iPad 2 and iPhone 5 to Sport a Dual-Core GPU?

[MRU]

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I'm very happy about the retina display. After the iPhone 4, the iPad screen seems pixelated.

My biggest complaint is the RAM. I hope it goes 1G. I really dislike the screen refreshes in safari.

Well these latest rumors seem to indicate they are throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the iPad 2, so we can postulate that 1gb will make it too...


However I am now growing skeptical of these rumors for one reason. Such a dramatic boost in every area whilst outdoing the competition means that the iPad 2 would be good tech wise for years..... Where would that leave iPad 3 in 14 months time?

 

[acslater017]

Cool! I can watch movies in 1/4 the time it takes to watch in conventional real-time!

Just add some Benny Hill music and it'll be entertaining!

 

[PlipPlop]

Might give the tegra 2 a run for its money.

 

[smiddlehurst]

Can someone give me practical examples of what a dual core processor in a PHONE will accomplish? The iPad, I can somewhat understand, but not a phone.

I'll have a go at that. Three main benefits spring to mind (there may be more):

1) Battery life. In theory at least dual core chips can be considerably more power efficient. This depends somewhat on good multi-threading from the OS and applications but by running threads in parallel you can run each core at a much lower clock speed than you would a single core. This in turn reduces the power draw for that processor (and, again in theory, the same applies to the graphics card and OpenCL may mean that in certain circumstances you could actually have a quad core device).

2) Consistent performance. As multi-tasking becomes more popular it gets increasingly difficult to ensure a smooth response from the core OS in all circumstances if you've only got a single core to play with. A dual core could (and this is a horrible over-simplification) effectively reserve one core for the basic OS functions.

3) This is gonna sound a bit insulting and it's really not meant to be but gaming will make use of this. We've already seen stuff like Infinity Blade produce stunning results on relatively modest hardware, imagine what they could do with a nice big jump in resoures. That said I'm not convinced that IF the spec is right (and that's a big IF) it means the iPhone will get both a dual core CPU and dual core GPU. If the second GPU core is only really required to power a high resolution iPad screen I could see Apple dropping to a single core on the smaller devices.

Noooo! PLEASE. I'd sacrifice dual-core for battery life any day!

Again, see above, dual-core isn't necessarily going to have a negative effect on battery life. All comes down to how well the OS can make use of those cores and how far back the clock speed can be throttled. Considering Apple seem to have done a fair bit of work in this area already I can see it actually being a good thing in the long run.

 

[k995]

Well, since the iPad has more graphics grunt than a Wii, 4x the graphics grunt will be exceeding the 360/PS3's horsepower (which use essentially a dumbed down GeForce 8600 chip). This is entirely feasible.

Not really SGX543 isnt all that faster then SGX535 even with 2 you are looking at wii performance levels, you would need 8 (SGX543MP8) wich is going to be used in the psp2 .

Its feasible but unlikely .

 

[k995]

I'm getting really tired of these weak attempts at humor.
We didn't jump on V1 because it lacked a VERY BASIC feature that every $200 netboook has, A WEBCAM. This was a complete deal breaker for a lot of us. The screen is horrid compared to the iPhone 4, I hate to even look at it in the store now.

The screen is fine, got an ipod touch 4g with "retina" display and an ipad.

Difference is you dont have the ipad screen as close as an ipod/iphone so the resolution is fine.

Webcam doesnt matter to me but would be nice.

Ipad desperatly needs more ram, 512 minimum, 1GB would be ideal.

What I mainly find it lacking is OS wise, needing to jailbreak toget some basic functionalty is just plain stupid.

Have you seen a Retina display? Have you looked at magazines on it? It's the difference between looking at a pixelated computer screen and looking at a real magazine.

No its not, been using both every day, and I vastly prefer the larger ipad screen over the higher DPI .

A that vastly higher resolution is going to bring a boatload of issues, dont know if apple can tackle them all at once.

