Some of you already know that Apple downclocks the iPhone and the iPhone 3G's 620MHz ARM 11 processor to 412MHz to save battery life and so the phone runs cooler. I'm sure that the impressive graphics card in the iPhone is downclocked by some amount, too. Why would Apple use such a fast processor to start with? Are they even planning to give us the option to clock it higher? Apple should at least let developers create apps with options to run the game downclocked or clocked at native speeds so they can get the most out of the iPhone. Sure, we'll probably get worse battery life if we wanted to use a full-speed app, but as long as Apple makes developers include versions that run either way, with the full-speed version adding more effects and better performance, it would be great for us and developers.
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The iPhone Could Be 50% Faster, Why Not Allow Developers To Use The Speed?
- Thread starter MICHAELSD
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If they allow this then your whole platform of the phone is unstable. It will turn into a windows mobile phone. And also if they allow this they will have a back lash from people. I know people will only read better graphics, and don't read that it will suck the crap out of their battery, 3g is bad enough for apple right now.
It could be done practically. Like I said, as long as Apple requires developers to make apps that offer options to go either way, it could do a lot for the iPhone. Obviously, if you're away from a charger and need the phone's battery to last, you can use the downclocked version. If you're close to a charger, you don't need a longer battery life for the day, or if you have enough battery life to last you until you reach somewhere to charge it, you could use a version of the same app that runs faster and adds a lot more effects, really adding a lot more the iPhone. Since developers will optimize a version for the 412MHz clocked option and then add a version better graphics that aren't in the downclocked option, the native version will include a lot of really nice effects that most developers never use in a mobile game, for the PSP or DS. Take a look at the PSP. Its' 333MHz processor ran at 266MHz for the first two years, and now that Sony is letting developers use the full 333MHz, developers are designing games that look a lot better than usual.
But you are also talking about making the phone complicated by adding more menu options. I think apple is trying to eliminate the mess of two billion menu options.
The reason why apple uses that processor and not one with a clock speed at what apple underclocks to is for battery life.
It would be idiotic and make the app store even more of a mess to do something like allow for developers to change the clockspeeds. (plus it would probably cause the iPhone to have screwy internal clock mishaps like when a Mac Pro is over clocked.)
This would just cause even more confusion on the consumer end (most people don't know a thing about clockspeed).
It would be idiotic and make the app store even more of a mess to do something like allow for developers to change the clockspeeds. (plus it would probably cause the iPhone to have screwy internal clock mishaps like when a Mac Pro is over clocked.)
This would just cause even more confusion on the consumer end (most people don't know a thing about clockspeed).
Developers would add a simple option that almost everyone will understand into their app.
"Regular"
Use this mode to get the best combination of performance and battery life.
"Performance mode"
In performance mode the game runs faster and looks better, but drains your battery much quicker.
"Regular"
Use this mode to get the best combination of performance and battery life.
"Performance mode"
In performance mode the game runs faster and looks better, but drains your battery much quicker.
If they didn't down-clock the app CPU, the battery life complaints would only increase, a lot. Plus the exta heat would also adversely affect device reliability, and thus warranty repair costs.
I really don't want a phone with a fan and a 1 pound battery. For that, I can use a laptop computer.
I really don't want a phone with a fan and a 1 pound battery. For that, I can use a laptop computer.
Apple would only allow developers to run at the default 412MHz or the iPhone's native 620MHz. Running at native speeds won't cause any kind of problems or instabilities because that's what the ARM 11 processor in the iPhone is designed to run at. I'm sure the iPhone's cooling system could handle that, too, BTW. Through the App Store, Apple has the control to require developers to make a version that runs at both the default and native speeds, so requiring people to just run at native speeds wouldn't be an option.
But the less you use of that 620mhz, the more stable and reliable it is.... And also Apple may be able to achieve these long battery periods but not using that. But overall I believe Apple did their research and have a reason why they are leaving some of the processors speed also. I don't think you used the iphone that long. When you surf the internet and other things the gets hot and when you charge it so there is no "cooling system"
It's not that simple.
If you run the CPU faster, you also could need faster peripheral chips, and memory, and so forth. Not to mention possible interference with the radios.
And yes, there's the battery. This form of CPU uses roughly .45milliwatt per Mhz, or 185mw at 412Mhz. That's getting near what the backlight takes.
All that being said, many Samsung phones (which of course use the Samsung CPU that Apple took advantage of) run stock at 520MHz. There are even WinMo overclocking utilities that will bump the speed past 700+MHz during preset conditions (like high cpu load).
If you run the CPU faster, you also could need faster peripheral chips, and memory, and so forth. Not to mention possible interference with the radios.
And yes, there's the battery. This form of CPU uses roughly .45milliwatt per Mhz, or 185mw at 412Mhz. That's getting near what the backlight takes.
All that being said, many Samsung phones (which of course use the Samsung CPU that Apple took advantage of) run stock at 520MHz. There are even WinMo overclocking utilities that will bump the speed past 700+MHz during preset conditions (like high cpu load).
I could already cook an egg on my phone at times.
Anything that would make it heat up more sounds like a pretty bad idea to me.
Anything that would make it heat up more sounds like a pretty bad idea to me.
iPhone OS 1.0 to 1.1.1 ran the CPU at 400MHz
1.1.2 through 2.0 run it at 412MHz (iPhone 3G also 412MHz)
you can see the clock speed by typing sysctl -a on a jailbroken phone or mac
by typing uname -a you can see that iPhone OS 2.0 is using the same xnu kernel as 10.5.3
1.1.2 through 2.0 run it at 412MHz (iPhone 3G also 412MHz)
you can see the clock speed by typing sysctl -a on a jailbroken phone or mac
by typing uname -a you can see that iPhone OS 2.0 is using the same xnu kernel as 10.5.3
If it can be done, rest assured someone will do it. There were plenty of overclock apps in the WinMo world and they worked fine. BUT there were phones that couldn't be overclocked, such as the Sprint Touch, because it had a dual core processor, one for the pda and one for the radio, that ran at two different speeds. I can tell you, however, that overclocking had a minimal effect on most phones I owned, it does tend to burn thru battery significantly faster and the phone can get quite warm to the touch. But again, if it can be done, it's just a matter of time before someone does it.
If that's true then I'd conclude that perhaps Apple will be slightly speeding up the CPU speed as it adds more features to the iPhone so that the user experience doesn't change even as more processes are added.
