Fourth generation iPhone teardown reveals A4 microprocessor
See the marking on that chip with the Apple logo? No, not the "N90" codename indicating that it's from Apple's next generation GSM iPhone, the other text. If we're not mistaken then we're seeing "339S0084" on that chip from today's fourth-generation iPhone teardown. Guess what? According to Chipworks, that's the Apple A4 microprocessor fabricated by Samsung and the presumed work of Apple's acquired PA Semi and Intrinsity engineers. The "APL0398" text is also the same as that found on the iPad's speedy and power sipping A4 system-on-chip. The other markings differ however. What that means isn't entirely clear yet but we're digging.
























@Matt da Brat
What? Gizmodo's article already revealed a lot of that before their phone was bricked remotely. Controlled leak MY ASS.
@Matt da Brat no matt we already know everything
1. in can capture 720p videos so that explain resolution.
2. it will have wifi 802.11 b/g/n nothing more
3. A4 processor just like in the ipad or a little less.
4. maybe 1/2 hour more battery life than the 3gs.
5.a lame excuse why video calling will only be availabe by wifi on AT&T i guess.
6. A 5.0 megapixel camera
7. 7.2mbps or wiimax /4g
8. It wont tether via AT&T cuz they suck!!
9. A 16gig,32gig and 64gig model.
10. Finally another ridiculous price package as usual.
o and i forget iphone os4/pause and resume app ver.4
I like the look of the new iPhone, but am I the only one who thinks it looks a little like a thinner, sleeker Nokia N96?
@beefiron
sniff...
sniff sniff...
do I smell a ...... lawsuit!!!!?????????
*facepalm
@Wesscoast
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I'm looking forward to seeing what the new phone has in store. With the advances we've seen in the past year, particularly from HTC/Android, but also WP7, it'll be interesting to see how SJ & Co. go about moving things forward. For me, once this, the Evo and the N8 (I do live in Europe after all :)) are out, I'll have a decision to make.
@beefiron o please its really ugly the 3g and 3gs are way sexier... but thats your opinion
If Apple uses A4, it's gonna be super fast!
@thanhpluv
Considering the probably high density high resolution "not so far from ipad one", I don't see why it should be so faster than the same Ipad. Actaully these kind of """"phone"""" are not so different from a tablet... in reality the tablet is not so different from a phone....
A4 is on par with the snapdragon, but 256 megs of ram in 2010? Really apple? Good thing iphone OS 4.0 doesn't really have multitasking.
It will just be outdone by another competitor. iPhone is a thing of the past. Android ftw!
@rhomaion
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/12/next-iphone-a4-processor-256mb-ram-n90-pro2-translated-impressions/
new iphone only has 256 MB Ram.. People have been complaining about the iPad's Ram limitations (which is the same). And that's before multi tasking is even added.. Doesn't look to good for the new iPhone
The guys over at AndroidPolice claim to have a Nexus One running Android 2.2. They conducted a few performance tests on the device and the result was astounding. The Nexus One will run up to 450% faster than it does on 2.1
Wrap it up iphone 4.0
@stabbytheicepic If this is true, given that you're getting 450% performance improvement on the same hardware what does it say about the quality of Android code?
@jaffreywali google has been saying they need to recompile the java engine. They finally did it, and now it's finally running at full speed.
I'm not going to lie android still feels a little beta, but even then it's on par with the iphone OS. This should increase battery life, and make older phones more viable for updates.
@jaffreywali Android has always been sluggish. Compare, for instance, Moto Droid browser performance against the iPhone 3GS. They both have roughly the same processor (550MHz Cortex-A8 vs 600MHz Cortex-A8) but the 3GS is significantly faster.
Most of it is the damn Java-based VM that Android runs everything on. Others is that it has to support a lot of platforms so optimization is a bit lacking. I think if you look hard enough, there might be one line of NEON code in there.
@metafor uhh lets put some different perspective on that and show some comparison between the Incredible and iPhone 3gs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj_aREHqWw8
@SteveyAyo 1GHz Snapdragon with ~700MB of memory vs 600MHz Cortex with 256MB....
Yet load times weren't significantly different. I think that speaks to how sluggish Android is more than Droid vs iPhone could.
Hopefully, Google has finished with their feature-adding phase of Android and have moved on to doing to it what they did with Chrome browser.
@metafor The IPad was only 10-30% faster than the Incredible/N1. The JIT boost (in Froyo, 2.2) on an N1 is said to be 5.5 (450%) times faster than a 2.1 N1, you make the math. JIT + 10.1 Flash on a Inc/N1/Evo = Best phone(s) ever! It will make the New IPhone obsolete.
@metafor
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/12/next-iphone-a4-processor-256mb-ram-n90-pro2-translated-impressions/
new iphone only has 256 MB Ram.. People have been complaining about the iPad's Ram limitations (which is the same). And that's before multi tasking is even added.. Doesn't look to good for the new iPhone
It's like Microsoft has brainwashed all of us into believing that new software means higher hardware requirements, Apple isn't building a phone to run Crysis, it's mind boggling how some of you bitch about "slow" CPUs on phones when the real issue is the shitty software that isn't optimized to run on the hardware it has, I can't wait until next year to see ppl here bitching and moaning that they don't have quad core CPUs in their phones... Pricks
@MattsZ full blown pc's need that hardware, unless you are just dicking around on the internet. Otherwise netbooks will do everything fine, and they are not much faster then an A4/cortex a8 cpu
@MattsZ
Iphone 3GS should never be appeared considering your p.o.v.
