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iOS 4.X for iPad already here

T

thelookingglass

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 27, 2005
2,207
685
Over on one of the Chinese iPad forums, a guy is saying that his friend who works at Foxconn told him that every iPad that's coming out of the factory right now already has 4.x installed. It's apparently been tested and is good to go. If true, we should expect an announcement at Wednesday's event.

My question is, don't updates typically go through a developer beta stage? Has there ever been an instance where that hasn't happened?

Here's the link for anyone who reads Chinese:

http://bbs.weiphone.com/read-htm-tid-1046122.html
 
They don't typically go through BETA until Apple actually announces that it's ready for BETA.

Just because someone says that it's happening, doesn't mean it is.

"APPLE ARE SKIPPING THE 2ND AND 3RD GEN IPADS TO BRING IT TO THE 4TH LIKE THE IPHONE! IT'S GONNA HAVE LASER CANNONS!"

Heres the link for English purposes: http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...6122.html&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en


Well done for reading Chinese btw :D
 
I agree. I don't typically go for all that "oh my friend's friend's uncle said ...", but the people on this board are generally either reasonable or harmlessly clueless which is why I thought it was worth sharing over here. Guess we'll find out soon enough.
 
I really hope for a small announcement on september 1st, or at least for a release date, but a rumor like this is very strange? A new OS version without a beta testing?
 
lozpop said:
I really hope for a small announcement on september 1st, or at least for a release date, but a rumor like this is very strange? A new OS version without a beta testing?
Click to expand...

oh yeh without question, its totally... questionable? i just want a release date so i can breathe again. :)
 
As you've said, it is very strange this "secret" release without the typical Beta period.

I'm very looking forward to get this new version so I hope we can hear some news in the Sep 1st meeting
 
From my understanding there is no need for a beta as iOS4 is already in use on iPhones. The iPad specific version will probably be exactly the same on the iPad as on the iPhone in terms of functioning, it will only differ in resolution/display size. The background mechanics obviously will differ (being tailored to the iPad processor etc.) but this will have no impact on the apps themselves - as a matter of fact the app dev kit is not iPhone or iPad specific, but specific to the OS. So any apps made with the current dev kit will work on the iPhone4 AND iPad iOS4 when released.
 
I'm jailbroken to the hilt so I don't need iOS4. I can only imagine it'll make things slower on the iPad?
 
koobcamuk said:
I'm jailbroken to the hilt so I don't need iOS4. I can only imagine it'll make things slower on the iPad?
Click to expand...

no, I don't agree with that. I think the iPad will run iOS 4 just as well if not better than the iPhone 4. You're not talking about putting iOS 4 on an iPad that came out 2 years ago, you know?
 
jessica. said:
no, I don't agree with that. I think the iPad will run iOS 4 just as well if not better than the iPhone 4. You're not talking about putting iOS 4 on an iPad that came out 2 years ago, you know?
Click to expand...

I believe this is incorrect. You seem to be forgetting that the iPhone 4 has more ram (512 vs 235) than the current gen iPad. That alone will guarantee that iOS4 on the iPad will not run better than the iPhone 4.
 
jessica. said:
no, I don't agree with that. I think the iPad will run iOS 4 just as well if not better than the iPhone 4. You're not talking about putting iOS 4 on an iPad that came out 2 years ago, you know?
Click to expand...

Even assuming iPad runs iOS4 as well as the iPhone4, a lot of iOS4 features are implemented better through jailbreak solutions. Backgrounder lets you run *any* app in the background, not just those that have been updated to run in the background under iOS4. The folders created by CategoriesSB run a lot smoother than iOS4's folders, which seem clunky in comparison. I certainly won't be in a hurry to update when iOS4 for iPad is released.
 
JNGold said:
I believe this is incorrect. You seem to be forgetting that the iPhone 4 has more ram (512 vs 235) than the current gen iPad. That alone will guarantee that iOS4 on the iPad will not run better than the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...

