iFixit partnered with semiconductor reverse engineering firm Chipworks to crack into Apple’s semi-mysterious A4 chip, which is the proprietary brain the powers the iPad – and presumably the product of Apple’s acquisition of processor company PA Semi. Here’s what they found: A single core ARM Cortex A8 processor, and what looks and performs like a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU. (Though the GPU couldn’t be IDed for sure.)
Here’s the thing: The iPhone uses an ARM Cortex A8 processor, just at a lower clockspeed. The PowerVR SGX 535 chip is the same one used in the iPhone 3GS. In other words, in terms of processor architecture and graphics capabilities, the iPad is, again, just a big iPhone – not to mention the fact that it has the same paltry 256MB of RAM.
In other words, the A4 was built with price and power consumption in mind, not cutting edge performance. iFixit even goes so far as to say, “there’s nothing revolutionary here”, which, well, ha!
Of course, this doesn’t change our perceptions of how the iPad performs (it’s fast, and graphics rendering is impressive) but it does tint my view of Apple’s path for the future: This is the first of what I expect to be many declarations by Apple that raw hardware specs in portable devices – the kind of stuff we geek out about on a regular basis, but just us – aren’t what matters to them, or their customers. It’s experience. Oblivious, direct experience.
More pictures at iFixit, with continuing analysis at Chipworks.
Cy Starkman
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 11:20 AMAmazing huh.
And a computer is just a big calculator. Or a desktop is just a big laptop.
I love the “it’s just a big..” comments, real genius from the blogosphere.
Like the article says, its experience. Chip speed is so finished except in the area of hard core usage, namely content creation.
Even that is dead though the tech heads cling on, but what exactly makes a 5% boost mean anything these days is beyond me. I saw RAM the other day, super boosted DD3 for a whole 2% improvement and huge price tag.
boc
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 1:26 PMWhat’s wrong with saying, “It’s still a giant iPhone?”
Hardware-wise it’s an accurate statement. Software-wise it’s somewhat different.
Hardware specs are useful. They’re the bits of electronics that make your experience responsive. The bits that allow developers to give you more interesting things to play with.
The fact that an Ipad has the same power as an iPhone means that the only improvement you will see in an iPad app over an iPhone app is user interface improvements to make use of the larger screen.
iPad apps won’t be pushing more pixels in games and it won’t be crunching complex formulas in apps.
matt
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 1:20 PMyeah, and I think we may be underestimating the effect higher clock speeds will have, especially on the GPU. not to mention that the 3GS was overkill anyway. and can you think of a single thing you would use a Tablet PC for that is processor intensive?
only picking one up and using it will mean anything, only then can you tell whether it is fast enough, and by all accounts, it is.
but there will always be a place for the cutting edge. just as there has always been a place for Ferrari. (though even I struggle to grasp the interest in two thousand dollar RAM…)
Abner Tinwhistle
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 1:26 PMPfft, these whipper snappers ain’t come up with squat. It’s just a smaller Z3. In fact, every computer, inlcuding calculators are just smaller z3s, since it was the first turing-complete computer. Why, I remember back in my day you used to have to send a messenger to the king of Siam just to … *snore*
Bernie
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 1:47 PMThe fascination with the chips, their clock rate etc… is pretty childish. It reminds me of young teenage boys looking under the bonnets of their cars and arguing about the merits of each cars internals.
You’d think it would be more important to get a life and just drive the cars and enjoy them for what they are. Go on a picnic, take your girl out, see the country side etc…
Ditto for any computer, use and enjoy them, whatever their make and model.
Your Mate Alex
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 4:06 PMI was at Bunnings the other day looking at their shovels only to realise they were just giant spoons. True!
Michael
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 9:51 PMSteve Jobs is PT Barnum for 21st Century. We’ve been getting jammed with gushing declarations of “magical, revolutionary, break through, blah, blah, blah” since launch. For what? The tech equivalent of the FeeJee Mermaid, a meh ARM proc glued to mobile phone GPU. And since when did a pedestrian XGA resolution qualify as HD? The reality distortion field is working better than ever.
TheGee
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 11:31 PMI went into the office this morning, it was giant Lego brick on giant lego bricks!!!!
jedediah
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 10:58 PMEr…
Well, of course Apple are only concerned with the experience. Are they really going to design products for tech-heads? The same people who use liquid nitrogen to overclock their machines for a couple of extra cpu cycles that make no real perceivable difference? All I can say is thank God Apple is smart enough to do the right thing, market-wise.
guienquage nyitto
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 5:36 PMSeriously, big, giant, iphone. It is okay fan boys and girls. Say it with me, BIG… GIANT… IPHONE. The keynote, I must say had me (Literally) believing it was a joke for the first 30 minutes. Don’t get me wrong; I love my iPhone, and, wouldn’t mind a big one, but, don’t call it magical, revolutionary fairy dusted golden magic amazingly unseen never before OMG super original magic and such and so forth, call it a giant freaking iPhone and sub-title it: Cause wtf else are you going to spend your money on?
BIG GIANT IPHONE – P.S. fan boy reply instant retort: awww that’s cute; BIG GIANT IPHONE.