Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, iPhone
T Mobile shares iPhone processor, RAM specs
As Jason Snell points out at Macworld, Apple doesn't want people thinking of the iPhone as a computer. At least, not the way geeks like you and I do. As iPhone product marketing manager Bob Borchers told Jason, "...it's just faster, better, quicker, snappier, and a great experience."Apple doesn't want us worrying about the "how," but many of us do, which is why we're interested in a blurb at T Mobile's Netherlands site which lists the iPhone 3G S as having 256MB RAM and a 600 MHz processor. Of course, we can't verify these specs yet but some have suspected, including myself, that the new model would hold 256MB RAM.
I understand the logic behind Apple's move. John Q. Customer is uninterested in the iPhone's innards and cares only that it works. For many, terms like processor, RAM and MHz only make the thing sound complicated and foreign.
Geeks like us, however, can't resist.
[Via MacDailyNews]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Derrick Y. Noh said 12:26PM on 6-10-2009
so the proc is probably the same one that sits in the 3G, it's just not de-clocked to 412MHz?
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Kevin said 12:28PM on 6-10-2009
I don't agree. John Q. Customer can just glaze over the specs as he did with the last phone. Why Apple didn't include the specs, I don't know. I would think that it's not the amount of RAM or CPU speed we'd expect.
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StPaddy said 12:28PM on 6-10-2009
So, It's basically a 3G with the CPU not underclocked, 256MB RAM, and a magnetometer. Hmm...sounds like $$$ for Apple to me.
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Chester said 12:50PM on 6-10-2009
You could say that if Apple were charging more for this phone and saying that it was what you had to have in order to take advantage of all the applications in the App Store. However, this upgraded version is replacing the current price points with more internal storage too.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that everything Apple, and every other company in business, does is to make money. So, naturally, they want everyone to upgrade to the new phone. But dropping the price of the iPhone 3G and continuing to offer it as an option is a great idea.
While they are trying to make money, this seems very consumer friendly to me.
People willing to spend the money ($199/299) and have been waiting on the 'next' iPhone (myself included) should be pretty happy with this speed/storage/battery bump.
Just my $.02 though.
Poltras said 1:00PM on 6-10-2009
And a better GPU, and a new camera (with auto-focus), and a better battery... don't forget that CPU speed bump probably means a smaller gate length and might mean a more recent generation of ARM processor.
C said 2:26PM on 6-10-2009
If you bothered to actually read information freely available on the net now about the 3Gs, it's an entirely NEW processor and GPU pairing. Facts are your friend. Apparently technology knowledge is not.
sixsixty said 12:30PM on 6-10-2009
so it's probably the same proc as the one that sits in the 3G - just not de-clocked to 412MHz?
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Watcher said 12:37PM on 6-10-2009
had to respond
Stop with the stupid comments on how Iphone 3gs is not a good upgrade. Seriously, what did you want Apple to do, re-design it when it is a good design with tons of 3rd party things built for it? What could they have done that wasnt really stupid, ooh a video camera for slow video conferencing for the small % of people who care about that sort of thing?
Faster phone
Better battery life
More memory
Compass which makes mapping MUCH better since it orients the map to the user
Geesh, you people are morons.
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LongshotX said 12:42PM on 6-10-2009
These are probably the specs everyone speculated about.
I don't believe the device has 256MB of ram.
I have not seen one confirmed report that it does.
And what would be the point. You still can't multitask.
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Kevlar said 2:54PM on 6-10-2009
Jailbreak, install Backgrounder.
NOW you can multitask. That took ... 5 minutes.
If you're against Jailbreaking for whatever reason, then you don't deserve the myriad of enhancements it provides, at no cost.
CHRiS said 6:04PM on 6-10-2009
I listen to my music while surfing the web, and get an sms message, that's not multitasking? Sorry everyone, I didn't mean to feed the troll.
iPhone 3G S said 12:44PM on 6-10-2009
Can't argue with that logic. As long as everything runs smoothly, it doesn't really matter what the RAM size and Processor speeds are. I have testing out the new iPhone 3G S over at http://xrl.us/bevzps and I am sure that has an entire server running it, but I know the new iPhone will run just as smoothly.
So in the end, it doesn't matter.
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Rdargewich said 12:46PM on 6-10-2009
What heck gezz waste of money go get 8 gb or 16 gb 149 and install 3.0 os on june 17 then ur set 412 mhz to 600 mhz that's it? Lol no wonder apple didn't release that info csuse they might be too embrassed
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Jacques Lema said 12:51PM on 6-10-2009
Customer lambda enters into a shop and sees the cpu of some pocketpc thing has a faster processor than the iPhone and ends up with a crappy Windows mobile device because he wants the 'fast' one.
That's a good reason not to publish the specs. Not only for Apple, but also in this for the customer who is not qualified enough to understand that a device can be faster on a slower CPU depending on other issues (coprocessors, overall design and software optimization).
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David L Good said 1:16PM on 6-10-2009
Jacques - you took the words right out of my mouth. This is EXACTLY why Apple marketing doesn't hype the phone with specs.
Let us all not forget the PPC vs Intel processor wars that went on many, many years ago. People compared the clock speed of the processor rather than looking at what the processor could do, or how it handled instruction.
For nerds the specs will come out eventually -- we'll just have to wait for them or dig around websites for them. As far as the general public -- if you toss numbers and speeds and RAM at them they'll just get confused because they don't really understand HOW those things work, much less what they really mean... which would open the doors for some lesser device to slip in with "More RAM than the iPhone" and trick people into thinking it must be a better device since it has more of that RAM stuff, and all.
DaveK said 12:57PM on 6-10-2009
I understand Apple's stance on it, but from a developer's point of view, Apple should have released the specs at WWDC so the developers know what kind of hardware they're going to be working with when creating apps that take advantage of the 3GS hardware.
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awolf said 1:05PM on 6-10-2009
For comparison:
iPhone/iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 1st Gen: 400 mHz, 128 MB RAM
iPod Touch 2nd Gen: 533 mHz, 128 MB RAM
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Ross said 1:33PM on 6-10-2009
What I have been hoping to find out was if the 3GS still only supports 802.11g WiFi or if that has been upgraded to 802.11n.
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Kevlar said 2:59PM on 6-10-2009
What could you possibly be doing with 802.11n on your phone?
The phone's low transmit power will limit the range anyways, and there's nothing you could possibly need that speed boost for, since your internet is not 320mbits, and you can't stream video or copy files from your PC.
So enlighten me? Why does your phone need 802.11n? Do you want your battery to drain 3x faster?
CHRiS said 6:03PM on 6-10-2009
For starters, Mr. Smartass, when you have an 802.11n network, you won't have to turn on the g backwards compatibility to slow it down, as you do today. Of course, if you're a Mr. Smarty-ass, you can just purchase a dual router (n and g) to solve this problem, but for those of us who don't want to waste the cash, and want the speed (for the apple tv, mac book pro, and imac to connect via n) that is why it's needed. Hell, with your logic, why not just stick with infrared.