Comments on: Rumored iPhone Specs: A Rundown on the Reality

By: Franco Cavadini

Franco Cavadini — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:31:26 +0000

I want to add some reflections pushing a bit further the point of view of Ben (which I totally agree with).
The AppStore is surely one of the greatest strenght of the iPhone, but could it be also one of its limits?
With the probable approaching of the new iPhone hardware, we’re considering if a boost of the CPU frequency would be acceptable for the retro-compatibility of applications.
Now I ask myself what could possibly happen in the near future, when, for example, an higher resolution screen update would be interesting.
Which kind of approach will Apple choose? Divide applications into classes of compatibility? Oblige the developers to offer more of one version of the same application?

I think that with the paradigm shift imposed by the innovations introduced with the iPhone3G and its Appstore, Apple has created a market similar to that of the Game Consoles, where the hardware remains the same for many years. Now the question (to which I obviously don’t have an answer ) is: which is the life length for the hardware of the iPhone?

P.S.: This is my first post on the blog, but I’ve been following you and James for a long time, and yours is the best technology blog I read. Thank you very much for the work you do!!

By: HSK

HSK — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:43:27 +0000

you can get an iPhone w/o a data plan – its called iPod Touch….;-)

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:48:14 +0000

An additional thought… the rumors about an included digital compass and FM tuner could be from upcoming hardware accessories. The iPhone OS 3.0 update will allow apps to communicate with hardware accessories, so it isn’t inconcievable that some companies may be at work on a digital compass add-on as well as an FM tuner add-on, and they would be controlled through new 3.0 apps.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:44:36 +0000

There is a time frame where it would make sense to move on to the next gen, but at this point with 35,000 apps sitting in their library and 1,000,000,000+ downloaded apps, I don’t think that time is now. It would be extremely hard for Apple to have the kind of rapid app development that they’ve seen with their current touch devices if they suddenly released a new device that could power apps that were too powerful to be backward compatible.

As for the CPU, I think that the CPUs in the iPhones and other devices have a little bit of wiggle room, its a long shot, but Apple could conceivably bump up the clock speed on the older gen devices to match that of a new device in order to retain app compatibility, but more likely, they already set the clock to achieve a particular level of battery performance that they wanted to see and won’t mess with it.

I think that one way or the other, Apple is going to strive for some sort of compatibility between their current applications and the new hardware, but that solution will not be one that makes it so devs will have to choose to build a program for a more powerful new device and know that the same app they are building will not function fast enough on the older devices.

As I mentioned, an interesting solution might be to keep the same CPU speed but increase the RAM size. Apple could limit developers to the amount of RAM allocated to them with the current devices, but double the RAM in the new device. This would mean that apps continue to be compatible across all current and a potentially new device, but would allow for the new device to have the ability to run multiple apps at once.

By: ignar

ignar — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:08:37 +0000

It’d be nice if we can get both Pre and iPhone without data plan, and use them with Verizon mifi.

By: HSK

HSK — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:18:04 +0000

2 things I am interested in seeing – battery life and ATT’s network improvements. I’ll probably jump on a Pre since I am already on Sprint, but if the new iPhone is really an improvement AND ATT can handle the load better, I would be tempted to make the move. I tried the iPhone twice earlier this year and the call quality/3G consistency was awful. Love the iPhone, just not the network (but they promised they were putting a new tower up within 3 miles of my house – we’ll see!).

By: Luscious

Luscious — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:14:41 +0000

Those are fine specs, but I still think a micro SDHC slot is better. Flash prices are dropping like crazy. The ability to swap out a full card with more storage and keep adding stuff on your phone is a huge advantage.

By: Gavin Miller

Gavin Miller — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:26:29 +0000

Yes, iPhone 3G does.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:25:51 +0000

Yes, the iPhone 3G that arrived last summer has an integrated GPS radio.

By: tal

tal — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:24:29 +0000

I am so not bothered by iPhone, so I apologize for the noob question: do they have an integrated GPS inside the device?

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:22:03 +0000

I hear you, but I’m not sure you can apply all of the same concepts of an X86 desktop process to an ARM-based mobile processor. We simply haven’t seen the same clock cycle concepts apply there. The biggest change IMO we’ve seen lately is the TI OMAP CPUs; prior to that, it was by and large the same ol’ XScale-type of CPUs with clock cycle bumps. I might be off-base, but that’s my thought process…

By: Sumocat

Sumocat — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:18:20 +0000

Um, if they went with a more efficient CPU, they wouldn’t need to bump the clock speed. It’s like when Intel switched to Pentium M from Pentium 4. The new stuff ran faster at lower clock speeds, and they’ve been continuing like that ever since. That’s why computers are faster even though the GHz ratings have declined.

By: Gavin Miller

Gavin Miller — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:58:28 +0000

Well, the 2nd gen iPod Touch already runs at 532MHz so it’s not a stretch to assume the new iPhone will be at least the same speed or higher.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:56:38 +0000

I’m OK if they simply remove the underclocking, but I’d think a newer CPU might be more power efficient while boosting the clock speed at the same time. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:54:45 +0000

Interesting POV, Ben. So are you thinking they won’t upgrade the CPU at all, just a little or a bunch? Sounds like not at all or just a little based on your thoughts. I completely understand what you’re saying, but if we take the logic out farther into the future, when and why would they ever upgrade the CPU?

By: Sumocat

Sumocat — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:53:13 +0000

I wouldn’t count on a CPU bump. The reason: the iPhone already has a 620 MHz processor but it’s underclocked to 412. They did bump it slightly from the initial 400 via a software update, but a jump to 600 would negate the reason for underclocking, which undoubtedly was to reduce heat and battery drain. They could bump the battery size to accommodate, but I don’t think they’d add the bulk and weight, and that wouldn’t address the heat increase.