Better hardware means easier way of getting speed. Anyway I agree that many companies act badly with excellent hardware and awful software that remain lost on the wave of new futures smartphone.
so who is apple going to sue this time?
another apple SPAM..this Engadget suppose to be non apple news.
@pappla
feed
FEED**
I'm using the Snapdragon HD2 now and it's blazing fast. I consider it a downsized tablet that has none of the inherent flaws of the tablet form factor. The processor opens everything in ~1 second and everything is smooth as butter.
If iphone G4 gets 1 gig, then yeah it'll be a good experience.
@ounkeo
Numbers mean nothing. That why the iPhone 3GS is almost as fast as the Nexus One despite being at a 350MHz disadvantage. That's why the 1 GHz A4 in the iPad makes it much, MUCH faster than any 1 GHz phone on the market right now.
It's the chip and the software that runs on it, not the clock speed.
@Jack
exactly.. People think they can judge phones by a spec sheet like they would a PC running Windows... Apple puts a lot of time and effort into software optimization and it makes a HUGE difference on performance.
@Jack
From my experience the 3GS is smoother and faster than the nexus one, which is not what expected. Software optimization makes a huge difference. Not a single android phone scrolls and zooms and stuff as smoothly or quickly as the 3GS
ooo full of yummy goodness
Exciting. I wonder how it will actually run... Probably a good amount faster than the 3GS, but really I can't say I've ever complained about the speed of my 3GS! It's already quite fast for me...
In any case people seem to forget about software/hardware optimization, something apple is very very good at. You all look at a phone like a computer running windows. You can't judge performance by a spec sheet these days.
For anyone saying that it'll blow the Snapdragon out of the water, you will be in for a surprise. The JIT performance boost is coming soon......... http://androidandme.com/2010/05/news/jit-performance-boost-coming-with-android-2-2/
@GTRkilla
Mostly what you're not taking into account is that since Apple makes their software and their hardware, they have a better opportunity to completely optimize them to each other. That's why the iPad is faster than any mobile phone on the market right now (by a large margin) despite being a mobile 1 GHz chipset.
There is more to what Apple does than picking random chips and slapping software onto them. I'm guessing it's going to be you guys that will be surprised by how fast the iPhone is despite whatever hardware it has that you will surely call "underpowered" or "not innovative" or something equally stupid.
So the ipad is a giant ipod touch, and the new iphone is a mini ipad with phone abilities?
@Hydra yep and giant over ipod without any usb, camera nor flash card support..a total waste of money, i'll probably wait until next year to buy one when apple implements those features and additional memory
Welllll......
i'm quite sute this new iphone is gonna have the same specs or a little less than the ipad.an A4 chip and 256 RAM. its gonna have a pretty just like the ipad also since its revealed that iy can capture videos in 720p. but whats with the front facing camera wifi onli crap!!!..i mean wifi only video calls dont really make sense..even nokia n72 could make video calls on a 3g capable network in jamaica...what would really be nice and new is if the iphone4g or whatever it is has a built in 3D capacitive touch screen that workd well without those gay ass glasses.
@nipponJ
No. Nobody wants 3D on their phone. NOBODY.
As far as video calls, if it only works on wifi but not 3G, that's guaranteed to be because of AT&T, not Apple. Why would Apple prevent you from using 3G for video calling? That's what would make mobile video calling useful.
@Jack well u have a point with the 3D thing but what else could stevey be hiding in the bag....he always come on stage bragging about stuff thats already been in use especially for years like his so called multitasking os4 aka 'pause and resume version 4'..really really lame
@nipponJ Haven't you seen the VZW commercial's? 3G is not offered everywhere by ATT. It would put a bigger dent on ATT's wireless network
sorry i meant to say n73
Why wouldn't the new iPhone have the same SoC as the iPad? The screen's probably going to be 960x640, only 22% fewer pixels than the iPad. It'll quickly have apps to take advantage of the new resolution plus OS 4.0's new features and demands, so 1 GHz A4 makes a ton of sense.
As good as the HTC EVO 4G looks, it's no threat to the iPhone. It's limited to Sprint (15% of the US smartphone market according to NPD) and the extremely limited coverage of WiMax makes it a niche device. The Incredible or its VZ successor will be a much larger seller.
I'm looking forward to Apple's higher-res screen forcing the Android handset makers to incorporate higher-res screens. It'll be interesting to see how aggressive they are in doing this, especially since Froyo is supposed to clean up some of the speed issues.
Wow, so the next-gen iphone will have a current-gen processor? (For the entirety of the next year! )
It looks like it's up to Android to show us the 1.5 ghz Snapdragon or Tegra phones.
@Johnny Rockets It does sound bad doesnt it? But you know, I saw a YouTube video comparing the 3GS to the upcoming EVO and the 3GS stood its ground. For a year old phone, it still kicks ass. We shall see how the next gen iPhone contends. Unfortunately Apple only releases one device a year and a lot can happen in a year so its up to Apple to knock our socks off. I dont think they have really done that yet.
iPhone still is extremely fast even with 256 ram check out this video do by ENGADGET! Youll see how much faster iPhone is than popular android phones! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMGkhBIqOMg
@Moisture
i hope you're right, because it looks like the new iphone will still only have 256 MB of Ram.. Throw in multi tasking and lets see how it performs.
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/12/next-iphone-a4-processor-256mb-ram-n90-pro2-translated-impressions/
@elijahblake
i guess Apple is just saving themselves something to upgrade in next year's iphone 5g.. maybe it will have 512 MB of Ram then..
I pray to god that that changes to 512Mb ram but i guess it wont happen
A4 is a beast processor. The GPU is amazing, as well, love the iPad, and now I get a bit more iPad in my iPhone.