iPad 2 to Match iPhone 4's 512 MB of RAM?

[SactoGuy18]

I do think the iPad 2 will get 512 MB system RAM for these reasons:

1) Programs have to take full advantage of the 1024x768 resolution.
2) Apps specifically written for the iPad--especially the new magazine apps--tend to require a lot of sheer computing power, and having 512 MB of RAM would means these apps run more smoothly.

 

[gorgeousninja]

Sort of annoyed by these A4, A5 processors.. too much like the G3, G4, G5 ********. Love apple, hate their imaginary technology "retina display" "super drive" "face time" bull.

Do you realize quite how ridiculous your post come across? You don't like how they name their products! I mean really! Even you must be aware that every other manufacturer gives names to their products too. And how exactly is 'A5' so bad compared to say 'Snapdragon' or, '7560GTX' or 'Froyo' (WTF is a froyo by the why? It's likely another of the reasons why no-one yet buys android in Japan)?

The very fact that you are able to mention retina display, superdrive and facetime, shows exactly why they do name their products, and how good their marketing department is. No bull!

 

[JAT]

Visit site, get OS change completely lol. Was in ios 3 so took Apple ages to fix this very large security problem. Good God.

No, really. Repeating things that prove you lack basic knowledge doesn't prove your point, it proves you are lacking basic knowledge. "Rooting"....the key is right in the word.

I just joined this forum and I have read most of this thread. I am not a mac user as I think that they are overpriced. I have built all of my pc's myself and can choose what I want in them is far as hardware goes. I have dual booted apple os on several of them but gave up due to the lack of software, games, apps.

I tuned into the cnet coverage of the release and after it was over I checked the specs on the apple site. First thing I said was how much RAM? I was definitely underwhelmed.

Fanboys on here that say it's all about the experience and not specs have their heads in the sand.

"Fanboys"? Really? Already? I'm flabbergasted that you've ever bothered to touch an Apple product.

You are such a perfect example of a person who shops based on specs only, and doesn't give a **** whether the device works easily. How much time have you spent trying out different hardware, different drivers for the hardware, maybe even homespun drivers? Hours? Days? Weeks?

Example:
My new router is not applying access control like I want. (which is the purpose in buying it) I set it properly, it began control properly, and then stopped when I added more access policies. Now, individual website settings work, but broad access control doesn't. I ****ing hate that! I don't want to have to search the net for some dumbass little tweak or to find that firmware x.xxx has yyyyy problem, I just want the bloody thing to work with its basic functions as marketed. I'm ready to smash it into pieces. You, have fun building your own. Some of us don't like to do that, even if we're capable, that doesn't make us fanboys of a functioning system. It makes us interested in spending our time using technology, not fiddling with it.

 

[Count Blah]

I presume then you are still using the exact same phone from 5 years ago?
Plus I don't really get what your point is. Should Apple never upgrade their technology then?
If you watch the iPad2 demo it looks amazing.. really, what else do you want them to do...throw in a speedboat?!?
Apple are already on the second generation of a device which no other manufacturer has found a way to answer, and people here still find reason to moan. Why moan here? Why don't they moan at Motorola or Samsung or whichever company they would rather have, than the company that consistently leads the field?
The fact that you seem to have no problem with people whining and bitc*in at Apple without them even having used the product does not make you look wiser.

Five years? I don't think I asked for that. Three years is reasonable. I know that because of the RAM, iPad 1 users are not going to run the iOS after 4.3 And as others have already pointed out, and you ignore, they are having difficulties running with the current version. Having to restart your device often is what is required for reasonable usage. The only reason for that is the RAM.

What is wrong with saying I am not buying the iPad 2 because of the RAM? What is wrong with warning others to be careful, because of the RAM? What is wrong with constructively criticizing Apple, so they hopefully reevaluate their stance on putting the minimal amount of RAM in their devices?

Why should I moan to Motorola or Samsung when Apple is the one I see as doing something less than desirable?

You are pointing to a demo? I will admit 100% that the iPad 2 will work wonderfully for the next year or so. When iOS 4.4 or 5.0 comes out, it will quickly start showing it's age. All you will have to do, to realize this, is to listen to iPad 1 owners complaints when they experience loads of problems with iOS 4.3 New iPad 1 owners, one month ago, are going to experience degraded performance in iOS 4.3, solely because of the RAM. So because of the RAM, this "magical 5 years" you reference will be all of 1 year for a lot of iPad 1 users.