That's not completely true, starting with the fact that the iPhone has retina display which adds the small device 80% of the pixels that the iPad has, and the iPhone also has a Gyroscope and many other features such as the Camera which require more RAM memory, so the iPad, for having less amount of features has a great amount of memory. The amount of RAM required does not depend on the size of the device, but the features that require it.
 
ssdeg7 said:
That's not completely true, starting with the fact that the iPhone has retina display which adds the small device 80% of the pixels that the iPad has, and the iPhone also has a Gyroscope and many other features such as the Camera which require more RAM memory, so the iPad, for having less amount of features has a great amount of memory. The amount of RAM required does not depend on the size of the device, but the features that require it.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid you're not really making much sense. What's the number of pixels and the iPhone 4 having a gyro got to do with RAM? The core OS and opening and running apps is what the RAM is used for. The iPad will inevitably be less capable due to having only half the RAM - you won't be able to have as many apps save their state, you won't be able to open as many Safari tabs, the device will probably stall slightly more frequently as it flushes apps out of RAM due to their being less of it, etc etc.

It's scarey how underspecced the RAM is in the iPad. Yesterday I was listening to a podcast while browsing the web. I had a couple of Safari tabs open already, and when I opened a third and loaded a site, my podcast stopped playing. The iPad had run out of RAM and flushed the iPod app from memory. That's really bad! I hope Apple have seriously reworked the iPad OS to stop this from happening.
 
mrochester said:
I'm afraid you're not really making much sense. What's the number of pixels and the iPhone 4 having a gyro got to do with RAM? The core OS and opening and running apps is what the RAM is used for. The iPad will inevitably be less capable due to having only half the RAM - you won't be able to have as many apps save their state, you won't be able to open as many Safari tabs, the device will probably stall slightly more frequently as it flushes apps out of RAM due to their being less of it, etc etc.

It's scarey how underspecced the RAM is in the iPad. Yesterday I was listening to a podcast while browsing the web. I had a couple of Safari tabs open already, and when I opened a third and loaded a site, my podcast stopped playing. The iPad had run out of RAM and flushed the iPod app from memory. That's really bad! I hope Apple have seriously reworked the iPad OS to stop this from happening.
Click to expand...

The RAM is the primary memory of the device, it is the memory that is used when any app is running, Apps for the iPhone 4 use much more RAM memory than the ones of the iPhone 3GS for example because pictures on the iPhone 4's retina display use 614,400 pixels and the iPad 786,432. Compared to the amount used in the 3GS (153,600) we can see why the iPhone 4 needs more RAM memory. The gyroscope, the accelerometer and the two Cameras that the iPhone 4 has use the RAM memory when being used, so the iPhone 4 uses much more RAM memory that the iPad does.

Yes, the RAM has to do with the amount of app that can be open at the same time, but it also has to do with all the processes that are being used at the moment.
 
ssdeg7 said:
The RAM is the primary memory of the device, it is the memory that is used when any app is running, Apps for the iPhone 4 use much more RAM memory than the ones of the iPhone 3GS for example because pictures on the iPhone 4's retina display use 614,400 pixels and the iPad 786,432. Compared to the amount used in the 3GS (153,600) we can see why the iPhone 4 needs more RAM memory. The gyroscope, the accelerometer and the two Cameras that the iPhone 4 has use the RAM memory when being used, so the iPhone 4 uses much more RAM memory that the iPad does.

Yes, the RAM has to do with the amount of app that can be open at the same time, but it also has to do with all the processes that are being used at the moment.
Click to expand...

So hang on, you're saying that because the iPhone 4 has a higher res screen, it needs more RAM than the 3GS? But then you also say that even though the iPad has an even higher res screen, it's OK with 256MB RAM?! I don't even think the amount of pixels you have has any bearing on the RAM anyway, but you're making no sense anyway since your logic is faulty.
 
mrochester said:
So hang on, you're saying that because the iPhone 4 has a higher res screen, it needs more RAM than the 3GS? But then you also say that even though the iPad has an even higher res screen, it's OK with 256MB RAM?! I don't even think the amount of pixels you have has any bearing on the RAM anyway, but you're making no sense anyway since your logic is faulty.
Click to expand...

