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ARM Cortex A9 Performance Demo - Likely Chip to Power iSlate and Future iPhones
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As some have said here, I doubt that very many people care about what OS is running on the Slate.
What I think that people who say "it should run full OSX" really mean is that "it should run my existing OSX applications". They don't want to have to buy new versions of their applications (like the move from PPC to x86/x64). This would be necessary if the Slate ran full OSX on ARM.
And I think that those same people really don't want to try to find new, more-or-less equivalent apps in the App Store - which would be the case if the Slate ran the Iphone OSX on ARM.
This group will probably stick with laptops - the Slate doesn't meet their needs.
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On the other hand, Apple could run full OSX on the Slate - but port the Iphone UI to full OSX.
The Slate could run dual-mode - normally the Iphone UI would be full screen, and you'd have the "Giant Iphone" multi-touch experience. You could choose to hide the Iphone UI and expose the OSX desktop, and run standard applications. (A certain other major desktop OS has been doing this for a few years, switching between the "2 foot UI" (desktop) and the "10 foot UI" (media centre).)
You'd most likely want to use the BlueTooth keyboard and mouse with the 2 foot UI.
And even less to mention that the A9 in that video was a dual core and that GHz comparisons between different ISAs are entirely pointless?
Tell you what:
A Core 2 Duo at 500 MHz would have really kicked ass in that video. And a Pentium 4 at 500 MHz would have sucked so badly you wouldn't wanna mention it. So why isn't Intel simply using Core 2 Duos instead of Atoms? Power consumption (and die size, but that's another story...)
The video is entirely useless as it is. It just shows that they have something that can somehow compete. Thing is, nobody doubted that. They had something pretty good with the A8 already!
About that x86 issue:
I think it does matter quite a bit. Netbooks are a huge market and the video shows that ARM is aiming for that. However, we can safely assume that Windows will not be ported to ARM in the near future and we can also assume that most people prefer Windows on their netbooks so far (Linux netbooks that were initially on the shelf were quickly abandoned). ARM will need a LOT of support from other players if they want to make a dent into Atom sales numbers. The Apple tablet will be playing in another segment and not even remotely compete in terms of netbooks (=Atoms) sold. So their bet is on Chrome OS I guess. Risky.
The problem with Intel is TDP.
The problem with Arm is OS (no Mac, no Windows).
If I have to choose for the Apple Tablet, I rather get Mac (and Windows) inside. Even if the battery life is worse. Because the possibility to run productivity applications (read Microsoft Office) is key.
The problem with Arm is OS (no Mac, no Windows).
If I have to choose for the Apple Tablet, I rather get Mac (and Windows) inside. Even if the battery life is worse. Because the possibility to run productivity applications (read Microsoft Office) is key.
This tablet is going to need to be some sort of miracle product. I don't even think that Apple can conjure a market for it.
I'm not fond of the direction we're going with all these ARM products going above portable status.
I'm not fond of the direction we're going with all these ARM products going above portable status.
Productivity applications have the lowest processing power requirements and the biggest established niche markets for tablets are in field data collection or editing (hospital, warehouses...) .
I don't see why there wouldn't be some port of one of the Office-compatible suites. Starting with QuickOffice.
Seriously. I doubt Windows would be able to use whatever propriety interface that the iSlates hardware will have.
First of all, that has to be a hackintosh netbook. Look at the left screen. You can see Mac OS X's menu bar.
And then look at the Cortex A9 screen on the right. The same menu bar!
Are we getting the iPhone OS X with the interface of Mac OS X...? Or the ARM version of Mac OS X?
And then look at the Cortex A9 screen on the right. The same menu bar!
Are we getting the iPhone OS X with the interface of Mac OS X...? Or the ARM version of Mac OS X?
It is *nix running GNOME desktop environment.
First of all, that has to be a hackintosh netbook. Look at the left screen. You can see Mac OS X's menu bar.
And then look at the Cortex A9 screen on the right. The same menu bar!
Are we getting the iPhone OS X with the interface of Mac OS X...? Or the ARM version of Mac OS X?
Are we getting the iPhone OS X with the interface of Mac OS X...? Or the ARM version of Mac OS X?
That would be the same thing.
A likely scenario, the third way: a new touch-friendly desktop+ iphone apps+tablet-specific apps (from scratch or adaptations of existing Mac softs like the i Suite).
Weren't we talking about this last year?
In March actually? I know I talked about it with a few people on appleinsider...
