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iPhone more powerful than Curiosity Mars rover, but so what?
One of the recurrent Internet memes since the successful landing of the Curiosity Mars rover has been that the iPhone has more processing power than the computer onboard the rover. It's true -- but some of the numbers touted in the rush of blog posts have been flawed. Let's take a closer look at Curiosity's computing power versus the iPhone 4S. First of all, just about every post I've seen so far neglects to point out that Curiosity has two identical computers, each called a Rover Compute Element or RCE. Of course, it only uses one at a time; the other is configured as a live backup that will take over the tasks of navigation, control, and communications if the other has problems. Does your iPhone 4S have a backup computer? I didn't think so. Each RCE uses a RAD750 CPU (based on the IBM PowerPC 750), a radiation-hardened single-board computer made by BAE Systems Electronic Solutions. That computer has 256 KB of EEPROM, 256 MB of DRAM, and 2 GB of flash memory. The CPU runs at 200 MHz and is capable of 400 million instructions per second (MIPS). The iPhone 4S uses an Apple A5 system-on-a-chip containing an 800 MHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU. The A5 also includes a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU that adds even more processing power. The iPhone is equipped with 512 MB of DRAM and either 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of flash memory. The CPU runs at 800 MHz. So, why not just use a couple of iPhones to run the next Mars rover? Well, in the first place, the device would probably fail rather quickly in interplanetary space and in the harsh conditions of the Martian surface, where a thin atmosphere fails to shield rovers from high radiation levels. That RAD750 CPU is capable of handling a radiation dose of up to 1,000 gray -- a 5 gray dose is enough to kill a human being within 14 days. Putting it all into perspective, the iPhone 4S does have a much more powerful brain than the Curiosity rover, but it's a moot point. Engineers design products, whether they're mass market smartphones or one-off Mars rovers, to handle the conditions that they'll see in everyday usage. To quote Elton John, "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids." That delicate flower of an iPhone wouldn't last a minute on Mars. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
RedSn0w updated for Mac and Windows: adds Corona A5 jailbreak, other tools
What better way to finish off your night than by updating your favorite jailbreaking tool? Now, you'll be able to do just that after the whiz-kids from the iPhone Dev-Team have pushed out a new copy of their famed RedSn0w application. In what's perhaps the biggest inclusion, version 0.9.10b7 now adds implementation of that untethered Corona jailbreak for A5 devices, making it easier for the iOS 5.0.1 crowd to do bits like reinstalling the tweaked software. In addition, the app's now capable of grabbing SHSH blobs (you know, those tiny files that grant your phone freedom) straight from Cydia, while also giving users the ability to see if their slab carries a vulnerable bootloader or if it's exploitable. RedSn0w 0.9.10b7 is out now for both Windows and Mac, and you can grab it at the source link below.
iPad 3 logic board with 'A5X' chip purportedly snapped by Mr. Not-so-Blurrycam
Well, if it looks real, sounds real and is halfway logical, we probably should distrust it all the more. Yes, it's the time when all the rumors, photoshops and general hysteria around Apple's next slab reaches its apex. The photo above was grabbed by the steady hand of sas126, a blurrycam snapper in name only, and posted to Chinese site Weiphone, purporting to be the logic board for the iPad 3. The big news (if true) is the "A5X" silicon, suggesting we'll see an incremental enhancement rather than the wholesale revolutions evident in the A4 and A5 chips that accompanied its predecessors. The SoC (with the Apple logo, to the right of the two Hynix memory modules) carries a date-stamp of 1146, suggesting it was produced in the 46th week of last year. Of course, now that we're getting so close to the actual event, whatever Tim Cook whips out on stage will never match whatever we'd conjured up on our own hearts: so try to dampen down that rampant excitement because we've still got 17 days left to wait.
iPhone 4S vs. the smartphone elite: Galaxy S II, Bionic and Titan
Now that we know how the iPhone 4S stacks up against the iPhone 4, let's take a look at how Apple's latest smartphone compares to its mightiest competitors on the other major platforms -- Android and Windows Phone. In Google's camp we chose the superlative Samsung Galaxy S II models (focusing on the announced US variants) along with the Motorola Droid Bionic for its qHD and LTE chops. We then picked the upcoming HTC Titan to bat for Microsoft's team. RIM's not included here since it's still stuck in the junior leagues. We left out the intriguing Nokia N9 because it's a niche player. Check out the fancy table after the break -- the results are pretty clear cut!
Apple adding DisplayPort to iOS devices?
Not content with just building offices in the shape of UFOs, Apple is on the hunt for a "Signal Integrity Manager." That's an engineer who balances the noise that chips and circuit boards emit -- which, if left unchecked could overpower your iOS devices' data signals. Apple is specifically looking for someone with DisplayPort experience (plus ten years general experience and two years leading a small team) to work on future chip development -- like the A6. The move suggests that the standard could be coming in the future, but since the position is still listed, it seems unlikely that we'll see DisplayPort included with the next iPhone / iPad at this point.
