iPhone 4 Confirmed to Have 512MB of RAM (Twice the iPad and 3GS)

[roland.g]

I haven't touched my iPad in a week or so. It has become a 1.5 lb paperweight. Actually I'm not really sure where it is. I suspect my 2 year old may have hidden it in his closet. That or my wife is secretly using it to view adult videos and read smut novels.

 

[Razeus]

My iPad will be sold to my cousin once I get the iPhone 4. I think the iPad is great but can't stand having my middle device (quasi netbook) being less powerful then my phone. I'm going against my own advice that I gave another poster.

you think your iPad is less powerful than the iPhone 4?

 

[cmaier]

No, but the amount of RAM is a great excuse on why you have to buy the new version to get the new software features that Apple touts very loudly. I think Apple did the same with video and the 3GS, but people with jail broken 3G phones had been recording video for a long time?

That jailbroken video recording worked at a miserable frame rate.

 

[Mitchelino]

I will wait for iPhone 6 and iPad 3

I'm also waiting for iPhone 6 (by then my 3GS contract will be over). Not sure if/when I'll buy an iPad.

 

[pistolero]

Oh no my iPad just stopped working when it knew it only had 256 megs of ram.... I'll wait for the 4 gb version in 2015 because I don't want to be obsolete again...

 

[pika2000]

Well I'm happy for the 512 in my soon to be iPhone 4, but a bit disappointed that they shafted the iPad. I was wondering why iMovie wouldn't work on the iPhone 3GS, I would have figured the VGA video would have been easier to work with.

I know. Plus the fact that on the 3GS you will only edit VGA videos (not 720p), I don't think it will need the A4 processor/more RAM. Heck, it's bad enough that not many apps are taking advantage of the 3GS' GPU. Right now, having the 3GS is like having Macs with the ATI Radeon 2xxx, where we got "jibbed" from SL's openCL support.

Oh well, Apple is a master of marketing. There's always a reason to want to buy their latest shiny object.

 

[tigress666]

For all the people griping that the ipad should have had as much, have you never noticed the first gen of anything Apple makes always ends up not having a lot.

Never buy first gen. Wait for 2nd gen cause that's when Apple really starts doing the good stuff. My theory is Apple uses first gen to test the waters and then if it is successful they put out what they really want in the 2nd generation (plus they fix a lot of hardware issues that tend to pop up first generation. I say this after having plenty of first generation apple stuff. It seems you always get the crappy version if you have first generation. The one with all hte hardware bugs or doesn't support stuff, etc.).

Honestly, I am surprised the first iphone did all that well without an app store (at first you were stuck with whatever Apple put on it. I remember cause I was thinking, who would pay that much for somethign that is so limitd?). I would never have considered the phone if I was just stuck with what it came with. One of the biggest things that makes the iphone so great is how many apps are available for it. I may be remembering wrong but it seems they opened it up for adding apps on the second iphone (the one I have). At least this time though they supported the new feature on the first generation. If you need a program, chances are you'll find one that fits your need. Makes it a lot more versatile for many different people. I really don't think the iphone would have done near as well if Apple hadn't opened it up and started the app store.

 

[shervieux]

No, but the amount of RAM is a great excuse on why you have to buy the new version to get the new software features that Apple touts very loudly. I think Apple did the same with video and the 3GS, but people with jail broken 3G phones had been recording video for a long time?

Mine is not jailbroken. There are a couple of apps in the app store that allowed me to record video on the 3G

 

[koach]

1) iPad can't record video, so you're telling me that you'd sync movies to the iPad from your computer ... to edit them on your iPad? Sounds backwards to me

2) I would expect an updated iPad with a camera, bumped specs and a slightly altered design at the iTunes event this fall when Apple upgrades the iTouch.

My computer can't record video, yet I use it to edit video. How is this different?

Ideally what they need to do for the iPad is allow it to mount a network share (knowing Apple it will be Time Capsule only) and edit video from there over the network on your iPad.

 

[Maven1975]

This iPad 3g of mine is showing me Apples true new rotten colors. Instead of the rainbow of ingenuity, or the bright white of genius, the logo should be crap brown.

Jobs and company are now building disposable products. I laugh when they brag about how recyclable their products are. They need to be when they build half ass products and out do them with products 4x smaller in two months. (Battery Life Excluded)

They sold these iPads knowing the following..

