Previous revision iBooks actually DO have DDR VRAM... or do they?
Okay, I goofed on this one. I originally reported that the previous iBook revision had SDR VRAM on the graphics card, and that one of the improvements to the new one was the addition of DDR VRAM. Well, here's how it went - Apple's specifications (posted at http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.html) claim:
1. The 667 and 800 MHz PowerBook G4s have 32 MB of DDR SDRAM on their Radeon 7500s
2. The 700 and 800 MHz iBooks have 16 MB or 32 MB of SDRAM on their Radeon 7500s
3. The 800 and 900 MHz iBooks have 32 MB of DDR SDRAM on their Radeon 7500s
So it's pretty simple to infer that the "SDRAM" on the 700/800 MHz iBooks means single datarate since in the other cases, Apple specifically mentioned DDR.
Wrong. Here is a link someone at MacNN sent me. So according to the developer documentation, the old ones actually DO have DDR SDRAM. What confuses me is that Apple didn't even advertise DDR SDRAM as being on the older iBooks. Why not? Isn't it GOOD to advertise good stuff like DDR, even if it's only on a graphics card?
Anyway, I also wonder if they REALLY did, or if there's a typo somewhere.
1. The 667 and 800 MHz PowerBook G4s have 32 MB of DDR SDRAM on their Radeon 7500s
2. The 700 and 800 MHz iBooks have 16 MB or 32 MB of SDRAM on their Radeon 7500s
3. The 800 and 900 MHz iBooks have 32 MB of DDR SDRAM on their Radeon 7500s
So it's pretty simple to infer that the "SDRAM" on the 700/800 MHz iBooks means single datarate since in the other cases, Apple specifically mentioned DDR.
Wrong. Here is a link someone at MacNN sent me. So according to the developer documentation, the old ones actually DO have DDR SDRAM. What confuses me is that Apple didn't even advertise DDR SDRAM as being on the older iBooks. Why not? Isn't it GOOD to advertise good stuff like DDR, even if it's only on a graphics card?
Anyway, I also wonder if they REALLY did, or if there's a typo somewhere.
Comments
Looking at ATI's website, it looks like the 7500 chipset is available in both an SDR and a DDR configuration. Based on that, my guess would be that the old iBooks did have the SDR version.
My reasoning is, a lot more effort and people go toward making up the Apple Store website, and so I don't think that's a detail they would overlook, because they obviously mentioned DDR for the other notebooks. Would they not advertise a feature to make a product seem inferior? I don't see the point. If they wanted the iBook inferior, they could have just put SDR in there instead of putting DDR in it and not telling anyone. But instead, they didn't advertise DDR before, but they are now with new line.
I think that, if anything, those Apple tech documentations you linked were written before the design was finalized, or they simply made the typo. A lot less people, time, and money probably went into preparing those documents than the documentation for the store.
Then again, of course I'm just speculating.
I agree that it makes no sense for them to NOT say DDR if they do have DDR, but I have no idea really... I think the only way to be sure is to crack open an iBook and look, or go into the firmware or something.
Just because something says "SDR" does not mean it is not DDR.
"SDR," contrary to popular belief does not stand for "single data rate."
"SDRAM" stands for synchronous DRAM.
Originally posted by job
You can have DDR SDRAM.
Just because something says "SDR" does not mean it is not DDR.
"SDR," contrary to popular belief does not stand for "single data rate."
"SDRAM" stands for synchronous DRAM.
Although SDRAM stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory... it has become, through the industry or media, acceptable to differentiate DDR and standard SDRAM by using the acronym SDR vs. DDR.
Though it's perfectly correct to state SDRAM and have it be DDR SDRAM, Apple has made sure to explicitely state DDR with every other product.