Apple's A6 processor may come courtesy of TSMC, Samsung left to wonder why
Apple's fondness for anorexic handhelds knows no bounds, and if this alleged deal with the Asian foundry holds water, expect to see its waistband tighten further. Rumoured back before the iPad 2 launch, the house-that-Steve-built's reportedly been eyeing Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp to produce an 'A6' for its upcoming iPhone refresh. While it's easy to dismiss this purported move as a direct diss to Samsung, what's more likely is that Cupertino's engaging in a competitive bit of size does matter -- specifically, the A5's 45nm process. A transition to newer, lower power 28nm ARM chips would give Jonathan Ives' employer a distinct market advantage, dwarfing even TSMC's current 40nm in the process. While it's all still just speculation for now, only time and an iPhone 5 tear-down will tell for sure.
iPad 2 specs discerned, 900MHz dual-core ARM CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU blow away graphical benchmarks
iFixit may have physically uncovered Apple's latest silicon, but it's the processor gurus that have discovered what's truly inside -- using software benchmarks, they've unearthed the speeds and feeds of the Apple A5. As you'll no doubt be aware having read our headline above, there actually isn't a 1GHz CPU at the helm, as AnandTech and IOSnoops report the dual-core ARM chip is dynamically clocked around 900MHz, likely in search of reduced power consumption. Perhaps more interestingly for all you gamers in the audience, the iPad 2 reports that it has a dual-core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU on the die as originally foretold -- and, spoiler alert -- it mops the floor with both the original iPad and the Motorola Xoom. Though the new chip didn't quite demonstrate 9X the graphical prowess of its predecessor, it rendered 57.6 frames per second in a GLBenchmark test where the (admittedly higher-res) Tegra 2 tablet managed only 26.7fps, and last year's iPad pulled only 17.6fps. That's some serious Tai Chi. Hit up our source links to see the difference it can make in games like Infinity Blade. Update: Though it sure sounds like there's a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 in there, that's not yet a proven fact -- we only know that it's a dual-core ARM v7 chip which performs relatively similarly in non-graphical tests. [Thanks, Jim] [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
The iPad 2
Apple has just made its second-generation iPad official! It features a 1GHz dual-core A5 chip and, finally, cameras, both on the front and rear. The new CPU is said to be up to twice as fast, with graphics performance up to nine times better than on the original iPad, while power requirements have been kept the same. Battery life is, consequently, unaltered, with Apple promising 10 hours. Pricing, too, has been left unchanged, starting at $499 for a 16GB WiFi-only iPad 2 and stretching up to $829 for a WiFi + 3G SKU with 64GB of storage. The new tablet will come with an HDMI output capable of 1080p -- which will set you back $39 for the requisite dongle, called an Apple Digital AV Adapter -- but there will sadly be no rumblings of Thunderbolt connectivity here. What you will get is an enlarged speaker grille on the back, as expected, and the same 1024 x 768 resolution and IPS LCD screen technology as on the original iPad.Update: We've gotten our first hands-on with the iPad 2 and, boy oh boy, it's fast!720p video recording at 30fps will be on tap from the rear-facing camera, which can also do a 5x digital zoom if you're into that kind of thing, whereas the front-facing imager will record at a more modest VGA resolution, also at 30fps.There's a new cover for the device, which is best defined by Steve Jobs himself: "We designed the case right alongside the product. It's not a case -- it's a cover." Basically, it's a magnetic flap that protects the front and automatically wakes and puts the device to sleep according to whether it's open or closed. Guess we know what that proximity sensor was about now. These Smart Covers will cost $39 in plastic or $69 if you opt for leather.The iPad 2 is 33 percent thinner than its predecessor, at a mind-melting 8.8mm, and a little lighter at just over 600g, while paintjob options have been expanded: you'll get a choice between white and black. It'll be available on both AT&T and Verizon, and all variants start shipping on March 11th. Apple Retail Stores will start sales at the unusual hour of 5PM, which will probably make online pre-orders the fastest way to get yours.%Gallery-118170%In terms of new software, Apple's launching iOS 4.3 alongside the new iPad and bringing with it much improved Safari performance as well as FaceTime, Photo Booth, iMovie and GarageBand (the latter two costing $4.99 a piece) apps specifically for the newly camera-enriched iPad. Personal Hotspot capabilities are also arriving in the latest version of the OS, but they'll be exclusive to the iPhone 4, so you won't be able to share your 3G iPad's connection. The minimum compatible version of iTunes for the new iPad 2 will be the freshly released 10.2.%Gallery-118177%You'll find Apple's official PR and some slick promo videos below, or you can keep your mouse clicking and check out our first hands-on with the iPad 2.
