Apple may add DisplayPort to its new mobile chips for iOS devices
Apple has posted a new job listing for a signal integrity and power integrity manager to join its team that builds custom chips for use in future mobile products, asking for experience in working with interface standards including DisplayPort.
The job listing, discovered by AppleInsider, describes the position as working within the "group at Apple that develops SOCs that will be used in Apple mobile devices," referring to the "system on a chip" devices designed by Apple and currently built by Samsung, including the A4 used inside iPhone 4 and the A5 powering the iPad 2.
A signal integrity engineer manages issues with sending electrical signals through chips, circuit boards, and interconnects between devices, preventing crosstalk, signal attenuation and power supply noise from overpowering data signals.
Apple asks for SI experience in working with both serial and parallel data links, naming DisplayPort (a digital serial link for video that the company currently uses only on its Mac desktops and notebooks) and LPDDR2 (a parallel data bus used by the type of fast RAM used inside the iPad 2's A5 chip).
This indicates that Apple is likely working to add support for the DisplayPort video standard to upcoming versions of its SOC, perhaps as soon as the delivery of the upcoming A6.
Apple currently only supports the older, analog composite VGA and digital parallel HDMI video standards for output from the iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2. Adding the modern new digital serial DisplayPort link would enable future iOS devices to drive the new crop of displays that are beginning to appear, including Apple's own new Thunderbolt Display.
Thunderbolt, external displays and video input
There's no evidence to suggest that Apple will also incorporate SOC support for Thunderbolt's separate high speed data interconnect features, which the company added to its Mini DisplayPort jacks on new Macs released this year.
Thunderbolt pairs a direct, high speed link to the CPU (based on Intel's PCI Express standard) on the same cable as DisplayPort video, allowing modern Macs that support the new interconnect to drive one or more external displays while also connecting to high speed external storage devices and supporting bridge connections to alternative interfaces such as USB 2.0, Firewire, and Gigabit Ethernet.
However, the addition of DisplayPort support for iOS devices could make it easier to link future mobile devices to modern displays, as well as extend support for the bidirectional video feature in the latest versions of the video standard, making it possible to use an iPad as an external display for a MacBook Air, for example.
Currently, only the 27 inch iMac's DisplayPort supports the use of the system as an external display. Adding such a feature to iPads, particularly new ones with ultra high resolution displays, would add value to the product among mobile users and creative professionals.
The job listing, discovered by AppleInsider, describes the position as working within the "group at Apple that develops SOCs that will be used in Apple mobile devices," referring to the "system on a chip" devices designed by Apple and currently built by Samsung, including the A4 used inside iPhone 4 and the A5 powering the iPad 2.
A signal integrity engineer manages issues with sending electrical signals through chips, circuit boards, and interconnects between devices, preventing crosstalk, signal attenuation and power supply noise from overpowering data signals.
Apple asks for SI experience in working with both serial and parallel data links, naming DisplayPort (a digital serial link for video that the company currently uses only on its Mac desktops and notebooks) and LPDDR2 (a parallel data bus used by the type of fast RAM used inside the iPad 2's A5 chip).
This indicates that Apple is likely working to add support for the DisplayPort video standard to upcoming versions of its SOC, perhaps as soon as the delivery of the upcoming A6.
Apple currently only supports the older, analog composite VGA and digital parallel HDMI video standards for output from the iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2. Adding the modern new digital serial DisplayPort link would enable future iOS devices to drive the new crop of displays that are beginning to appear, including Apple's own new Thunderbolt Display.
Thunderbolt, external displays and video input
There's no evidence to suggest that Apple will also incorporate SOC support for Thunderbolt's separate high speed data interconnect features, which the company added to its Mini DisplayPort jacks on new Macs released this year.
Thunderbolt pairs a direct, high speed link to the CPU (based on Intel's PCI Express standard) on the same cable as DisplayPort video, allowing modern Macs that support the new interconnect to drive one or more external displays while also connecting to high speed external storage devices and supporting bridge connections to alternative interfaces such as USB 2.0, Firewire, and Gigabit Ethernet.
