New Multi-Core iPhone with Firmware 3.0?

[mkrishnan]

Considering how phenomenal games like Hero of Sparta and Brothers in Arms are, on even the first gen iPhone hardware, and after only a few months of availability of the iPhone SDK, I'm really curious to see what the future holds. Apple seems to plan on updating their hardware much more frequently than Sony or Nintendo do with handhelds, which is going to be a pain for compatibility, but it also means gaming on the iPhone could be just amazing in a year or two.

The faster processing not only allows for more sophisticated 3D graphics and game spaces, but it might also allow the onscreen user interface to be much more impressive through the use of more gesture logic, etc.

 

[SpinThis!]

Do you think then they might be able to add cut and paste?!

No—apparently you need an 8 core to handle that complexity...

 

[Digital Skunk]

Quad-Core iPhone? Finally we'll be able to run real full OS X! No, not really.

Yes indeed. Hopefully it won't be locked into AT&T still, or we could get a multi-core iPod Touch. AT&T is still the crutch of the iPhone, keeping it slow as molasses in February.

I would love to see full fledged OSX on a 4.5" screen iPhone Pro on Verizon or Sprint or completely unlocked so we won't have to bother with AT&T's shortcomings.

 

[friekunater]

sorry to sound stupid, but what is a quad-core processor? for that matter, what is a processor? and, what does it do?

what kind does the 1G iPod touch have?

 

[fluidedge]

a quad core iphone before a quad core imac. Typical. This company has it's priorities all wrong. Why don't they just sell off the hardware arm to Dell and be done with it.

Apple Computer Inc changed to just Apple Inc Why don't they just become an iPod, iPhone and OS X software company. Allow OS X to run on any hardware and move on.

 

[ilfn143]

No—apparently you need an 8 core to handle that complexity...

and you'll also need to jailbreak it

 

[branjosef]

This is soo awesome. Now I will be able to run all my useless weather, social networking, and flashlight apps that much quicker. Instead of multi-core, how about a phone with video recording or more customization features (ala - winterboard) for changing its interface. How about a phone that can block incoming phone calls instead of having to jailbreak it and use iblacklist or something. How about a phone with a better camera or longer battery life. Yeah - multi-core!!! can't wait. Is the ifart app still the number one paid download? I am just so happy that other companies are actually putting some thought in their phones and look forward to the iphone's competition. Go android. Sorry to piss off all the fanboys out there. Other than watching movies and surfing the net, the iphone is lame.


-Happy iPhone customer


One last caveat.... just to reduce the flaming.. I do love its screen. it is very large and nice

 

[PeterQC]

They will put 4 cores in a phone, while the 17inch MBP is still at 2 cores. WTF?

 

[SpinThis!]

sorry to sound stupid, but what is a quad-core processor? for that matter, what is a processor? and, what does it do?

Seriously? Wikipedia is your friend.

 

[Lucbert]

a quad core iphone before a quad core imac. Typical. This company has it's priorities all wrong. Why don't they just sell off the hardware arm to Dell and be done with it.

Apple Computer Inc changed to just Apple Inc Why don't they just become an iPod, iPhone and OS X software company. Allow OS X to run on any hardware and move on.

Agree. What a dumb move! A quad core phone? Nobody wants a quad core phone. I want an iPhone with battery life, copy & past and background notifications.

 

[DaBrain]

We already are. Color me EXTREMELY skeptical with this rumor. Quad-core in a hand held? Come on.

Many would be happy with a updated dual core mini--))) No wonder it isn't happening!

Well at least the Apple Consumer Electronics Company makes great cell phones!

 

[zedsdead]

They will put 4 cores in a phone, while the 17inch MBP is still at 2 cores. WTF?

I agree. The iMac's haven't gone Quad-Core either.

 

[qwerty2k]

all i want is a 32gig iphone with a better camera and a flash, thats all

 

[FF_productions]

Nobody asked it yet..but will Safari be snappier?

applies to anything

 

[Tallest Skil]

Nobody asked it yet..but will Safari be snappier?

applies to anything

Better question: Will Safari be less-crashier?

 

[ilfn143]

Nobody asked it yet..but will Safari be snappier?

applies to anything

will it blend?

 

[Dmac77]

I call BS. Only the MacPro has 4 cores. The iMac and the MBP don't. And they're going to put it in a cell phone? The iPhone's battery life already sucks, and they're going to make it a quad core. I don't think so.

Don

 

[Lucbert]

I just hope they don't call it iPhone Quad. I really hope they don't.

 

[Digital Skunk]

all i want is a 32gig iphone with a better camera and a flash, thats all

And a less crappier selection of Apps.... and a less crappier selection of American cell providers to choose from.

Better question: Will Safari be less-crashier?

Or the whole phone itself from what I have seen lately with the 3G.

 

[kas23]

Pretty much.

As far as phones, though, I suspect the next iPhone will allow background process too. The current model COULD do it, and jailbreakers will, but Apple won't enable it in order to encourage upgrades.

I agree. The current 3G probably can do a lot of stuff that Apple current doesn't allow. They're probably hesistent to allow these functions/processes because it would be too slow.

However, this won't be the case with a beefed-up iPhone. Apple will probably allow people to place firmware 3.0 on their iPhone 3G with the caveat that it the new firmware 3.0 is optimized for the beefed-up iPhone. In this case, they won't catch criticism that the newly allowed processes/functions run too slow. And best of all, all crowds will probably be happy. And for those who still complain about firmware 3.0 being too slow on the 3G (even after getting a bunch of new functions), then upgrade.

 

[kas23]

What? Why? So you can have a cursor-arrow and drop-down menus on a tiny screen? How annoying!

Wouldn't it make MUCH more sense to simply write software for the iPhone that can use these files you're talking about?

Also agree. I'm sure Apple could currently port a slimmed-down mobile version of iWork or Office onto the iPhone right now.

 

[basesloaded190]

And a less crappier selection of Apps.... and a less crappier selection of American cell providers to choose from.

Who else would you want?
Sprint-Going bankrupt and terrible customer service?
Verizon-Would do a good job, but i think they would cripple the phone like they have in the past with other of their phones

 

[kugino]

this phone better arrive soon. my 16GB first gen iphone is feeling verrryyy slooooowwww

 

[branjosef]

Does this mean it will come with that snazzy "Intel Core Duo processor" sticker thats on all xp computers. And if you try to remove it, it will leave this hideous square that is a darker color that its surrounding letting everyone know you just removed that all too important sticker

 

[dagamer34]

That's the reason why you want multiple cores. Power consumption grows with the square of clock speed. If you have four cores, running at a fourth of the clock speed, you get the same performance at a quarter of the power consumption. Four cores at half speed = twice the performance at the same power consumption as a single core.

You leave out an important caveat. You assume that programs will scale with cores as well as they do with clock speed, and that generally isn't true, especially when you add more than 2 cores to the mix. For most consumer applications, especially portable ones, multi-core CPUs aren't taxed enough to make them worthwhile.

Besides, the iPhone is generally a single-task device. Do one thing and do it well. That's how you make sure it doesn't turn into a PC (the general computing kind, not the Windows kind).