50 cents a unit could be a $20-$50 million dollar decision? Have you ever made a decision worth that much? Unlikely... Dismissing it as not relevant is crazy talk.
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iPad 2 to Match iPhone 4's 512 MB of RAM?
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50 cents a unit could be a $20-$50 million dollar decision? Have you ever made a decision worth that much? Unlikely... Dismissing it as not relevant is crazy talk.
Has anyone mentioned this?
One of the big differences between what Apple's doing on the HW side and the other OEM's is the A4/A5's inclusion of RAM on the die. Everyone else picks and off-the-shelf CPU and adds off-the-shelf RAM. Apple's advantage is in integration and cost savings. The disadvantage is that they can't make a change on a dime.
This means that Apple has to plan well in advance to ship an iPad/iPhone iteration with a specific amount of RAM on-die. Then when they go to Samsung and order 30-40 million processors just for the iPad for the next year they better get it right. The iPhone 4's A4 already has 512 MB. Why would Apple take a step backward?
Moreover I'm not so sure about this assumption that the iPhone 5 will have 1 GB RAM. Why is that a given? The performance of the A5 should be plenty for the iPhone 5. A same spec A5 as the one in the iPad 2 (unlike the two A4 parts) would make a ton of sense from a cost standpoint. Just as Apple spent a year aligning iOS versions, it's probably doing the same for CPUs.
One of the big differences between what Apple's doing on the HW side and the other OEM's is the A4/A5's inclusion of RAM on the die. Everyone else picks and off-the-shelf CPU and adds off-the-shelf RAM. Apple's advantage is in integration and cost savings. The disadvantage is that they can't make a change on a dime.
This means that Apple has to plan well in advance to ship an iPad/iPhone iteration with a specific amount of RAM on-die. Then when they go to Samsung and order 30-40 million processors just for the iPad for the next year they better get it right. The iPhone 4's A4 already has 512 MB. Why would Apple take a step backward?
Moreover I'm not so sure about this assumption that the iPhone 5 will have 1 GB RAM. Why is that a given? The performance of the A5 should be plenty for the iPhone 5. A same spec A5 as the one in the iPad 2 (unlike the two A4 parts) would make a ton of sense from a cost standpoint. Just as Apple spent a year aligning iOS versions, it's probably doing the same for CPUs.
Who are you with your sensible facts? Don't you know this forums lives on how people feel and guess without any real knowledge. This forum rather supports Gizmodo on their vengeful assessments on Apple products than listens to your factual reasonings.
I find it ridiculous that we have to wait until some repair company has to dismantle the darn thing next Friday, over a week past it's announcement, to find out how much RAM it has and what megapixel the cameras are....
People have a right to know what they are buying.
Yes, this should be known before buying. Sad that Apple support does not even know the device has RAM. 100% FUD.
Where can you buy Hummingbirds/Snapdragons "off the shelf"?
And you think it's Apple's idea to put everything on the same chip?
As in System-on-a-Chip? Whoa...
I always found the classic Mac OS to be quite unreliable. System 7.6 was prob the worse. Things got better by OS 9 but it still crashed and ran slow quite a lot. It was very anoying when force quitting applications would make the whole mac crash
agreed. plus, i think 512 will be enough.
on the side, who is the android guy? owner, or whatever, the steve jobs of android and motorola? need it for something you'll get to see.
Should I have used quotes?
For integrators CPUs are basically off-the-shelf. Call up chip manufacturer, order engineering samples or a tray. No big deal.
Apple's obviously not the first to create SoC's. They are unique in including the RAM, an approach that is often used for embedded purposes. What's the point of being an ARM licensee if they can't integrate the way they want?
Quick correction: Apple uses PoP (package on package), not on die (single package).
Where can you buy Hummingbirds/Snapdragons "off the shelf"?
And you think it's Apple's idea to put everything on the same chip?
As in System-on-a-Chip? Whoa...
For integrators CPUs are basically off-the-shelf. Call up chip manufacturer, order engineering samples or a tray. No big deal.
Apple's obviously not the first to create SoC's. They are unique in including the RAM, an approach that is often used for embedded purposes. What's the point of being an ARM licensee if they can't integrate the way they want?
Quick correction: Apple uses PoP (package on package), not on die (single package).
