iPhone 3G S Speeds and Feeds Revealed: 256MB RAM, 600Mhz CPU

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

T-Mobile Netherlands (opens in new tab) (via Wired) has let slip the formerly elusive specs for the iPhone 3G S:

  • 256MB of RAM
  • 600Mhz CPU

Anandtech (via Macrumors) gives further info:

Although unannounced, the iPhone 3GS uses (again) a Samsung SoC but this time instead of the ARM11 + MBX-Lite combo it's got a Cortex A8 and PowerVR SGX; just like the [Palm] Pre.

So add that to the fast PowerVR SGX graphics core, and -- to quote Steve Jobs -- it's a screamer!

Update: Apple Insider has a great run down of the technology inside the chipsets.

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

14 Comments
  • What did the previous iPhone have?
  • @Danny: 412MHz CPU and 128MB RAM. The RAM is literally double. Apple has no excuse for not doing Flash now (not that they will do it, they just have no excuse).
  • @tkd27 other than historically bloated, buggy Adobe Mac OS X Flash builds that still have no signs of being optimized, cause unprecedented amounts of browser crashes and hangs, are a vector for malware attacks due to bugs in code interpretations, and use a shady hidden Flash Cookie system to violate privacy.
    But yeah, other than that... ;)
  • Well actually it was 620Mhz but it was underclocked to 412Mhz to preserve battery.
    So with this put out there that the Pre and iPhone has the exact same CPU and GPU...we know that they both can basically push the same limits on apps.
    Throw in Android and Doughnut using Open GL ES 2.0 and the future Snapdragon/Tegra chipsets being made for Android...we're going to have a nice little showdown of who pumps out the most beautiful AND functional apps.
  • @Rene
    I heard that they might be trying to find a way to implement Quicktime into the iPhone. Is that true?
  • @idavey,
    your kidding right?...
    Quicktime has been there since 1.0
    And was optimized in 2.0
    This coming from a p o r n lover ;)
  • Funny I remember telling people this just the other day, regarding double the RAM, and many doubted me. You know who you are... ;)
  • o_O @ Shirk LOL
    But I was speaking in replacing Adobe as a Flash provider for the iPhone. I remember reading that somewhere...don't remember where though.
  • So with this put out there that the Pre and iPhone has the exact same CPU and GPU…
    we know that they both can basically push the same limits on apps.
    Not quite - Pre uses HTML and Javascript for apps...in addition, lots of resources are used for supporting multitasking.
    iphone has compiled apps. so the 3gs will smoke the Pre.
  • @John
    Not speaking on the "compilation" of apps. The iPhone would have to have more apps than the Pre I hope.
    But you are right with the multitasking bit. But from just current apps...they seem to possess the visual appeal and functionality of apps in the App Store. So even with that...
  • iPhone 3G will become obsolete as more high-end games will start to use the fast processing speed and high capacity ram that 3G couldn't handle.
  • With 256mb of RAM and better battery, multitasking will probably show up in OS 4.0
  • @antonioj
    Don't count on it. The ARM Cortex A8 uses more power than previous processor. If you would like to see what happens to battery life after multitasking is added...look at the Pre. In theory...because the processor speeds things up and gets the iPhone into standby quicker thats what lets it preserve battery life. Throw in constant multitask (not unlike the Pre) then you get battery life like the Pre
  • 256MB of ram! I remember not too long ago when computers were built with that much ram. With even better battery just adds to the +.