much benefit (and cost them a TON of marketshare on top of that). I can't see why they'd do it.

For this mobile stuff, I guess it makes sense as it's so custom anymore. I'd still rather have a device running Atom though and a real OS + at least desktop class integrated graphics.
 
as mentioned many times by other members much more knowledgeable than myself the next iteration of arm (cortex) will be a giagantic leap ahead blowing the previous one and poor atom right out of the water.:D:cool:
 
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