The Apple iPad Review (2012)
by Vivek Gowri & Anand Lal Shimpi on March 28, 2012 3:14 PM ESTThe Impact of Larger Memory
Apple doubled memory capacity on the new iPad to 1GB, marking the first time in recent history that Apple's flagship product offers a similar amount of memory to the current crop of high-end Android devices. Apple's iOS can do a relatively good job with limited system memory as it will conservatively unload applications from memory in the event that it needs to free up more space. iOS does not support paging to flash, making DRAM size a hard limit for developers looking to really push the platform.
Apple has always been conservative on DRAM sizing because it's a great way of reducing the BOM (Bill of Materials) cost. If Apple can make up for having less DRAM by being more aggressive in software (read: kicking apps out of memory), it's a tradeoff that makes sense. It's really Apple's foray into gaming that has added pressure to increase memory sizes.
With the move to the Retina Display, the amount of memory needed to store a single frame increases by 4x—from 3MB to 12MB. Assuming two buffered frames you're looking at 24MB of RAM just to smoothly display what you're seeing on the screen.
The bigger problem isn't the frame buffer, but rather all of the other data you need (e.g. level data, textures, etc...). The higher the screen resolution, the more important it is to have higher quality assets in your game. Texture compression can go a long way, but at some point there's simply more data to deal with as game complexity increases. It's not just about the increase in resolution either. As GPU horsepower increases, so will the complexity of what game developers try to build.
While the frame buffer size increased thanks to the Retina Display, total system memory increased by a much larger amount. With 1GB of memory, game developers are now less constrained.
A more immediate benefit is apps and web pages will remain resident in memory longer as you open open up and switch to other apps. For example, on the iPad 2 if I open four tabs in Safari (AT, Engadget, Reddit, and Tech Report), open iPhoto, run Infinity Blade 2 and GTA 3, switching between the latter two will always require a full game reload (as in you see the intro and everything before you pick up where you left off). On the new iPad, with the same setup, I can switch between Infinity Blade 2 and GTA 3 and automatically resume where I last left off thanks to the extra DRAM. You can still create a scenario where even 1GB isn't enough, it's just that the limit is now higher than it was on the iPad 2.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
234 Comments
View All Comments
SixOfSeven - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Any chance the glass is less likely to shatter on this one than on its predecessors?I didn't think so.
darkcrayon - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
The iPad 2's glass was much more resilient than that on the 1.. So who knows. I wonder if it's Gorilla Glass 2 and that's where a bit of weight savings came on the new iPad, considering the battery is so much larger yet the device is only slightly heavier.pdjblum - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
So you convinced yourself there is a use for it as it is "the world's greatest netbook" to your mind. Yet you can get a much more powerful intel notebook for about the same price or less. It is nothing more than an expensive indulgence. It is anything but enthusiast gear. Oh, I forgot, this has become another gadget site that loves crapple.kepler - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
That isn't true at all. Wait until you read the review for the Transformer Prime Infinity, it will be just as detailed, and I'm sure they'll like it just as much (or more) than the iPad3.I dislike Apple for a number of reasons, but I don't feel AnandTech has shown any bias.
darkcrayon - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Not that you're anywhere close to reality, but I wonder why all these "gadget sites" seem to "love" Apple? Maybe because they make good products that people enjoy using? Naah, must be some hidden conspiracy. You're the one that knows the real deal, right?Everyone knows you can get a more powerful intel netbook for the same price. You can also get a more powerful intel netbook than smartphones which also cost more than the iPad. Oddly enough, you will not find an intel netbook on the market now with a screen anywhere near as nice as the iPad. Cool times we live in, eh?
doobydoo - Sunday, April 1, 2012 - link
Can you tell me which 'more powerful' intel notebook you can get which is capable of gaming at 2048 x 1536 at 60 fps and has a battery life over 9 hours, as well as being ultra-portable and light, instantly turns on, has a camera and built in 4G, at less than or the same price as the iPad?Good luck.
Lil Cheney - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Wondering why as you review the A5x, you never use a Snapdragon chip for comparison, in addition to the Tegra 2 and 3?PeteH - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Might be the lack of a shipping product to benchmark it against. The only performance numbers I've seen for an S4 came from Qualcomm's reference design.dagamer34 - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
I'm actually not aware of any major tablets that use a Snapdragon chip. Most went with Tegra 2 early on, then moved to the OMAP 4 platform later in the year last year.siddharth7 - Thursday, March 29, 2012 - link
Well, the review is just amazing! Though its late than other sites, it was worth the wait. You went into so much of detail that I was just blown away. Photos are also great. Waiting for more reviews like this.Keep up the good work.
BTW, am I the only Indian commenting here expect the staff.
Thanks Anandtech.