However, the addition of DisplayPort support for iOS devices could make it easier to link future mobile devices to modern displays, as well as extend support for the bidirectional video feature in the latest versions of the video standard, making it possible to use an iPad as an external display for a MacBook Air, for example.
Currently, only the 27 inch iMac's DisplayPort supports the use of the system as an external display. Adding such a feature to iPads, particularly new ones with ultra high resolution displays, would add value to the product among mobile users and creative professionals.
Comments
Thunderbolt on an iPad!
Place to stand --- meet lever!
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ved_sides.html
You can see mention of this on some of the 3rd party dongles, eg:
http://www.buy.com/prod/wolverine-ip...217655377.html
...or if you tear apart a VGA dongle you can see the displayport->vga chip (some ST part) pretty clearly.
I just paid $24,31 for an iPad2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic GF 1 Camera that we got for $34,26 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 42 inch LED TV to my boss for $678 which only cost me $68,18 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentSpace.com
This account will be deleted in 4,3,2....
EDIT: MOD - delete my post as well, so his msg is not saved here.
This account will be deleted in 4,3,2....
EDIT: MOD - delete my post as well, so his msg is not saved here.
No ..I want to leave the dead carcass of this spammer at least partially visible.
Using the ipad as an external display for the macbook air? What a retarded idea. Why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah...I'm not RETARDED.
Er... Ah... How about an iPad as an external display, multitouch control surface, graphics tablet, customizable input device (switches, buttons, keys, fretboards, sliders, knobs, etc.)...
For any Mac with Thunderbolt!
Yes!
Thunderbolt on an iPad!
Place to stand --- meet lever!
Ummm, didn't this article just specifically say NOT to expect Thunderbolt on iOS devices?
Using the ipad as an external display for the macbook air? What a retarded idea. Why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah...I'm not RETARDED.
Actually I'd imagine on devices with relatively small displays like MacBook Airs lots of folks would like to extend their desktops (when actually seated at a desk) via an external monitor (which could be an iPad).
Apple is moving the Mac platform from Intel to the ARM architecture found in the A6.
All signs are pointing this way.
The Mac OS user interface is moving towards iOS.
When the Mac does move to ARM, you will only be able to run software purchased from one of Apple's App Stores.
It will be a blessing for consumers. No more worrying about viruses or backups. If you manage to get a virus (unlikely as the Mac will only run signed code) or have disk corruption, just erase the hard drive and restore from iCloud. iCloud stores all your data, and you can just re-download the OS and your Apps. The only people with problems will be those who have 'jail broken' their Macs in order to run unapproved software.
This is likely the real reason why Rosetta is not present in Lion. Apple didn't want the loss of PPC software to be associated with the move to the ARM architecture. Therefore, they needed to discontinue Rosetta prematurely, so it's loss is not seen as related to the ARM transition.
I think people are missing the obvious.
Apple is moving the Mac platform from Intel to the ARM architecture found in the A6.
Oh, HOW could we have missed that? It's so GLARINGLY obvious?
All signs are pointing this way.
I'm a great driver. I've not seen a single sign.
The Mac OS user interface is moving towards iOS.
Which to you apparently implies good hardware will move to crap hardware.
When the Mac does move to ARM, you will only be able to run software purchased from one of Apple's App Stores.
Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
'jail broken' their Macs
This is likely the real reason why Rosetta is not present in Lion.
Or maybe it's just old code for a six year old, dead platform that no one should be writing anymore.
But no, your idea's? "valid".
Oh, HOW could we have missed that? It's so GLARINGLY obvious?
I'm a great driver. I've not seen a single sign.
Which to you apparently implies good hardware will move to crap hardware.
Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
Or maybe it's just old code for a six year old, dead platform that no one should be writing anymore.
But no, your idea's? "valid".
Thank you for your well thought out critique. It's always nice to see a well thought out and reasoned response rather than a personal attack.
