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chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
All though not as often, the tabs do still "reload" on iOS4. Much to my disappointment.

That's unfortunate. Maybe that will change as they push out builds of the OS. Even so, I'm sure next year the iPhone will have 512 MB if nothing else to ensure all us zombies get in line again.
 

mikethebigo

macrumors 68020
May 25, 2009
2,306
1,207
All though not as often, the tabs do still "reload" on iOS4. Much to my disappointment.

Yeah, I've been running the gold master of iOS 4 and I tested it out, my pages are still reloading as well. So if people testing iPhone 4 DIDN'T have reloading... maybe there is more RAM. I wish someone could get their hands on one and just throw iStat on it for a second.
 

Branskins

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2008
1,235
180
Is it possible that the iPhone 4's hardware is just more efficient? Let's say that it is still 256 MB RAM, is it possible that the RAM is newer and more efficient? Could the A4 chip be helping so that the pages don't always reload?

There has to be a way to fix this issue without necessarily doubling the RAM in the phone
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
Is it possible that the iPhone 4's hardware is just more efficient? Let's say that it is still 256 MB RAM, is it possible that the RAM is newer and more efficient? Could the A4 chip be helping so that the pages don't always reload?

There has to be a way to fix this issue without necessarily doubling the RAM in the phone

We know that the RAM has more bandwidth, but as for being more efficient, that would be talking about power consumption. What would need to be more efficient is the OS's use of RAM, which wouldn't make a difference between the 3GS' SoC or the A4. I believe the A4 also has more cache. The A4 is going to be able to load things to and from RAM quicker, which may make a difference.
 

modul8tr

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2002
229
44
What might be the various reasons for not including an additional 256? Other than the theory that it's JUST because they want you to buy a future model (which I don't entirely buy).


I'd imagine Apple finely tunes everything to run in a manner that exceeds their standards of quality for end user experience. They don't strike me as a company that throws things in just to say they're there. Everything has a purpose.


At the same time, when talking specifically about RAM, isn't more ALWAYS better? Clearly they're not asleep at the wheel, there has to be a reason. Is it that they just don't think it needs it?


Also, how are they able to get Safari to reload less or not at all (depending on what you're doing) in iOS4? Is it loading to flash?




If they are "holding back" more RAM as part of a strategy, then I'd imagine it would be for an iPhone that would feature a much larger leap speed wise, than the 3G to 3Gs. More powerful custom silicon (multicore?), more cache, refined software....the entire deal.


Are they trying to fine tune things to the degree that they can make greater leaps than the competition, with less hardware?
 

Florida Gator

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2004
233
79
What might be the various reasons for not including an additional 256? Other than the theory that it's JUST because they want you to buy a future model (which I don't entirely buy).


I'd imagine Apple finely tunes everything to run in a manner that exceeds their standards of quality for end user experience. They don't strike me as a company that throws things in just to say they're there. Everything has a purpose.


At the same time, when talking specifically about RAM, isn't more ALWAYS better? Clearly they're not asleep at the wheel, there has to be a reason. Is it that they just don't think it needs it?


Also, how are they able to get Safari to reload less or not at all (depending on what you're doing) in iOS4? Is it loading to flash?




If they are "holding back" more RAM as part of a strategy, then I'd imagine it would be for an iPhone that would feature a much larger leap speed wise, than the 3G to 3Gs. More powerful custom silicon (multicore?), more cache, refined software....the entire deal.


Are they trying to fine tune things to the degree that they can make greater leaps than the competition, with less hardware?


It is simple. They could have spent $3-4 more on each iPhone and doubled the RAM, and improved the user experience, but they decided that the experience with 256MB was good enough. Now if they plan to sell 10 million of these phones, that is an extra $40 million profit compared to phones with 512MB. Apple makes their money on margins.
 

Geckotek

macrumors G3
Jul 22, 2008
8,768
308
NYC
It is simple. They could have spent $3-4 more on each iPhone and doubled the RAM, and improved the user experience, but they decided that the experience with 256MB was good enough. Now if they plan to sell 10 million of these phones, that is an extra $40 million profit compared to phones with 512MB. Apple makes their money on margins.

