Apple's A5 CPU in iPad 2 has 512MB of RAM, same as iPhone 4 - report

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  • Reply 41 of 266
    dooghdoogh Posts: 37member
    WOW, people have no idea how technology works in this thread... I am no expert, but I do have a CS degree...



    iOS does NOT store multiple applications in memory, or running simultaneously on the processor. You may ask "Then how does it multi-task". The short answer is "It doesn't" in the common sense of the word.



    When you switch to another application, the iPad uses the advantage of a solid state drive. It freezes the application and stores its current state to the SSD. This means, what the user sees is a very fast resume and the APPEARANCE of multitasking. While it is true that applications can request to background process, nearly NO app does this. Even calendar applications simply add events to the system scheduler, rather than multi-tasking. It's a brilliant way to give the consumer what they want while preserving battery life and performance.



    That being said, only one application and parts of the OS are actually stored in memory. That means, unless you are running a singular application that needs that memory, MORE does NOT help. Like the poster above me, the system-on-a-chip technology has insanely fast bus speeds. Even if the OS has to retrieve information from the hard-drive, it's an SSD, which is VERY fast compared to a traditional HD.



    My point: The pauses, slow down, etc. are due to iOS bugs more so than lack of memory. 512MB of RAM is MORE than enough for the way iOS works. The iPhone 4 uses the same chip and has nearly the resolution of the iPad; it works fine.
  • Reply 42 of 266
    2 cents2 cents Posts: 307member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RegurgitatedCoprolite View Post


    Gosh, imagine how much more I could have used my iPad these past ten months if it only had 512 MBs of RAM, instead of 256.



    Haha. Me too!
  • Reply 43 of 266
    adamiigsadamiigs Posts: 355member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Well BS that we need to get this info from a fourth party. Further it is BS in the sense that Apple does publish many specs for the iPads but prefers to screw over the consummer with respect to this one important parameter.



    RAM is very important, if Apple has stayed with 256MB the upgrade would be worthless. From the day it debuted iPad one has suffered from the lack of RAM.



    It's a good thing you shouldn't attack people here, or someone would call you a clueless idiot.
  • Reply 44 of 266
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    If nothing else, more ram would give users the freedom to have more apps open without losing performance.




    Haha... you have no idea what you're talking about.
  • Reply 45 of 266
    minderbinderminderbinder Posts: 1,703member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustReelFilms View Post


    Funny how last year when people whined about iPad only having 256 of RAM while iPhone 4 had 512MB.



    What exactly about making that complaint makes it "whining"?



    The iPad having half the ram caused demonstrable performance issues compared to the iPhone that had double - when there actually is a problem, isn't it perfectly reasonable to complain about it?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichL View Post


    It is? How so? Is there a special USE_MEMORY_EFFICIENTLY flag in Darwin designed especially for the iPad?



    If you don't think that iOS can get by on less memory, just try running your mac with only 256 megs of ram (or even 512 for that matter).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    Haha... you have no idea what you're talking about.



    Gee, that's a heck of a rebuttal.
  • Reply 46 of 266
    adamiigsadamiigs Posts: 355member
    It's sad when the trolls don't know enough about the OS to post even entertaining trolly comments "more ram to run more apps" ?
  • Reply 47 of 266
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post








    Gee, that's a heck of a rebuttal.



    You don't even know how iOS works... the rebuttal is in your own argument.
  • Reply 48 of 266
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AdamIIGS View Post


    It's sad when the trolls don't know enough about the OS to post even entertaining trolly comments "more ram to run more apps" ?



    It's hilarious...
  • Reply 49 of 266
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    Just because you didn't hear about the problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There were MANY reports of slow web browsing due to pages having to reload.



    Don't you think it may have been designed to do that? I normally have 6-7 pages open on my 3GS. Some reload, some don't. I tried it with Safari running in the background and not by killing the process.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    And I'm sure if the iPad only ran games and not apps (especially stuff like GB and iMovie) it would too.



    I take it you haven't used these systems recently as they do apps and games and both have received OS upgrades.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    Because the lack of ram made iPad 1 slower for web browsing. Did you even read the thread before posting?



    I did, see earlier comment.





    The "others" that have 1GB of memory also have a generic OS that brag about Flash. Trust me, with Flash you will need all the memory you can get. Also with their 1GB, how's their battery life?
  • Reply 50 of 266
    niko03niko03 Posts: 30member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Superbass View Post


    It's more a question of whether you'll be able to use apps written/updated in 2 or 3 years that are designed to run on iOS 5 or 6 or 7.