 

[MattInOz]

Check this out

http://tinyurl.com/6drouvt a 4.8 inch display @ 1920 x 1080

http://www.ortustech.co.jp/english/news/20101026.html

If the above screen is capable of the stated 1920 x 1080 then i can see a larger screen being able to reach 2048x1536

That is sweet.
Nice wide viewing angle, low power good sunlight readability.
What is the cost on those bad boys?

That 4.8inch would make a great iPodTouchPro.

 

[sjo]

If we assume that the ipad2 display has 4x the pixels of ipad1, how much more powerful the gpu should be to keep the perceived performance the same? 4x?

 

[Steve121178]

Android who? What's a Motorola?

Android is the market leader. That's who Android is.

 

[Northgrove]

If we assume that the ipad2 display has 4x the pixels of ipad1, how much more powerful the gpu should be to keep the perceived performance the same? 4x?

I'm not sure either. The only thing I know is that drawing pixels is only one of many things a GPU is busy doing, so it may not need a full 4x improvement?

 

[Saladinos]

Though I wonder if Apple might create a split across the lineup with different resolution screens...

Mate, screen resolution is the least divisive upgrade. This thing is sounding like four iPads bolted together.

Is anybody else a little peeved that Apple is planning a massive upgrade with 4x the horsepower, 4x the pixels, thinner and lighter, front and back cameras and all that whizz, just 12 months after the first one? I can deal with obsolescence, but I really think Apple should offer early adopters a discount at least on the new model.

It's almost like the iPad isn't an iPad. Maybe they should rename it and call this one 'the real iPad'.

 

[digitard]

Android is the market leader. That's who Android is.

Let's be honest though, and I honestly never even thought about it until I kept seeing articles on it once the iPhone on Verizon was confirmed.

How long do you think that'll last once the CDMA iPhone is released? I'm guessing when they do Q1 2011 checks it'll go back to the iPhone.

A large amount of that lead is due to Verizon pushing it so heavily, but many polled have even responded they got it because they didn't want to leave Verizon and they didn't have the iPhone.

While Android isn't going anywhere, and will still be bigger than RIM for sure... I think the poll is going to swing back in Q1 2011.

This is coming from an Android user (rooted, overclocked, custom ROM, updated Kernel, etc) who is fairly happy w/ Android. Just being honest. There's a reason why the iphone was so closely behind even though it was available on a single carrier (unless unlocked) in the US. Now that the two largest carriers will have it you're going to see a huge swing back.

 

[Steve121178]

Now that the two largest carriers will have it you're going to see a huge swing back.

Very unlikely. There's a gazillion Android devices on the market, then add all the high-end phones on show at CES and all the ones that will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress, it's an unstoppable juggernaut. Plus Android is filtering down to budget handsets now.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=11681364&#post11681364

Interesting to see RIM's share tumbling. Hardly a surprise though...

 

[gifaffe]

It seems Android is taking over the world, and I guess the price difference between Iphones and Android has something to do with it

 

[MRU]

Not really SGX543 isnt all that faster then SGX535 even with 2 you are looking at wii performance levels, you would need 8 (SGX543MP8) wich is going to be used in the psp2 .

Its feasible but unlikely .

Someones buying into the Sony hyperbole already.... Remember emotion engine, remember how cells spu's would trounce the competition?
Remember dual hdmi, remember dual 1080p gaming, remember 'FULL HD' compared to the competition...

I remember all the empty promises.....

 

[stylinexpat]

I hope the front facing camera that may come with the new Ipad will be better than the front facing camera on the current Iphone 4. The current resolution and quality of the front facing camera on the Iphone 4 is quite bad for Skype video calls. Hopefully this issue is addressed in the new front facing cameras on the new Ipads instead of just carrying over the same shabby front facing camera from the Iphone 4 to the new Ipad. The standard camera on the other hand is quite nice

 

[Steve121178]

It seems Android is taking over the world, and I guess the price difference between Iphones and Android has something to do with it

And a better choice of phones, networks, contracts etc.