You seem to be under the impression that there is somehow something "bad" about Apple taking this path. Quite the contrary, it makes excellent business sense.
Apple has clearly made the business decision to go after the vast consumer market, and has shown little loyalty to their existing customers. The number of consumers out there vastly outweigh the business market.
Already the consumer iPads make more money for Apple than the Mac product line. Apple's main income are from iOS devices, iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch. The Mac market maybe growing at about 14% per year, but the iPhone and iPad markets are growing at 140% to 180% per year. Each year the Mac makes up a smaller percentage of Apple's income.
Turning the Mac into a desktop iPad makes a lot of sense. Most people are not computer experts. They don't understand what happens under the hood, nor do they want to. An iOS Mac would be perfect for this market segment. You get the large screen and keyboard of a desktop, with the simplicity and ease of use for the iPad. Lion already has features that only work when you use the trackpad. I suspect Mouse support will be going away soon as well.
Today's Mac is built on Unix. I'm a power user, as are most people who are reading this. I am happy that I can drop into Terminal at any time and access the command line. I'm old school and I am comfortable editing large text files in emacs, without ever touching a mouse. My mother-in-law has no concept of what a command line, nor what it's for. She has no desire to learn.
The mother-in-laws of this world far outnumber us.
In any case Apple has a long history of aggressively abandoning old technology and embracing the new.
If you sync via mobile-me, it will stop working next June, unless you upgrade to Lion.
If you don't have broadband, you are a second class citizen when it comes to buying Lion.
If you don't have broadband you cannot buy most Apple software as it is only available online.
Apple no longer supports the Apple modem under Lion.
Apple even went as far as adding code to prevent AirPlay audio streaming from working with the original Apple TV (AirPlay audio streaming does work with the original Airport Express, which uses the same protocols as the original Apple TV).
I'm not saying this is good or bad. I'm just suggesting that in my opinion it's far more likely that Apple will move the Mac to ARM then for Apple to add Thunderbolt to the iPhone or iPad.
Turning the Mac into a desktop iPad makes a lot of sense. Most people are not computer experts. They don't understand what happens under the hood, nor do they want to.
Absolutely correct, which is why Lion works and looks like iOS.
An iOS Mac would be perfect for this market segment.
Except one not running iOS.
I'm not saying this is good or bad. I'm just suggesting that in my opinion it's far more likely that Apple will move the Mac to ARM then for Apple to add Thunderbolt to the iPhone or iPad.
But you've provided no logical… ANYTHING… for the move to ARM. If what's under the hood doesn't matter to most people, then Apple's going to keep around stuff that DOES matter to the PEOPLE who DO (matter). People who need more than ARM can provide and people who don't want to use touchscreens for their work.
Their work being developing applications to run on these computers of the future. Because they matter more than any mother-in-law.
Absolutely correct, which is why Lion works and looks like iOS.
Except one not running iOS.
But you've provided no logical? ANYTHING? for the move to ARM. If what's under the hood doesn't matter to most people, then Apple's going to keep around stuff that DOES matter to the PEOPLE who DO (matter). People who need more than ARM can provide and people who don't want to use touchscreens for their work.
Their work being developing applications to run on these computers of the future. Because they matter more than any mother-in-law.
Apple now has in-house people designing ARM processors.
Apple has been moving to control as much of the eco-system as possible.
Apple moved away from the PPC architecture because the developers of PPC were not interested in making processors that met Apple's needs.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple recently threatened gave Intel a wakeup call that they would be losing Apple's business if they couldn't reduce power consumption.
The ARM chip is already a low power, high performance chip. Apple is in control of their processor designs. Moving towards ARM seems a natural move for Apple.
both iOS and Mac OSX are based on the same code base. Apple makes much more money from ARM based sales then intel based sales. If Apple moves the Mac to ARM, they no longer have to worry about optimizing for Intel. By focusing all of their development on a single platform, they will be better able to use their development resources.