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to my previous post, doesn't matter, went with Sanjay Jha
This totally motivated me.
http://i892.photobucket.com/albums/ac121/TUMPECCET/steve2.jpg
Can you do one of Steve Jobs being buried by 300k Android phones please?
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simple as 1,2,3
Most probably it will be 512mb, and everyone knows it's not enough.
Yeah, yeah, user experience... numbers... speed&cost are the only thing that matters, blah blah blah.
As soon as Ios5 will be out, the ipad 2 will be crying for more memory, and guess what... you'll have to buy the ipad 3. And so it goes. It's all made to create a dependable user that has to re buy the same device over and over again just to be on par with the os.
Android? Fragmentation? Of course. But the devs create apps that automatically adapt themselves to the screen real estate of every tablet.
So: no 2x magnification and a faster evolutionary path of android tablets.
Let me explain, If tomorrow a chinese hardware maker comes out with a "retina" display android tablet, most of the app in the android market will be already available in this resolution, without any 2x, 2.5x magnification.
In a couple of year Apple will have lost the advantage, too many powerful hardware rivals are coming down the tablet road. And android is the only os that can keep up the pace.
It reminds me of the win/macos battle.
Most probably it will be 512mb, and everyone knows it's not enough.
Yeah, yeah, user experience... numbers... speed&cost are the only thing that matters, blah blah blah.
As soon as Ios5 will be out, the ipad 2 will be crying for more memory, and guess what... you'll have to buy the ipad 3. And so it goes. It's all made to create a dependable user that has to re buy the same device over and over again just to be on par with the os.
Android? Fragmentation? Of course. But the devs create apps that automatically adapt themselves to the screen real estate of every tablet.
So: no 2x magnification and a faster evolutionary path of android tablets.
Let me explain, If tomorrow a chinese hardware maker comes out with a "retina" display android tablet, most of the app in the android market will be already available in this resolution, without any 2x, 2.5x magnification.
In a couple of year Apple will have lost the advantage, too many powerful hardware rivals are coming down the tablet road. And android is the only os that can keep up the pace.
It reminds me of the win/macos battle.
Three of them showed up at work here already whereas I haven't seen three people with iPads yet. Whats going to decide which gets precedence in the work place is availability of applications. With Apple trying to iron fist require distribution through their facilities it could end up handing the real business world market to Android
I haven't read all of the comments on this topic so someone might have covered this already.
Not taking any graphics claims into account, Apple's claim that the new A5 processor is up to 2 times faster than the previous A4.
This doesn't sound quite right to me. Given that the cortex A9 is an improved architecture you would have thought that a dual core A9 plus the improved memory speed of LPDDR2 v LPDDR would far exceed 2 times faster than the previous A4 chip.
I have a theory and I hope I'm wrong. What if the A5 processor only has a single cortex A9 core and a dual core SGX543 graphics processor. Could you still call it a dual core processor.
At the end of Steve's keynote speech he went to great lengths to say that it's not about the MHz race anymore it's about the usability and the software. To me he is trying to deflect any potential criticism of the hardware specs.
Hope I'm wrong or Apple will be in for tough time with tech press.
Not taking any graphics claims into account, Apple's claim that the new A5 processor is up to 2 times faster than the previous A4.
This doesn't sound quite right to me. Given that the cortex A9 is an improved architecture you would have thought that a dual core A9 plus the improved memory speed of LPDDR2 v LPDDR would far exceed 2 times faster than the previous A4 chip.
I have a theory and I hope I'm wrong. What if the A5 processor only has a single cortex A9 core and a dual core SGX543 graphics processor. Could you still call it a dual core processor.
At the end of Steve's keynote speech he went to great lengths to say that it's not about the MHz race anymore it's about the usability and the software. To me he is trying to deflect any potential criticism of the hardware specs.
Hope I'm wrong or Apple will be in for tough time with tech press.
Such a shame that the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch are totally crap when it comes to internet browsing because of the lack of flash which alot of websites still use. I only use my iPod Touch and iPad for just checking emails and forums and for the fantastic apps and I use my MacBook Pro, iMac and Dell mini 10v for proper internet browsing. In saying all that the iPad and iPod Touch is absolutely brilliant for apps which no other gadget can compete with.