Is that the difference in manfacturing a 512MB A4 chip vs a 256MB A4 chip or are you basing those numbers on RAM pricing?
 

Apple...

macrumors 68020
May 6, 2010
2,148
0
The United States
Pretty sure it's 512MB, but we'll have to wait until iFixit tears it apart to know for sure. As for processor speed, the iPhone 4's Apple A4 is clocked at 1GHz: "Consider that last year’s iPhone 3GS ran on an ARM Cortex A8 that clocked in at 600MHz; one year later, the Apple A4 processor is running at an even speedier 1GHz. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has already announced plans to release even faster processors, as it is slated to start shipping a 1.5GHz version of its Snapdragon processor series later this year that will be capable of supporting 1080p HD video applications on smartphones." - Macworld, What's in a smartphone processor? Increasingly a lot.
 

JoEw

macrumors 68000
Nov 29, 2009
1,583
1,291
i think it is still 256mb and the reason why they arnt making it 256 is because developers will get lazy and make apps that hog cpu! Apple has always been about what they can do with software not hardware.

Example mac osx runs better on 2gb of ram then windows on 2gb of ram because the mac osx manages cpu better.

This is classic apple and think logically why would they put 512 in there mobile device, but not in an iPad that they released 3 months ago?
 

vizkiz

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2008
875
0
Long Island, NY
It is simple. They could have spent $3-4 more on each iPhone and doubled the RAM, and improved the user experience, but they decided that the experience with 256MB was good enough. Now if they plan to sell 10 million of these phones, that is an extra $40 million profit compared to phones with 512MB. Apple makes their money on margins.

Apple doesn't make money by saving $4 per phone. Apple makes money by buying parts and building the phone for a total of probably about $350-400 and selling it for $600-700. Saving the $4 per phone is just a bonus.
 

Florida Gator

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2004
233
79
Is that the difference in manfacturing a 512MB A4 chip vs a 256MB A4 chip or are you basing those numbers on RAM pricing?

That is just the price difference between the 128MB RAM modules used in the A4 SoC and 256MB modules. With Apple's major investment in A4, modifying it probably increases the price, but I somehow doubt it would be much more per iPhone. Bottom line is they went with the solution that would make them the most money, they are a business.


i think it is still 256mb and the reason why they arnt making it 256 is because developers will get lazy and make apps that hog cpu! Apple has always been about what they can do with software not hardware.

Example mac osx runs better on 2gb of ram then windows on 2gb of ram because the mac osx manages cpu better.

This is classic apple and think logically why would they put 512 in there mobile device, but not in an iPad that they released 3 months ago?

OS X doesn't use RAM 200% as well as Windows does, and iOS doesn't use RAM 200% as well as Android does. Apple just figured they could do enough with 256MB of RAM for it to be adequate for most users. And by doing so, they get to keep an extra $40 million or so.

There isn't a chance they have 512MB of RAM in these things. They produced A4s in huge quantities to cut costs, and they are going to use them across their products: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and new Apple TVs. They aren't going to do custom versions for each device, because that would nullify the production efficiencies they have.

Look, we know the iPad uses a 256MB A4 and the iPhone probably does too. We also know that the leaked prototypes only had 256MB. Lastly, Apple hasn't said anything about it. iPhone 4 has 256MB of RAM.
 

Florida Gator

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2004
233
79
Apple doesn't make money by saving $4 per phone. Apple makes money by buying parts and building the phone for a total of probably about $350-400 and selling it for $600-700. Saving the $4 per phone is just a bonus.

Really, dude?

Do you really think I meant to say Apple is making most of their money from smaller RAM modules? RAM is a component in the overall build price, if they can keep building prices as low as possible by getting cheaper components (RAM, camera sensors, whatever) they will be able to achieve higher margins by selling iPhones to AT&T at $600 or whatever.
 

kas23

macrumors 603
Oct 28, 2007
5,629
288
This guy is claiming he emailed Steve Jobs and received a response confirming it has only 256MB of RAM.

http://yfrog.com/mwobhp

Note: it is quite possible, if not probable, that this reply is bogus.

Considering how this guy spells his name wrong (is it "Davide or "Devid"?) , I'm calling BS. But, I still think the iPhone 4 has 256 MB RAM.
 
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