    The iPhone3 and 3G are both noticeably slower when running iOS4 and extremely slow when running apps that were released for iPhone4. I borrowed a friend's 3G (running iOS4) the other day to send an SMS when my 4 ran out of battery, and it really surprised me; imagine if the Macbook you buy today slows to a crawl when you install Lion later this year or when Pages gets updated next year. I think the iPhone and iPad fall more into "computer" territory than "phone" territory in the way that I expect to be able to run whatever programs come out over the next 3-4 years without feeling that they're too old/too slow technology.



    I don't know if having 1GB vs. 512MB memory means anything right now within iOS4.3, but I'm almost positive it would make a difference when iOS5/6/7 are released.



    From Apple's perspective, it allows them to get under the $500 price point and keep their targeted profit margins, while we can see the Xoom is going to be more expensive, but maybe have more longevity on the per-user basis...



    That is if the Xoom will get timely OS updates...



    The current state of mobile is akin to the earlier days of PC's. The advances were coming so fast in hardware and software. There is a huge difference in the longevity/usability of a PC/MAC bought 10-15yrs ago vs. today or the past few years.



    If you bought a PC 15yrs ago - the software coming out a year or two later would bog down the machine if it would run at all. You buy a PC/MAC today and it is much more likely that software in a year or two will run just fine.
  • Reply 51 of 266
    lukeskymaclukeskymac Posts: 506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Superbass View Post


    Moot point - the article broadly states "Apple prefers to avoid detailing technical specifications of its devices", which I refuted.



    Refuted, my ass. What does Apple say about the A4? That it's a "high-performance, low power system on a chip". A5 is the same, just with "dual core" added to the mix. Likewise, they do not specify which GPU they use.



    Quote:

    When connected to a 1080p tv, the Xoom will "actually play" 1080p video. Conversely, while the iPad2 can technically output 1080p, it can only actually play 720p video, even when connected to a 1080p TV.



    It can only play 720p video... when mirroring the iPad's screen. There are no hardware limitations preventing the iPad from outputting to 1080p. 9x the GPU power comparing to the original iPad (which produced graphics akin to the original Xbox) also speaks volumes.
  • Reply 52 of 266
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    Can't wait to get my hands of this thing. I don't care how much RAM it has - My question is how does it perform. From everything I've read, it's a beast.



    RAM size is moot when you consider the speed of data between the CPU. A 20MB app running on a 256 RAM has no performance gain running it on 512MB RAM. Performance doesn't increase per RAM size but per data rate. The only benefit of a larger RAM is the amount of applications you can run at once (but then again, iOS can manage this by quitting idling apps), the maximum canvas size of photo editors and how many layers it can hold, etc. The #1 bottleneck is retrieving resources from the storage. But it uses SSD which is fast.



    I'm a Video guy and I am still shocked how you can edit HD movies on device, smoothly.



    At least everyone should be happy now that it has LPDDR2.
  • Reply 53 of 266
    minderbinderminderbinder Posts: 1,703member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmillermcp View Post


    Don't you think it may have been designed to do that? I normally have 6-7 pages open on my 3GS. Some reload, some don't. I tried it with Safari running in the background and not by killing the process.



    Designed to intentionally reload the same page instead of just caching it and bringing it up instantly? Why would you design something to be slower and use more bandwidth.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmillermcp View Post


    I take it you haven't used these systems recently as they do apps and games and both have received OS upgrades.



    I know they have apps, but do they have anything on the level of multitrack audio recording or HD video editing?
  • Reply 54 of 266
    carniphagecarniphage Posts: 1,984member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DoogH View Post


    I am no expert, but I do have a CS degree...



    You may have some facts wrong.



    C.
  • Reply 55 of 266
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    It's not about raw specs, folks. It never was.
  • Reply 56 of 266
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    News flash - the iPad 2 hasn't shipped yet. Maybe 512 will be enough, maybe not, but we don't know if there will be complaints when it shipped. Despite the millions sold, there WERE plenty of complaints about the original iPad, one of the biggest being bad user experience due to not enough ram.



    News Flash:



    Just because you think there were plenty of complaints doesn't make it so... besides, even 1000 complaints (and I highly doubt it was even that high) set against 15 million sold...
  • Reply 57 of 266
    Apple makes exceptional IOS devices. I have owned an iPhone 3GS and currently own an iPhone 4. Bottom line they were both great. My jail-broken 3GS would play 1080p files. There was no good way to output them outside of the iPhone and 1080p was overkill for a iPhone 3GS screen. However, with the iPhone 4 it can output 1080p not only 720p video if it is jail-broken and using an adapter. Apple makes their products to work the combination of components and their operating system works. They do not put out trash. You can complain about performance that no one has experienced with the iPad 2 based upon your thoughts of specs, but it doesn't matter if it does the job well and I am confident that the iPad 2 will do it's job well as all of it's other products have done well.



