Next-Gen iPhone & iPhone Nano Speculation

As i said before earlier in the thread, the 720p unlocked Glbenchmarks for ipad2 show that it the ipad2 could have close to double the existing resolution and still max out its 60fps frame lock. So a double of graphics performance (MP4@250Mhz, or MP2@500Mhz might be all that is needed to get 60fps on a screen with x4 pixels. Of course if they want to take the opportunity to up the stakes in terms of graphics, then they might go for MP4@ say 400Mhz).

 

The MP2 managed to remain unbeaten for almost a year now both in iPad2 as in iPhone4s. Overbuilt is relative since it captures roughly as much die area as the CPU block in A5.

Apple isn't the only one that invests or will invest increasingly in GPU power. Besides IMG, ARM, Vivante and Qualcomm have gone or will go multi-core with their GPUs. If GPUs after 2013 will end up roughly on XBox360 GPU performance level as it already sounds from some announced paper specs, then against those a MP2 is rather a dwarf.

 

Maintaining the graphics crown in the off-year of their bi-annual SoC upgrade cycle is an almost unrealistic expectation of Apple with so many competitors having cycles staggered in the interim. I expect them to remain as competitive as ever, but I don't doubt a competing architecture could take a short-lived lead.

 

They don't tout having the fastest graphics.

They might mention it in a keynote if some benchmarks go their way but they don't seem to advertise it.

 

1) Windows drivers for PowerVR are likely much more mature than the ARM T604 considering it's not currently in any shipping products. These GPUs need to be ready for a Windows 8 launch in the fall.
2) Exynos 4210 sadly does not support 42Mbps HSPA+ or LTE. I'm hoping Samsung corrects that problem in the 4412 and beyond as nearly every high end smartphone will have LTE (heck, Verizon is flat-out requiring it on all new smartphones for this year).

 

Thanks a lot for the information.

 

Apple claimed an up to 9x times graphics performance increase for the iPad2 compared to the iPad and up to 7x times for iPhone4s compared to the iPhone4. I wouldn't expect some obnoxious flashing advertisement on any iOS homescreen repeating the former.

 

never made much sense to me on a media-consumption device, why not 1920x1440?

 

In the Jobs biography, it explains that the aspect ratio was chosen for its suitability for reading, rather than watching video. Portrait usage vs landscape, if you will.

 

Because existing apps don't scale to it nicely(or you will have black borders). So far apple has used resolutions which scale nicely.

 

They've always played the comparison game on the software or feature side when it comes to mobile devices, never raw specs, despite having extremely competitive SoCs each generation. If it weren't for the competition from android (and hopefully WP7 going forward), I don't think we'd see such a quick pace on the SoC front from them.

 

Unfortunatly that scale does not it smartphone screen sizes greater than 3.5inches very well, so they are going to have to make soem decisions, or have a fat phone

 

Right, but the TV commercials they run all the time don't emphasize the graphics. They might show some apps, like brief glimpses of games, which use the graphics but it's more about the things you could do with it, not how faster it is than the competition or the previous models.

IOW, they don't sell these current iOS products on the basis of performance, like other manufacturers might.

Most people who buy iOS devices are probably unaware of the kinds of chips in them.

 

But it scales all the ipad1/2 apps nicely and gives option to have two pricepoints(cheaper ipad2 tablet) and more expensive ipad3.

 

Well, the iPad 3 will surely just replace the price bracket the current iPad 2 holds.

Just like any other Apple product. They may keep the iPad 2 around in a cheaper 16GB version, like they did with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.

 

I think the only time people have been vaguely aware of the hardware in the iPhone is when a game requires 3GS or above hardware (i.e. Infinity Blade) or when multi-tasking was introduced in iOS 4. Other than that, your average person won't notice, nor really should they.

 

still don't get it.

1920x1440 is a 4:3 aspect ratio, and, it is a nice multiple of the 960 retina screen on the iphone.

in addition, it is an obvious resolution for media consumption given it won't need to waste performance or battery on upscaling standard media types.

 

How is 1920x1440 a nice multiple of 960x640? 2x2 landscape would be 1920x1280.

 

if they are going to have different aspect ratios for phones and tablets then they will always have this problem, at least a 1920x1440 ipad has greater similarity with a 960x640 iphone than 2048x1536!

and............. it remains a better res for media consumption.

 

A rare mistake from Jobs then. My ipad is virtually always using in landscape. And given that the ipad magnetic cover only acts a a stand in landscape mode, it appears that they accept thats the way its used.