Keep your head buried in the sand, ignore people who detail their problems because of low amount of RAM, and look to the next week instead of a year out. I'm sure you will be happy being on the 1 year treadmill.

Maybe I'm just one of those 0.0001% who look to the ACTUAL specs, and apply that to the upcoming road map to see if I can get more than 1 or 1.5 years out of a $600 device. How silly of me.

I"m sitting out of this version. And I advice others who are thinking of jumping in, to figure out before purchasing, how long they want the device to last without degraded performance. I'm sure many of the recent iPad1 owners will realize this painful lesson once they upgrade to iOS 4.3

 

[fishmoose]

John Gruber said on The Talk Show he could feel and see the iPad 2 had more RAM than the iPad 1. Make of that what you will.

 

[Mikey7c8]

Five years? I don't think I asked for that. Three years is reasonable. I know that because of the RAM, iPad 1 users are not going to run the iOS after 4.3 And as others have already pointed out, and you ignore, they are having difficulties running with the current version. Having to restart your device often is what is required for reasonable usage. The only reason for that is the RAM.

Actually, the reason for that is ****** memory management an inability to swap to disk (which is by design, but that doesn't mean it has to be that way in the dated models)

 

[Count Blah]

Actually, the reason for that is ****** memory management an inability to swap to disk (which is by design, but that doesn't mean it has to be that way in the dated models)

And how soon is that to be fixed? The OS can be tightened up. The Apps? not so much. So sure, knowing that the RAM is the issue for a lot of folks, the most "reasonable" thing is to put the minimum amount of RAM in there, so the folks have to buy a new iPad very soon, right?

Again, the folks who bought the iPad 1 in February are going to get, maybe, a years worth use before the experience is degraded horribly. That is a FAR cry from the "five years" people are trying to put in my mouth.

 

[caf9128]

And how soon is that to be fixed? The OS can be tightened up. The Apps? not so much. So sure, knowing that the RAM is the issue for a lot of folks, the most "reasonable" thing is to put the minimum amount of RAM in there, so the folks have to buy a new iPad very soon, right?

Again, the folks who bought the iPad 1 in February are going to get, maybe, a years worth use before the experience is degraded horribly. That is a FAR cry from the "five years" people are trying to put in my mouth.

No, I think you're quite right. Apple seems to be forever cheap on putting in RAM on all their products. Whether you think that's a form of planned obsolescence, or just pinching pennies is up to you.

The simple fact is that the RAM can't be upgraded, and putting an adequate amount of RAM in now would not be very expensive on a manufacturer's level.

 

[TroyBoy30]

According to this, if it's true this will have 512mb LPDDR2 RAM at 1066 MHz which is all better compared to 256 LPDDR1 at 800 MHz the ipad 1 had.
http://iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=14140

*
512 works for me. I'll upgrade next year anyway

 

[Count Blah]

No, I think you're quite right. Apple seems to be forever cheap on putting in RAM on all their products. Whether you think that's a form of planned obsolescence, or just pinching pennies is up to you.

The simple fact is that the RAM can't be upgraded, and putting an adequate amount of RAM in now would not be very expensive on a manufacturer's level.

It is an expense that needs to be taken into consideration. But on a $500 product, where Apple typically is in the 25-30% margin range, I think an extra couple of bucks would not kill them. We'll see competitors with 2Gigs of RAM before the iPad 3 gets released.

Planned obsolescence does seem to be a motivating factor, IMHO.

 

[firewood]

... putting an adequate amount of RAM in now would not be very expensive on a manufacturer's level.

Putting a larger amount of RAM would be hugely expensive in terms of battery weight and thickness to get the same battery life. DRAM refresh is one of the biggest killers of battery life... especially standby battery life.

 

[notabadname]

I love all the "desktop engineers" on this site. It would "cost Apple nothing to install larger RAM" in The iPad 2, and other similar quotes about RAM, displays, additional ports, case design, etc. You all would have far more influence if you used your internal connections within Apple to get these changes made to the iPad 2 instead of MR. And I say "internal", because, with some of the "stated as fact" comments people make here, they should have no problem gaining immediate employment at Apple. Get those Apps and resume's out there people

 

[cmaier]

Sort of annoyed by these A4, A5 processors.. too much like the G3, G4, G5 ********. Love apple, hate their imaginary technology "retina display" "super drive" "face time" bull.

Um. So naming a processor with a single letter followed by a version number is somehow offensive to you? Would you prefer made-up words like "Opteron" or "Pentium?" Or wordy nonsense like "Core 2 Duo?"

