iPad 2 - A5 CPU/GPU Claimed 9x faster

[capcom_suicide]

iPad1 has the A4, and this looks pretty good. (I would say Xbox1 level)

Apple claim the A5 is nine times faster! This is hard to believe.

What does this mean? Are we talking Xbox360 level's on a tablet?

[Brad]

Well, the A5 CPU is twice as fast as the A4. It's the GFX side of things they're saying is 9x faster.

[capcom_suicide]

No, the A5 is twice as fast as the A4. It's the GFX chip they're saying is 9x faster.

Sorry, it was the GPU I was referring too. I believe IOS 4.3 is also faster (More efficent Java & rendering) so the actual iPad general use is claimed to be 1.6x faster in benchmarks, when compared to iPad 1 using IOS 4.3 beta.

So lets put that to the side. (60% increase is still brilliant)

But what about the GPU side? Rumors are of a dual core chip with 512MB of DDR5, which in theory could be close to PS3 levels.

That's a lot of power for a small screen! So dropping the resolution from today's PS3 games from 720p to far less, maybe the effects will look even better!

Didn't expect this so fast on the heels of iPad1

[Flabio]

It's a lot of power from the battery as well...

[abigsmurf]

In real terms it'll probably mean stuff like Epic Castle running at a consistent 60fps rather than hovering around the 20fps mark and there'll be a few more shaders used. In real terms it won't make much difference to 99% of ipad games because they've got to code for 5 different resolution/CPU combinations and that the only games that really stress out the platform are tech demos designed to show off engines.

Taking into account the OS overhead and the slow, slow memory Apple use, the ipad 2 will probably be 1/3rd as powerful as the NGP. Has half the number of cores of both the GPU and CPU (but otherwise it's the same tech)

Knowing Apple's usual batter life figures it's probably 10 hours video watching, 3 hours max playing an intensive game.

[capcom_suicide]

In real terms it'll probably mean stuff like Epic Castle running at a consistent 60fps rather than hovering around the 20fps mark and there'll be a few more shaders used. In real terms it won't make much difference to 99% of ipad games because they've got to code for 5 different resolution/CPU combinations and that the only games that really stress out the platform are tech demos designed to show off engines.

Taking into account the OS overhead and the slow, slow memory Apple use, the ipad 2 will probably be 1/3rd as powerful as the NGP. Has half the number of cores of both the GPU and CPU (but otherwise it's the same tech)

Knowing Apple's usual batter life figures it's probably 10 hours video watching, 3 hours max playing an intensive game.

Interesting. I read today that a Korean tech house claims the iPad2 has faster memory too, and also that the spec would be at least onpar with NG2.

I wondered if the result would be that games get an "iPad2" update that gives Anti Aliasing or shaders updates or similar. A faster frame rate will of course happen.

I suspect Unreal Engine 3 will be the first to flex it's muscles.

[Flabio]

they've got to code for 5 different resolution/CPU combinations

Friends of mine doing iDevice work are really starting to dislike this aspect of it. They've now lost the 'fixed platform' benefits of doing standard console work. That means longer dev cycles, and a LOT more testing.

Each new SKU you have to support is an increase in the development costs, and with iDevice apps generally selling at a low pricepoint there could come a squeeze soon.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm not really sure why this would make a big difference. The unit may be faster than the previous one but given the low end requirements of nearly all titles it's nothing that's going to be properly utilised and will only be out dated in a couple of months when Apple throws out another new model onto the market. It's akin to buying a new mobile which has a better screen and processor to you last one. Overall it makes little difference as it's a device that plays games, not a gaming device.

[Brad]

Sorry, it was the GPU I was referring too. I believe IOS 4.3 is also faster (More efficent Java & rendering <snip>

No Java in iDevices mate ;-) </pedant>

Yes, I expect the OS has been made more efficient though as you say.

[abigsmurf]

I'm not really sure why this would make a big difference. The unit may be faster than the previous one but given the low end requirements of nearly all titles it's nothing that's going to be properly utilised and will only be out dated in a couple of months when Apple throws out another new model onto the market. It's akin to buying a new mobile which has a better screen and processor to you last one. Overall it makes little difference as it's a device that plays games, not a gaming device.

A faster CPU and GPU can have timing issues.

Well programmed games should be scalable but you may have unknowingly put in stuff that revolves around the CPU or GPU taking a certain amount of time to do something. Threads could finish their tasks in the wrong order, sprites could start flickering because some elements are rendered too fast.

GPUs could have rendering quirks that don't exist in newer versions (or vice versa).

Then there's the coding to take into account different resolutions and screen ratios which is a nightmare. Your onscreen thumbpad may be create on an iPhone then on the ipads you discover your thumb would need to be twice as long to play it comfortably.

[Brad]

I think the days of people coding like that are long gone mate (there might be the odd muppet out there still of course). When you make a Windows game you have no idea what cpu/gpu combo you have. Apple sent out an advisory years ago about not assuming a particular resolution or DPI on the device your app/game was running on.

[kernow]

Well, the A5 CPU is twice as fast as the A4.

[Flabio]

I think the days of people coding like that are long gone mate

It's more the testing overhead that stings you unfortunately. You still have to check your code on all available hardware configurations. With the 360 and PS3 there's only the one.

[InvisibleKid]

It's more the testing overhead that stings you unfortunately. You still have to check your code on all available hardware configurations. With the 360 and PS3 there's only the one.

I think there are a bunch of sensible ways of dealing with this.

Firstly, if there is a hardware refresh around the corner release for that first.
That gets the hype train building around your game being a 'system pusher'. (Obviously, visually it needs to be..)

Then scale back the shaders if it does well and release on lower specs.
If it doesn't do well on the hardware refresh then sod it - it wasn't going to do well whatever and you didn't needlessly waste money on testing.

[Brad]

What don't you understand? That was probably the simplest sentence I've ever typed