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To a degree, this wouldn't even be new news. This was often an actual apple asset (among assets of others) in which simple numbers of specific hardware didn't really tell the story of the usability of the product. Especially when the OS is completely different between them.
For example. Even years ago, when the Amiga came on the scene. The PCs, with some higher quoted hardware speed numbers ran general tasks much slower and their usability was nowhere near. Apple also trumped their performance while PCs were struggling with a very bloated OS that required way higher CPU speeds to perform the same stuff.
To a degree, this is no more than the same old song as before. A believable one considering how often that was the truth for some time. He's touting the advantage of being both the software and the hardware manufacturer. That you have the capability to write an OS so streamlined and married to the hardware specifics that creates a great overall experience that a less-optimized (one size fits all) operating system tries to do thrown at arbitrary hardware.
The Galaxy featured in Best Buy was a prime example. Had some neat numbers to go with it, but using it was extremely laggy and slow in comparison. So even with the attractive hardware specs, it managed to feel like a cheap iPad knockoff.
At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona I was struck by how 'feature-led' the marketing was from the main competitors.. . It was the old paradigm of tell them there is 1gb of ram (as a pertinent example here) and they will come, irrespective of how positive the overall user experience was. To a large extent car-buying is the same, though thankfully that is beginning to change as people focus more on comfort, fuel-saving and reliability....
Jobs has stated the iPad is a 'post-pc' product where the focus is NOT on the specs of the thing but on the user experience. If you pick it up and it feels 'right' in your hand, if you turn it on and move around the environment and everything is smooth, elegant and fast, if the range of apps are stunning, if the display is gorgeous, if it 'just works' then the iPad has served its purpose admirably.
Personally as soon as that mother is available, if after checking it in person it satisfies the criteria mentioned I'm buying one and look forward to adding it my iPad 1 which my family currently thoroughly enjoy...
Vanilla
Jobs has stated the iPad is a 'post-pc' product where the focus is NOT on the specs of the thing but on the user experience. If you pick it up and it feels 'right' in your hand, if you turn it on and move around the environment and everything is smooth, elegant and fast, if the range of apps are stunning, if the display is gorgeous, if it 'just works' then the iPad has served its purpose admirably.
Personally as soon as that mother is available, if after checking it in person it satisfies the criteria mentioned I'm buying one and look forward to adding it my iPad 1 which my family currently thoroughly enjoy...
Vanilla
Look, there's no way in hell the iPad 2 has 256Mb of RAM- common sense dictates this. It won't have 1/2 the RAM of the iPhone 4 released almost a year ago. It's either gonna be 512 or 1GB, and I'd lean towards the former.Would this seriously impact anyone's purchasing decision? Idiotic thread.
On another note, my 1GHZ ARM based iPad with 256MB of RAM often 'feels' zippier than my 2.5Ghz Core i5 with 4GB RAM- we're talking difference universes of power here. Speed isn't linear with hardware increases, it depends on the software environment.
On another note, my 1GHZ ARM based iPad with 256MB of RAM often 'feels' zippier than my 2.5Ghz Core i5 with 4GB RAM- we're talking difference universes of power here. Speed isn't linear with hardware increases, it depends on the software environment.
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512mb enough for me
I have a 3gs which I find sometimes irritates me because its RAM is all being used up. I don't think 1GB is really required in a tablet though. Considering My G3 Imac runs a desktop OS with 512mb RAM and safari just fine (although it REALLY doesn't do flash lol)... I am not convinced mobile devices even need it? What does the PS3 or Xbox 360 have anyway?
I have a 3gs which I find sometimes irritates me because its RAM is all being used up. I don't think 1GB is really required in a tablet though. Considering My G3 Imac runs a desktop OS with 512mb RAM and safari just fine (although it REALLY doesn't do flash lol)... I am not convinced mobile devices even need it? What does the PS3 or Xbox 360 have anyway?
Could you suggest a better system, just out of curiosity? Ramdom widgets covering half the screen? Yes, I agree the lockscreen should be revamped, but I have trouble seeing whats so bad about the homescreen, as I can't think of a better app launching paradigm. People get it, it makes sense, and it works.
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I hate conspiracies but with rumor that this iPad is an 'in between' model and the fact that Apple want us to buy as much as possible, couldn't it all be intentional?
I mean, maybe Apple wants us to upgrade to the next iPad when al the new cool futures come out with a new iOs...