Does Intel offend you with i3, i5, and i7?

 

[itsmemuffins]

It amazes me the amount of people going on about the ram in the ipad 2 with out having even used it, the fact that the user experiance will degarde after one upgrade to the OS.

That the Android devices will smoke it because they have more ram and that the same android tablets will co tinue to be usable after subsequent updates.

All this whilst forgeting the very fact that you will be lucky to get even one upgrade on an Android.

 

[twcbc]

Putting a larger amount of RAM would be hugely expensive in terms of battery weight and thickness to get the same battery life. DRAM refresh is one of the biggest killers of battery life... especially standby battery life.

This makes sense. But how many extra power consumption will be cost if Apple add another 256MB in iPad2?

 

[twcbc]

Ok, I find some number about DRAM refresh. A low-power 1Gbit(256MByte) DDR2 from Samsung will take 6mA for self-refresh. Means a 256MB DDR2 will consume 9.3mW(6mA*1.55V) in self-refreshing. Another 256MB for iPAD2 will reduce standby battery life by 1.35 second. Not a biggest killer of battery life for me.

 

[firewood]

Ok, I find some number about DRAM refresh. A low-power 1Gbit(256MByte) DDR2 from Samsung will take 6mA for self-refresh. Means a 256MB DDR2 will consume 9.3mW(6mA*1.55V) in self-refreshing. Another 256MB for iPAD2 will reduce standby battery life by 1.35 second. Not a biggest killer of battery life for me.

25% less battery life isn't a big killer for you? And 1GB would then be 75% less battery life. May not bother you, but that would clearly be a problem for a lot of people.

 

[iEdd]

^ What? The iPad only has 6 seconds of battery life, and that's only in standby? How do they sell these things?

 

[twcbc]

25% less battery life isn't a big killer for you? And 1GB would then be 75% less battery life. May not bother you, but that would clearly be a problem for a lot of people.

Where does your "25% less" come from? iPad had a 24.8W battery, compared to extra 9.3mW(self-refresh) take by a 256MB memory chip. It only reduced 1.25 seconds battery life.

 

[jacobj]

What part of

"Twice as Fast"

and

"Nine times better graphics performance"

is 99.9999% of the End-User market for the iPad2, NOT GETTING???

The part that has noticed no speed issues with the current iPad, but has seen the pitfalls of having less RAM! I stream iPlayer content in the UK and my internet connection is sporadic. Therefore at some moments my internet connection will provide content at 2 to 3 times the speed of the playback and at other times I can barely get it to load a 5 second clip in 5 minutes.

Because the RAM is so low I seem to never have built a buffer of content. Now if that's not RAM related I am happy to be educated, but if it is, then 512MB would be acceptable, 1GB would be preferred.

256MB is OK for R1, but R2, when the iPhone already has more: that's unforgivable and I hope the rumours of the same old spec are false.

 

[cmaier]

25% less battery life isn't a big killer for you? And 1GB would then be 75% less battery life. May not bother you, but that would clearly be a problem for a lot of people.

I don't think math works like you think it does.

 

[firewood]

Where does your "25% less" come from? iPad had a 24.8W battery, compared to extra 9.3mW(self-refresh) take by a 256MB memory chip. It only reduced 1.25 seconds battery life.

Reduce it by 1.25 seconds every 5 seconds? Yes. Of course.

And you left out a unit. Hours. There are 720 of them in a 30 day standby battery life spec.

 

[cmaier]

Reduce it by 1.25 seconds every 5 seconds? Yes. Of course.

And you left out a unit. Hours. There are 720 of them in a 30 day standby battery life spec.

Huh? Where'd you get 5 seconds? And the DRAM refresh is obviously not responsible for 1/5 the power consumption of the iPad.

 

[firewood]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

So how many mW do you think you could draw and still last 720 hours?

 

[Eolian]

Example:
My new router is not applying access control like I want. (which is the purpose in buying it) I set it properly, it began control properly, and then stopped when I added more access policies. Now, individual website settings work, but broad access control doesn't. I ****ing hate that! I don't want to have to search the net for some dumbass little tweak or to find that firmware x.xxx has yyyyy problem, I just want the bloody thing to work with its basic functions as marketed [bold = mine]. I'm ready to smash it into pieces. You, have fun building your own. Some of us don't like to do that, even if we're capable, that doesn't make us fanboys of a functioning system. It makes us interested in spending our time using technology, not fiddling with it.

Shoulda bought an Apple