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FCC iPad Images Reveal Broadcom Chip, Apple A4, Toshiba Flash Memory

jclardy said:
I kind of doubt that Apple could have squeezed 10 hours of battery from a stock chip at the same performance level. Developing their own chip lets them create specific cycle saving instructions.
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Hm... not really. A custom instruction set would require recompiling all iPhone apps, and prevent moving back to commodity chips in the future if they want to. However, P.A.Semi does have a lot of very expert designers, so it's quite possible Apple really can build a better chip.

They can also integrate exactly the non-processing functionality (IO, memory controllers, etc...) that they need.
 
Do we know how much ram is in the ipad yet? I was hoping this would tell us.
 
jclardy said:
I kind of doubt that Apple could have squeezed 10 hours of battery from a stock chip at the same performance level. Developing their own chip lets them create specific cycle saving instructions.
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I believe the reason for the 10 hour battery life is that the battery is huge. Much more power is consumed by the screen and radios than by the CPU in these things, so even halving cpu power consumption would have little overall effect on battery life.
 
Is it just me who's a little disappointed that the A4 doesn't look like it does in the promo vid? I wanted it to just have the Apple logo and 'A4' written on it. :p
 
It really doesn't matter

that it was the day before. It still represents both a breach of confidentiality and an instance of committing the 'security through obscurity' fallacy.

I'm sure whether we hear about it or not that Apple will have words with the FCC.
 
Nuvi said:
I really wonder if its really worth it for Apple to develop their own chip. I mean its not like the wow factor is within the chip.
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Uh oh, too bad they didn't real your post before investing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars into this project. Too late to turn back now! Post earlier next time.
 
Can Apple sue the FCC if they don't fire/kill the employee who allowed this leak?
 
iVoid said:
Yeah, but having stereo speakers and then putting them RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER is stupid.
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Aside from the fact that you won't get meaningful separation anyway, the left and right channel have no meaning in a device that is designed to operate in any orientation.
 
cmaier said:
Aside from the fact that you won't get meaningful separation anyway, the left and right channel have no meaning in a device that is designed to operate in any orientation.
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you could put them at the top and bottom for maximum separation. And when watching movies they'd be left/right. For music yes you could listen in any orientation but then you could also easily put it in landscape.
 
I don't know how this compares to the iPhone and other devices, but I'm glad to see some Japanese electronics in there.
 
mrklaw said:
you could put them at the top and bottom for maximum separation. And when watching movies they'd be left/right. For music yes you could listen in any orientation but then you could also easily put it in landscape.
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True, if there was room to do so they could have done that (not sure whether they had room or not). Still wouldn't be very good stereo being that close together. I'm not even sure that they are hooked up in stereo as opposed to being push-pull for greater bass, or push-push for louder volume.
 
ouimetnick said:
the lcd looks welded to the digitizer. The things look kinda like screws, but it seems like melted plastic. I hope screen replacements are simple like iPhone.
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Doubtful. Rumor has it that Apple will "seal" the digitizer to the screen to prevent dust under the screen - even on the next iPhone. It'll be more cost effective for Apple this way.
 
koach said:
Do we know how much ram is in the ipad yet? I was hoping this would tell us.
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This is the only question I have for the iPad hardware. Everything looks good, and this is the only thing we still don't know.

Hearing every review say it's "blazing fast" without any numbers just isn't very convincing...:rolleyes:
 
daxomni said:
Can Apple sue the FCC if they don't fire/kill the employee who allowed this leak?
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Why does everyone think this is the FCCs fault?

Do you really think the FCC would presume to know what is or isn't 'TOP SECRET' according to Apple? Also, do you really think they would have someone on THEIR staff take the time to blackout each individual chip?

I'm pretty sure if Apple wanted the FCC to display a 'blacked out' version of a photo then APPLE would have to supply it on their own.

If I'm totally off base then so be it but I kinda doubt the FCC would needlessly take on the responsibility, ESPECIALLY since most hardware designers don't request this level of secrecy. Finally, while the FCC does try and respect certain wishes from submitters (like to not publish before a certain date) I think I read (somewhere) that they aren't formally obligated to do so.
 
ImperialX said:
This is the only question I have for the iPad hardware. Everything looks good, and this is the only thing we still don't know.

Hearing every review say it's "blazing fast" without any numbers just isn't very convincing...:rolleyes:
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what numbers would convince you? If everything is instantaneous, of what use is an arbitrary benchmark number?
 
cmaier said:
what numbers would convince you? If everything is instantaneous, of what use is an arbitrary benchmark number?
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From what I know, the iPhone 3GS is "blazing fast" as well. It will be quite disappointing if the iPad also had 256MB of RAM, wouldn't you say?

Of course, we both preordered the iPad already, so we can't really do much even if it turns out to be the same...but it's still nice to know, right?
 
ImperialX said:
From what I know, the iPhone 3GS is "blazing fast" as well. It will be quite disappointing if the iPad also had 256MB of RAM, wouldn't you say?

Of course, we both preordered the iPad already, so we can't really do much even if it turns out to be the same...but it's still nice to know, right?
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No. I wouldn't say. It would only disappoint me if the thing isn't at least as fast running iPad apps as my 3GS is running iPhone apps. The amount of RAM tells me nothing about how fast it will be in my hands.
 
Nuvi said:
I really wonder if its really worth it for Apple to develop their own chip. I mean its not like the wow factor is within the chip.
Click to expand...

The processor can be an enormous cost of production. Vertical integration, having their own chip, not only gives Apple security and control but cuts their costs if they can use it widely enough. I love vertical integration in business and is how I've done things for decades. It makes sense.
 
"A closer look at the FCC images reveal that the obscured chip parts were actually blacked out with a layer embedded in the PDF. A quick manipulation reveals the actual underlying chips."

If Apple goofed I would guess it was on purpose to spur marketing.

If the FCC goofed it's just typical government clumsiness.
 
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