iPad 3 spec's in next iPhone 5?

[daleski75]

I was having quite a long conversation with a friend about this last night and concluded some interesting thoughts on this subject.

For one when the iPad X comes out the specifications are nigh on identical for that of the upcoming iPhone X (aside from wireless 5ghz, more ram inside iPhone 4) and this has been the way since the first iPad came out.

Now this was ok as the iPhone X would come out not long after the iPad (around June-July) so the specifications would still be class leading and ahead of most of the competition.

Fast forward to now and the gap has widened considerably (Mar iPad to Oct iPhone) so the next iPhone X after the iPad X could be well let's say not out of date but not able to compete with the then quad core android phones or dual core A15 ones specially if it ends up being an over clocked Arm A9 A5.

So does Apple do the following?

1. Release a dual core iPad 3 and then have the iPhone 5 as dual core way off in October when quad A9's and Dual core A15's Android phones rule the roost?

2. Release a dual core iPad 3 and then the iPhone 5 gets the specification for the next iPad (quad core A9, Dual Core A15) etc?

3. Release a quad core A9 based iPad 3 which would still mean the iPhone 5 when released will be competitive in October?

4. Release a A15 based iPad 3 which will mean the cycle of whatever is in the iPad is in the next iPhone continues?

For me this rules out the dual core if the iPhone 5 is to follow the same specifications as the iPad 3 as if it did it would simply not be competitive in October and Apple would never want that to happen and as the iPhone 5 is still a way off and technology moves at such a fast pace a dual core iPhone 5 will simply not cut it.

Just my 2 cents and what are your thoughts?

 

[throAU]

I'm not sure the need is there for quad core in a phone just yet.

Apple have always been fairly pragmatic regarding hardware, and haven't just stuffed bits in to fill out a spec sheet without any real world benefit.

Android vs iOS is an interesting comparison, because iOS runs a lot more native code, and can get better performance on lesser hardware.

I reckon it would be a real coup for Apple to have an iPhone that performs as well as or better than the android alternatives whilst consuming a lot less power due to having cheaper, less power hungry hardware. It will cost less to make and get better battery life.


I see for the iPhone 5:
- ram upgrade
- battery life upgrade (via more efficient / smaller manufacturing process dual core CPU)
- LTE/4G
- software updates
- maybe a built-in projector?

The 4-s hardware-wise is powerful enough IMHO - the focus should be on getting better battery life and more RAM/flash - those are my 2 real world issues with the iPhone 4-S as it stands. Performance is more than adequate, but i do have the odd application crash, i'm guessing (well actually no, i've seen the crash logs with the developer kit) due to lack of memory.


I guess what i'm saying is that I think the iPhone and iPad lines are going to diverge a bit from this point forward. There's simply limited use for more powerful hardware in an iPhone just yet - but a retina display iPad may be a different matter.

 

[Abazigal]

I agree. The majority of people I know still use their iphones for fairly mundane everyday tasks such as checking of email, surfing of net, listening to music, youtubing and the like, hardly stuff that require a ton of memory or lightning-quick internet access. Only a small handful bother with more intensive stuff like remotely accessing their home imacs.

LTE infrastructure is practically non-existent in my country, but I suppose including it could be seen as future-proofing should my telco decide to roll it out in the near future.

If anything, the crummy 3G network is the bottleneck, rather than my phone's specs...

For me, I would be more interested in software upgrades which make it even easier to use, such as more seamless transition between apps (maybe a flick of the finger could bring up a bar showing your most recent apps, rather than having to tap the home button twice), easier copy+paste capability, ability to edit documents in dropbox without having to jump through hoops, limited multitasking features etc. These limitations are my current bugbears, rather than any perceived anemic hardware specs.

 

[daleski75]

I'm not sure the need is there for quad core in a phone just yet.

Apple have always been fairly pragmatic regarding hardware, and haven't just stuffed bits in to fill out a spec sheet without any real world benefit.

Android vs iOS is an interesting comparison, because iOS runs a lot more native code, and can get better performance on lesser hardware.