 

[k995]

Someones buying into the Sony hyperbole already.... Remember emotion engine, remember how cells spu's would trounce the competition?
Remember dual hdmi, remember dual 1080p gaming, remember 'FULL HD' compared to the competition...

I remember all the empty promises.....

Nope, I look at the facts like fill rate or sample rate , wich ultimatly shows the power a device has.

 

[Thomas Harte]

I'm not sure either. The only thing I know is that drawing pixels is only one of many things a GPU is busy doing, so it may not need a full 4x improvement?

All other things being equal, to draw the same geometry at four times the size you need four times the fill rate and four times the memory write bandwidth. Assuming all source textures are also four times as large, you also need four times the read bandwidth. However, if you have the same source textures — as you might in a game — then caching becomes a lot easier relative to the quantity of pixels out, so the four times rubric doesn't necessarily always apply.

I also think the title of the story is potentially misleading. Based on common practice, empirical performance and PowerVR's marketing speak about their Universal Scalable Shader Engine (and its sequel in the newer chips), the existing chips are already highly parallel. In this case 'dual core' probably means that Apple are considering getting a performance boost by packaging two instances of the GPU together.

OpenGL is already highly predicated on providing work to be performed in parallel, so this would be an immediate benefit much above and beyond a dual core CPU.

 

[musorah]

This is coming from an Android user (rooted, overclocked, custom ROM, updated Kernel, etc) who is fairly happy w/ Android.

You are Android's market target. You care about the device and the way it works and are someone who will work it to the edge of its capabilities. If it doesn't support the next version of the operating system you'll work at it to find a way to make it work.

Someone who wants to be able to plug their phone in, sync contacts and pictures to it, buy some games and listen to some music is the Apple market target. They make phone calls, listen to music, check E-mail, may surf the web or play a simple game. They most likely won't have the slightest idea what rooted, overclocked, custom ROM or updated kernel mean, or if they do know what they mean, they aren't concerned about it for that device.

There are still people buying mobile phones who just want them to be, well, phones that are mobile.

Apple builds and sells "white goods". You don't find many custom ROM, overclocked washing machines or tumble dryers.

 

[BrotherBeagle]

i'd be so disappointed if they release a pro version and a regular version of ipad 2. that would make the pro version pretty close to a grand in price. F that.

but honestly i don't think that will happen. digitimes reported three different versions of the ipad 2 that were being built: a CDMA, GSM and wifi.

here's hoping for no "pro" models.

It'll be called the MacPad Air. Expect it announced around summer, with the release of Lion -- which will offer a hybrid iOS/OS X client version. Also expect Xcode to make its debut on Windows (think Openstep Enterprise on top of NT4).

Welcome to the future.

 

[patent10021]

Looks like I'll be happily losing money on my new iP4 and buying an iP5 ...and iPad2 at the same time

 

[G5isAlive]

True that.

The current iPad was just Apple trying to get people into the pool. Now thanks to the millions who did, v2 owners will have something really nice.

V1 is not so shabby either...apple hit a home run with it and to those justifying waiting a year... What a great year you missed.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Apple has always touted all kind of extra hardware using the dock connector (remember the blood sugar measurement device that plugged into the dock connector?).
If you run a Mac you can already use the iPad as an external display (albeit via slow WiFi).

How about just streaming to AppleTV?

Also, I don't understand how there can be 7 judged negative posts.

What is there not to like if all that is true?

 

[WLS]

Well these latest rumors seem to indicate they are throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the iPad 2, so we can postulate that 1gb will make it too...


However I am now growing skeptical of these rumors for one reason. Such a dramatic boost in every area whilst outdoing the competition means that the iPad 2 would be good tech wise for years..... Where would that leave iPad 3 in 14 months time?

Me too, not all these rumors can be true. It's interesting to read about it but curb your enthusiasm until they are proved at the presentation. One thing is a constant on the presentations and that is there is always less than what was rumored. As for what would be in an iPad3 to make it worth getting-- how bout 3D?