    Technology does get outdated. I sold my iPhone 3gs for $250 2 years after I purchased it. They hold their value well. You can always sell your old and buy the new model. You probably won't get what you paid for it, but you could pay off a very good portion of a new unit. Is the iPad 2 an improvement it appears very much so. Will it be better than some other brand tablet, IMHO yes. I trust Apple products and have some friends with competing products and the same friends want to switch over. User experience is important. That's not to say that Apple is perfect, I think they block things that they shouldn't and limit their devices where they shouldn't in connectivity, but they make the product, not me and I'm still very happy with my experience.
  • Reply 58 of 266
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post








    I know they have apps, but do they have anything on the level of multitrack audio recording or HD video editing?



    GarageBand and iMovie.
  • Reply 59 of 266
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    It's not about raw specs, folks. It never was.



    For the PC crowd it has always been... they needed a straw to grasp...
  • Reply 60 of 266
    superbasssuperbass Posts: 688member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post


    Refuted, my ass. What does Apple say about the A4? That it's a "high-performance, low power system on a chip". A5 is the same, just with "dual core" added to the mix. Likewise, they do not specify which GPU they use.



    Ok guy - is this what you call "avoiding detailing technical specifications?" as the article states?:



    Models

    \t

    Size and Weight

    Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)

    Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)

    Depth: 0.34 inch (8.8 mm)

    Weight: 1.33 pounds (601 g)

    Height: 9.50 inches (241.2 mm)

    Width: 7.31 inches (185.7 mm)

    Depth: 0.34 inch (8.8 mm)

    Weight: 1.35 pounds (613 g)

    (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

    Weight: 1.34 pounds (607 g)

    (Wi-Fi + 3G for Verizon model)

    Storage2

    16GB32GB64GB\t16GB32GB64GB

    Wireless and Cellular

    Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

    Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

    Wi-Fi + 3G model: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

    Wi-Fi + 3G for Verizon model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)

    Data only3

    Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)

    Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

    Learn more about Wi-Fi + 3G

    Carriers



    Display

    9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology

    1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)

    Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

    Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

    Chip



    1GHz dual-core Apple A5 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

    Cameras, Photos, and Video Recording

    Back camera: Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still camera with 5x digital zoom

    Front camera: Video recording, VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio; VGA-quality still camera

    Tap to control exposure for video or stills

    Photo and video geotagging over Wi-Fi

    Power and Battery4

    Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

    Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

    Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

    Built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery

    Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music

    Up to 9 hours of surfing the web using 3G data network

    Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

    Input/Output

    30-pin dock connector port

    3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack

    Built-in speaker

    Microphone

    30-pin dock connector port

    3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack

    Built-in speaker

    Micro-SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

    Microphone

    Sensors

    Three-axis gyro

    Accelerometer

    Ambient light sensor

    Location

    Wi-Fi

    Digital compass

    Wi-Fi

    Digital compass

    Assisted GPS

    Cellular

    Audio Playback

    Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz

    Audio formats supported: HE-AAC (V1 and V2), AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

    User-configurable maximum volume limit

    Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through with Apple Digital AV Adapter (sold separately)

    TV and Video

    Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 1080p with Apple Digital AV Adapter or Apple VGA Adapter (cables sold separately)

    Video out support at 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable

    Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

    Mail Attachment Support

    Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)



    Languages

    Language support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, and Vietnamese

    Keyboard support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), French (Canadian), French (Switzerland), German, Traditional Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Zhuyin, Cangjie, Wubihua), Simplified Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Wubihua), Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji, Ten Key), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Estonian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Latvian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian (Cyrillic/Latin), Catalan, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Macedonian, and Cherokee

    Dictionary support (enables predictive text and autocorrect) for English (U.S.), English (UK), French, German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, Vietnamese, and Cherokee

    Accessibility

    Support for playback of closed-captioned content

    VoiceOver screen reader

    Full-screen zoom magnification

    White on black display

    Mono audio

    Environmental Requirements

    Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)

    Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)

    Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing

    Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

    Mac System Requirements

    Mac computer with USB 2.0 port

    Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later

    iTunes 10.2 or later recommended

    (free download from www.itunes.com/download)

    iTunes Store account

    Internet access

    Windows System Requirements

    PC with USB 2.0 port

    Windows 7; Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later

    iTunes 10.2 or later recommended

    (free download from www.itunes.com/download)

    iTunes Store account

    Internet access

    In the Box



    iPad

    Dock Connector to USB Cable

    10W USB Power Adapter

    Documentation

    Environmental Status Report

    iPad embodies Apple?s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:



    Arsenic-free display glass

    BFR-free

    Mercury-free LED-backlit display

    PVC-free

    Recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post


    It can only play 720p video... when mirroring the iPad's screen.



    Wrong.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post


    There are no hardware limitations preventing the iPad from outputting to 1080p.



    But there ARE software limitations. Read the Tech Specs before starting to make crap up, guy.



    Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
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