Camera (Facetime) would be in the iPhone 4
3g contract would become restricted within 27 days of 3g launch (What breakthrough contract)
And now the 512 Ram issue! That the iOS needs it to run efficiently (Safari needs it)

This is not the Apple I supported, and wonder if this crap continues, how many of long time users like myself will take this sort of blatant runaround/abuse.

 

[FFArchitect]

FINALLY, jesus

apple playing with the big boys after about a year

Very Schrutesque of you.

 

[pika2000]

Safari crashed on me yet again this morning with just three pre-loaded tabs and engadget backgrounded on the train. 256 is perfectly fine for streaming music but more intensive just isn't working.

On mine, Safari crashed with just 1 tab open, Engadget's live-blogging on E3. And it happens consistently, never fails. I think Apple can/should push some fixes first while waiting for 4.0 for the iPad.

 

[iNeko]

I want to know, as was posted in the front page article comments (not by me), why this page says my iPad has 512mb of ram if it doesn't actually have that much?

I do wonder, if iOS4 will 'unlock' this hidden 256mb of ram (if it's actually there) because I remember my Nexus One having something similar (there was a kernel bug limiting the ram to half) so maybe it's something similar but I've not looked at any teardowns (nor have the chip-wizardry to count ram)

 

[kaplanfx]

The ipad, though always sort of niche and dumb, has now been rendered completely useless.

Yup, except it's great for reading books, surfing the web & listening to music, the main selling points imho. Also it's pretty good for video playback, much better than the iphone even with a high res display the screen is still small. Oh and it's decent for document creation while the iPhone's size makes it pretty poor for that.

Sure you don't have it with you all the time, but it's great for someone like me who takes public transport to commute every day and can take advantage of a larger screen.

-kap

 

[TripHop]

ReelDirector Works On The iPad

That's awesome that they put 512mb in the new iPhone -- that was the one missing hardware upgrade in my opinion. I just wish I could upgrade my iPad to do the same because iMovie would be an awesome experience on the iPad. In fact, working in iMovie recently I was thinking it would be nice if they had an iPad version of it.

ReelDirector works on the iPad.

 

[furi0usbee]

The ipad, though always sort of niche and dumb, has now been rendered completely useless.

Much like your comment... Obviously you don't have an iPad. I actually have both an iPad and iPhone, and I can say the things I want the iPad for the iPhone can never do, retina display or not. Looking forward to the 2nd gen iPad.

 

[3N16MA]

you think your iPad is less powerful than the iPhone 4?

I guess powerful was the wrong word to use, maybe capable is better. HD recording, gyro, iMovie, 512MB RAM. To be honest I was OK with the iPad missing some of these features like a camera. However I don't see why Apple could not have included something like the gyro which I'm sure developers wil utilize in games and 512MB RAM.

 

[jeznav]

I will wait for iPhone 6 and iPad 3

I'll wait till the iPhone/iPad gets:
ARM Cortex A9 based CPU with dual core and 64-bit support,
SGX 545 Graphics
1GB of RAM
128-256GB of Storage
dual-3D cameras and 3D display
Bluetooth Stylus
and Haptic feedback

 

[Geckotek]

Picked up by Engadget

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/iphone-4-to-have-512mb-of-ram-double-the-3gs-and-ipad/

 

[lozpop]

It's absurd that a new device that stand between the iPhone and the MacBook, as Steve Jobs explained, has half the RAM of the iPhone.

iMovie will function only on the iPhone 4, and it seems because of the RAM.
So.. does it mean that the iPad won't have apps like iMovie later this year?

This is absurd.

By the way, the iPad is blazing fast, and the 256MB RAM is not enough only for multi-window browsing. At least for me.

 

[appleguy123]

The iPhone is more expensive than the iPad. Why should it not have better specs?

 

[shervieux]

Reel Director works on the iPad.

That is an awesome little app

 

[sishaw]

Mine is not jailbroken. There are a couple of apps in the app store that allowed me to record video on the 3G

Yes, this is true. I use Qik video, which gives very reasonable results on the 3G, and it's all above board, no jailbreaking.

 

[kirky29]

It's pretty cool to think in a few very short years, we'll probably be wowing at 1gb+!

This is great though, you can really feel when using a 3G that it needs more!

 

[jclardy]

The iPad doesn't take pictures either, but every commercial I see has someone looking at pictures on their iPad.

Many DSLRs also do video now, and the camera connection kit should allow you to bring over movies in addition to pictures.

You can bring video over...but the iPad only supports some very specific video formats. Canon's newest DSLR's record 720P and 1080P H.264 video but the iPad can't play it back.