I reckon it would be a real coup for Apple to have an iPhone that performs as well as or better than the android alternatives whilst consuming a lot less power due to having cheaper, less power hungry hardware. It will cost less to make and get better battery life.


I see for the iPhone 5:
- ram upgrade
- battery life upgrade (via more efficient / smaller manufacturing process dual core CPU)
- LTE/4G
- software updates
- maybe a built-in projector?

The 4-s hardware-wise is powerful enough IMHO - the focus should be on getting better battery life and more RAM/flash - those are my 2 real world issues with the iPhone 4-S as it stands. Performance is more than adequate, but i do have the odd application crash, i'm guessing (well actually no, i've seen the crash logs with the developer kit) due to lack of memory.


I guess what i'm saying is that I think the iPhone and iPad lines are going to diverge a bit from this point forward. There's simply limited use for more powerful hardware in an iPhone just yet - but a retina display iPad may be a different matter.

People won't buy a new iPad 3 or iPhone 5 if the hardware is nigh on identical to the previous generations with a few software tweaks.

Better battery life and more flash memory is a given anyway however to leave the CPU/GPU the same would be a very foolish decision by any company let alone Apple.

Consumers will always want bigger, better, faster.

----------

I agree. The majority of people I know still use their iphones for fairly mundane everyday tasks such as checking of email, surfing of net, listening to music, youtubing and the like, hardly stuff that require a ton of memory or lightning-quick internet access. Only a small handful bother with more intensive stuff like remotely accessing their home imacs.

LTE infrastructure is practically non-existent in my country, but I suppose including it could be seen as future-proofing should my telco decide to roll it out in the near future.

If anything, the crummy 3G network is the bottleneck, rather than my phone's specs...

For me, I would be more interested in software upgrades which make it even easier to use, such as more seamless transition between apps (maybe a flick of the finger could bring up a bar showing your most recent apps, rather than having to tap the home button twice), easier copy+paste capability, ability to edit documents in dropbox without having to jump through hoops, limited multitasking features etc. These limitations are my current bugbears, rather than any perceived anemic hardware specs.

Software upgrades without any new hardware upgrades is NOT going to happen and maybe one day they will do what you are after.

 

[erawsd]

I was having quite a long conversation with a friend about this last night and concluded some interesting thoughts on this subject.

For one when the iPad X comes out the specifications are nigh on identical for that of the upcoming iPhone X (aside from wireless 5ghz, more ram inside iPhone 4) and this has been the way since the first iPad came out.

Now this was ok as the iPhone X would come out not long after the iPad (around June-July) so the specifications would still be class leading and ahead of most of the competition.

Fast forward to now and the gap has widened considerably (Mar iPad to Oct iPhone) so the next iPhone X after the iPad X could be well let's say not out of date but not able to compete with the then quad core android phones or dual core A15 ones specially if it ends up being an over clocked Arm A9 A5.

So does Apple do the following?

1. Release a dual core iPad 3 and then have the iPhone 5 as dual core way off in October when quad A9's and Dual core A15's Android phones rule the roost?

2. Release a dual core iPad 3 and then the iPhone 5 gets the specification for the next iPad (quad core A9, Dual Core A15) etc?

3. Release a quad core A9 based iPad 3 which would still mean the iPhone 5 when released will be competitive in October?

4. Release a A15 based iPad 3 which will mean the cycle of whatever is in the iPad is in the next iPhone continues?

For me this rules out the dual core if the iPhone 5 is to follow the same specifications as the iPad 3 as if it did it would simply not be competitive in October and Apple would never want that to happen and as the iPhone 5 is still a way off and technology moves at such a fast pace a dual core iPhone 5 will simply not cut it.

Just my 2 cents and what are your thoughts?

Apple doesn't play the spec sheet game.

It doesn't matter to them that Android will have quad cores and, honestly, it doesn't matter to the vast majority of consumers either. Apple has never used the technical jargon to sell its iOS products -- they sell the experience of using the device. Despite a truckload of dual core, 4g, 4" Android phones with 1GB of ram and 8-10MP camera, the Iphone 4 and 3GS were the top selling phones of 2011 by far.