Imagination Technologies reveals future iPhone GPU candidate
Imagination Technologies, the graphics chip maker of which Apple is a part owner, announced Friday its new PowerVR SGX545 mobile GPU, which could appear in future handheld devices from Apple.
The new mobile GPU adds full support for OpenGL 3.2 and OpenCL 1.0. The real-world performance is said to deliver 40 million polygons per second at 200MHz. It is capable of producing content on a screen with a high-definition resolution, and giving a high framerate for rendered 3D content.
"Combining our many years of experience in the embedded, mobile and PC-based DirectX graphics worlds, PowerVR SGX 545 takes the possibilities of hand-held graphics to a new level by delivering a full DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.x feature set as well as delivering GPU powered OpenCL heterogeneous parallel processing capabilities for the mobile and embedded markets," said Tony King-Smith, VP of marketing with Imagination.
"This makes PowerVR SGX545 a compelling solution for application processor SoC designers targeting the next generation of netbook and MID mobile products demanding exceptional graphics capabilities."
The full list of features in the new PowerVR SGX545, according to Imagination, include:
DirectX10.1 API support
Enhanced support for DirectX10 Geometry Shaders
DirectX10 Data assembler support (Vertex, primitive and instance ID generation)
Render target resource array support
Full arbitrary non power of two texture support
Full filtering support for F16 texture types
Support for all DirectX10 mandated texture formats
Sampling from unresolved MSAA surfaces
Support for Gamma on output pixels
Order dependent coverage based AA (anti-aliased lines)
Enhanced line rasterisation
The new GPU's support for full profile OpenCL 1.0 also adds a number of advanced features, including:
Support of round-to-nearest for floating-point math
Full 32-bit integer support (includes add, multiply and divide)
64-bit integer emulation
3D texture support
Support for the maximum 2D and 3D image sizes specified in the full profile.
Released last June, the iPhone 3GS includes a PowerVR SGX GPU core believed to be the SGX535 model. It gave the handset OpenGL ES 2.0 support, allowing more advanced 3D rendering. The SGX536 can producde 28 million polygons per second.
In 2008, AppleInsider reported that Apple purchased a 3 percent stake in Imagination Technologies Group, maker of the PowerVR mobile graphics hardware. Last June, the Mac maker bumped its stake to 9.5 percent. Apple is also a licensee of the company's technology.
The new mobile GPU adds full support for OpenGL 3.2 and OpenCL 1.0. The real-world performance is said to deliver 40 million polygons per second at 200MHz. It is capable of producing content on a screen with a high-definition resolution, and giving a high framerate for rendered 3D content.
"Combining our many years of experience in the embedded, mobile and PC-based DirectX graphics worlds, PowerVR SGX 545 takes the possibilities of hand-held graphics to a new level by delivering a full DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.x feature set as well as delivering GPU powered OpenCL heterogeneous parallel processing capabilities for the mobile and embedded markets," said Tony King-Smith, VP of marketing with Imagination.
"This makes PowerVR SGX545 a compelling solution for application processor SoC designers targeting the next generation of netbook and MID mobile products demanding exceptional graphics capabilities."
The full list of features in the new PowerVR SGX545, according to Imagination, include:
DirectX10.1 API support
Enhanced support for DirectX10 Geometry Shaders
DirectX10 Data assembler support (Vertex, primitive and instance ID generation)
Render target resource array support
Full arbitrary non power of two texture support
Full filtering support for F16 texture types
Support for all DirectX10 mandated texture formats
Sampling from unresolved MSAA surfaces
Support for Gamma on output pixels
Order dependent coverage based AA (anti-aliased lines)
Enhanced line rasterisation
The new GPU's support for full profile OpenCL 1.0 also adds a number of advanced features, including:
Support of round-to-nearest for floating-point math
Full 32-bit integer support (includes add, multiply and divide)
64-bit integer emulation
3D texture support
Support for the maximum 2D and 3D image sizes specified in the full profile.
Released last June, the iPhone 3GS includes a PowerVR SGX GPU core believed to be the SGX535 model. It gave the handset OpenGL ES 2.0 support, allowing more advanced 3D rendering. The SGX536 can producde 28 million polygons per second.
In 2008, AppleInsider reported that Apple purchased a 3 percent stake in Imagination Technologies Group, maker of the PowerVR mobile graphics hardware. Last June, the Mac maker bumped its stake to 9.5 percent. Apple is also a licensee of the company's technology.
Comments
How about a tiny amount of restraint on the headlines instead of fabricating stories out of whole cloth. Try "possible successor" instead of "successor" until you have proof.
Yeah, quite a few of the recent headlines have been far too definitive for just a new product announcement. Lets not lose our head here now.
How about a tiny amount of restraint on the headlines instead of fabricating stories out of whole cloth. Try "possible successor" instead of "successor" until you have proof.
I?d even go with likely successor.
I realize nothing is 100% for sure, but I think 99% is good enough for a tech site headline.
If the rumored Apple tablet device runs on some form of the iPhone OS, is this new chip a candidate to power the alleged tablet?
Possibly, the generation II of the thing. The core of GPU is actually finished and is ready for licensing. The only real chip is just showing up for testing.
How about a tiny amount of restraint on the headlines instead of fabricating stories out of whole cloth. Try "possible successor" instead of "successor" until you have proof.
How about probable successor? This GPU has been announced early enough that there is plenty of time for it to be in the next iPhone.
How about probable successor? This GPU has been announced early enough that there is plenty of time for it to be in the next iPhone.
And even if it isn't, are there any other plausible candidates for the iteration after that? The headline doesn't say "in the next iPhone", it just says that this chip is the successor to the chip that is in the iPhone now, which, strictly speaking, simply identifies the chip.
How about probable successor? This GPU has been announced early enough that there is plenty of time for it to be in the next iPhone.
Well, it was announced now, doesn't mean Apple didn't have notice of long ago... they do own almost 10% of the company.
I'm sure this will end up in Apple's ARM-based SoC, which should appear in both the Iphone and the tablet (if it even exists).
Well, it was announced now, doesn't mean Apple didn't have notice of long ago... they do own almost 10% of the company.
I'm sure this will end up in Apple's ARM-based SoC, which should appear in both the Iphone and the tablet (if it even exists).
I thought Apple owned only 3% of the company. Are they also represented on the board of directors? If not, they may not be privy to planned product releases.
Well, let's see: Apple has invested a stake in Imagination, has used their mobile graphic chips in the iPhone to date, including the last update. Is it really that much of a stretch to assume that they'll make use of this one next time they decide to update the iPhone's graphics hardware?
I realize nothing is 100% for sure, but I think 99% is good enough for a tech site headline.
Change the headline to "likely successor." Not a big deal.
(Update: Headline changed. Nice work guys.)
Change the headline to "likely successor." Not a big deal.
Heh. Well played.
the iPhone 3GS includes a PowerVR SGX GPU core believed to be the SGX535
"...believed..."?
In the amount of time the 3GS has been out, you mean to tell me that no one can confirm that it's an SGX535?
I know Apple is secretive, but they're now able to put a Distortion Field around their hardware. Amazing!
not.
How about a tiny amount of restraint on the headlines instead of fabricating stories out of whole cloth. Try "possible successor" instead of "successor" until you have proof.
I thought the word "candidate" took care of that, or was that word added to the edited title?