But I could be wrong. it's possible that Apple is very concerned about existing customers (despite what the Final Cut Pro users think). Companies that are concerned about existing customers generally produce a road map showing where they are going, and giving time frames for the discontinuation of existing technologies.
A company that was concerned about existing customers would have made an official announcement that Rosetta was going away. Customers would not have to rely on notoriously inaccurate rumor sites (apologies to AppleInside). As it is, the only official notice of Rosettas demise is a warning that pops up after you have upgraded, telling you that your existing software is no longer supported.
Moving towards ARM seems a natural move for Apple.
Completely removing the video editing, audio editing, and high-end graphics design parts of Apple's market, however, doesn't.
If Apple moves the Mac to ARM, they no longer have to worry about optimizing for Intel.
Or worry about having any third-party developers make software for OS X, either.
A company that was concerned about existing customers would have made an official announcement that Rosetta was going away.
They did. To the developers. Who are the ones that matter. It could have easily been a footnote on the Lion page, but it isn't.
-- lower power/battery power usage
-- instant on/off
-- immediate access via iOS/ARM to most-often-used functions: web, email, notifications, synch, iCloud, streaming, chat, widgets...
-- the OSX/Intel to do heavy lifting: more robust apps, Windows, encoding, transcoding, rendering, multi-window, development, simulation...
I would think you could walk up to your Mac and get immediate access to iPad-like computer capabilities without ever getting into OSX/Intel mode.
Then, when you need more power or capability, the OSX/Intel takes over and does the heavy lifting.
But, the ARM/iOS could keep on running -- handling sync, backup, notifications, iCloud -- offloading those background tasks from the "power" components.
In the old days of maimframe computers they used the concept of channels to offload the more mundane (I/O) functions from the main processor.
These "channels" were little computers in themselves -- with their own little OS (limited function). The channels and the processors ran concurrently and interfaced using designated areas of memory as a buffer or dropbox.
From a cost standpoint an inexpensive A4 ARM chip could off-lay the busy and inefficient work of UI and IO from the big iron and big OS -- allowing each to do their own thing and deliver the best results for the user,
...kinda' like Kobe and Shaq when they both played for the Lakers team.
Completely removing the video editing, audio editing, and high-end graphics design parts of Apple's market, however, doesn't.
Or worry about having any third-party developers make software for OS X, either.
They did. To the developers. Who are the ones that matter. It could have easily been a footnote on the Lion page, but it isn't.
High end video editing, audio editing, and high-end graphics design are only a small portion of the Mac market. The Mac market is only a small portion of Apple's revenue. If Apple abandoned these markets tomorrow, it would not make a noticeable difference on their bottom line.
There's an argument to be made that Apple has already shown it is not interested in the professional video editing program.
Apple did not upgrade FCP, they replaced it. It's quite possible that the new FCP may in fact be a better program than the old, but it is clear that it is not compatible, and it is currently missing features that today's vide professionals need. Apple discontinued the old program when they introduced the new, and even went as far as recalling boxed copies of the old program from store shelves. Any professional working on a large FCP pro project was left in a situation where they could not add more bodies to the project because they could not buy additional copies of the old version and the new version doesn't open old projects.
The FCP project manager is on record s saying that some of the features of the old version will not be added to the new version, because Apple doesn't think people should be using video tape.
This is not how a company would act if they were interested in the professional video market.
Keep in mind that iMovie is already available on the iPad. It's very likely that the new version of FCP was developed with Apple's latest frameworks and development environment. I suspect that FCP will be available for the iPad 4, if not the iPad 3.
High end video editing, audio editing, and high-end graphics design are only a small portion of the Mac market. The Mac market is only a small portion of Apple's revenue. If Apple abandoned these markets tomorrow, it would not make a noticeable difference on their bottom line.
You just keep thinking that.
This is not how a company would act if they were interested in the professional video market.
It's the exact same thing Apple did with phones. Completely new device, zero compatibility with old ringtone files, contact files, etc.