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96448
The new multi core PowerVR chipsets will make their appearance in the iPad/iBook/iSlate/whatever as well, IMHO.
In March actually? I know I talked about it with a few people on appleinsider...
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96448
The new multi core PowerVR chipsets will make their appearance in the iPad/iBook/iSlate/whatever as well, IMHO.
This is the thing. iPhones replaced PDAs, phones and hand-held gaming. For $1000, the tablet should replace my netbook and/or a combination of several other items for a large number of people to buy it. Its going to be interesting to see configuration, application and pricing for this thing.
I've always thought it would be around $800... very unlikely to be more than $1000 or less than $600. It's not going to be cheaper than the high end iPod Touch and probably has to fall below the macbook. It's going to be annoying to have to continue read all of the people that say it'll fail if it's more than $500 and doesn't run full OSX though...
What I'm hoping to do is replace my macbook pro which I use for serving AppleTV content, downloading, converting, ripping videos/DVDs and IM, web, music with a headless mac mini and this tablet. Headless macmini will download, convert, rip videos and serve the content to my appletv... tablet will be used for couch surfing/being portable and likely controlling the macmini using VNC. I think if you already have a laptop the tablet might not be for you... I think it's going to be best served as a secondary computer (or a different type of computer all together).
But I can do all this with a $300 netbook and a mini. In fact, I am doing that now.
The tablet, other than the form factor, doesn't bring anything extra into the equation.
Well that really is the million dollar question isn't it? Exactly how open is it? We won't know the full details until after press conference when the SDK can be downloaded.
As of right now, Apple hasn't shown the slightest interest in opening up the iPhone OS which doesn't bode well for the tablet. If you can't download a file off the web or connect an external hard drive amongst the other things you mentioned, it's a niche product.
Well it might, we just don't know. I would hate to have apple stock if they just release a macbook minus the keyboard + a touch screen or if it's just a big iPod. I have to assume there will be (much) more to it.
It will certainly be interesting to see how it's implimented. I'm thinking/hoping for a Finder type app to manage files/SD cards/USB drives but still think it'll be too closed for most people* (in terms of running apps). I basically think it'll be App Store apps (some in native iPhone resolution, some scalable to full-screen and probably some just for the tablet - ie iWork apps) with windowed and background applications (not having to go to the home screen and launch the other) and some kind of file management.
* most people as in most people on the forums, which we all know is SO representative of the general population.....
The mac table is going to be a combination of pa semi custom cheaps for apple and arm cpus.
Arm cpus are the cutting edge, they are so exciting, nothing like the crap that comes out of intel these days and because of their marketing bankroll get a lot of fanfare for **** igfx, no battery improvements, no heat improvements, no efficiency improvements and a performance bump of 15%, in what is supposed to be their new gen of chips, I wonder if it was just an incremental update, what would they performance bump be 5%? Pathetic. All that intel has going for them today in the mobile segment are the hacks at engadget and anandtech.
Apple can take OS X snow leopard to power vr or arm, any day they choose to, they don't because they sell well on the compatibility factor and because they don't want/need os snow leopard to run on iphones and the mac tablet, there's no use for that, it's not the appropriate interface for them.
I suspect that's going to be the deal. Just as Safari and a few other items were ported to the iPhone, I think we'll see iWork/Life selectively migrated to this new device.
I get the feeling that the real selling point of this thing is going to be its UI, and the degree to which it can consolidate & serve media content -- particularly of the printed kind. Since so much web video is currently Flash, and that's a power sucker, I'm not sure how much of a "rich" browsing platform this is going to be, at least until HTML5 is out of the gate.
So you start with the new UI, toss in some basic apps that many of us rely on, and tie it into iTunes for print. It just might work, as long as it doesn't cost $1000 or something. And frankly, it might go a long way towards replacing the low-end MacBook, eventually.
Um, no. ARM CPUs are, from a technological perspective, quite boring. They are architecturally simple and unininteresting, and generally use fabrication technology that is a couple years behind what the big boys are using, thus they rely on AMD and Intel to work out the kinks and work with the EDA guys to get DFM, etc., working. Intel chips improve greatly with each generation. And I say that as a guy who spent a decade designing chips for their competitor, AMD (and also designed Sparcs for Sun and PPCs for Exponential, the PA Semi of its day - Apple was an investor and on the board of directors).
Of course it does, it already does on our iphones, and full snow leopard runs on ARM in their labs.