You either don't get it or have no clue of what a RAM memory is, I suggest you investigate first and try reading comprehension, my guess, you have no clue of what you are talking about. The iPhone 4 has more RAM demand because of the amount of pixels it has and its extra features, such as 3G, 2 Cameras, Gyroscope. The RAM memory is not only to have more apps open at the same time.
 
They're going to need to do a beta test... While yes, the hardware is SIMILAR, there are major differences between the iPad and iPhone 4, there are differences. The UI itself is somewhat different in terms of the widgets, the way they work, etc. That's why the Calendar and mail look so different, and THOSE are the areas that will need testing... There's also issues of battery life impacts, speed (look at the problems there's been with using iOS4 on the iPhone 3G..) There ARE some hardware differences (wifi vs full GPS, different accelerometers, lack of some sensors like the camera, etc.)
 
ssdeg7 said:
You either don't get it or have no clue of what a RAM memory is, I suggest you investigate first and try reading comprehension, my guess, you have no clue of what you are talking about. The iPhone 4 has more RAM demand because of the amount of pixels it has and its extra features, such as 3G, 2 Cameras, Gyroscope. The RAM memory is not only to have more apps open at the same time.
Click to expand...

So then why does the iPad, with even more pixels than the iPhone 4, have only 256MB RAM then?
 
ssdeg7 said:
You either don't get it or have no clue of what a RAM memory is, I suggest you investigate first and try reading comprehension, my guess, you have no clue of what you are talking about. The iPhone 4 has more RAM demand because of the amount of pixels it has and its extra features, such as 3G, 2 Cameras, Gyroscope. The RAM memory is not only to have more apps open at the same time.
Click to expand...
You've done a good job of outlining how the system works. Many people are only familiar with the individual specs (CPU speed, amount of RAM, screen resolution) and the simplistic notion that "more is better". It is also why some believe that jailbreaking and using backgrounder will be superior to the multitasking of iOS4. (a variation of the "more is better" principle)

I applaud you for your Quixotic quest to educate people... me, I've been online for far too long to care if people choose to remain ignorant.

shifting gears:
This notion that a "beta" of iOS4 for the iPad is required doesn't make sense. There was no public (announced) beta of iOS3.2 on the iPad... Apple did their testing in-house and in secret. No reason why iOS4 should be different.
 
Everyone seems to be forgetting that the iPad (might) have a faster CPU? The A4 in the iPad is 1GHz; the version in the iPhone is 800MHz, right?

(WARNING: sarcasm)
Anywho, RAM's not that important anyway, right? I mean, more megahertz is where its at! I mean, we see how well that turned out for the PC world and their 4GHz Pentium 4s! I mean, in 2001 when my friend ordered her Gateway computer with a (then) blazing fast 2.0GHz P4 and a whopping 128MB of RAM and Windows XP, that should be all the computer any one would ever need, right?
(END sarcasm)

I guess the determining factor is how well Apple streamlines the OS for each device...

BTW, I still find it funny that most of today's computers are just now "catching up" to the speeds we were at over 5 years ago... lol. And you still can't explain to some people that a higher clock speed isn't the end-all for determining a computer's performance...
 
mrochester said:
So then why does the iPad, with even more pixels than the iPhone 4, have only 256MB RAM then?
Click to expand...

Don't you read!!! The amount of pixels is just one of the things the RAM stores, there are MANY other features such as Cameras, Gyroscopes and many sensors that the iPhone has and the iPad does not have. You amaze me.
 
sracer said:
You've done a good job of outlining how the system works. Many people are only familiar with the individual specs (CPU speed, amount of RAM, screen resolution) and the simplistic notion that "more is better". It is also why some believe that jailbreaking and using backgrounder will be superior to the multitasking of iOS4. (a variation of the "more is better" principle)

I applaud you for your Quixotic quest to educate people... me, I've been online for far too long to care if people choose to remain ignorant.

shifting gears:
This notion that a "beta" of iOS4 for the iPad is required doesn't make sense. There was no public (announced) beta of iOS3.2 on the iPad... Apple did their testing in-house and in secret. No reason why iOS4 should be different.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you're familiar with how things work!
 
No reason they need a beta. As far as i remember, no major iOS update has had a beta - only the minor versions get it?

David
 
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