What can dual-core do for you: a course refresher what the A5 chip will bring to the Apple iPhone 4S
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We won't bother you with the technical details behind dual-core chipsets, we've written a separate article on that, if you want to know more. We'd rather point out that in this very moment you can get as much slick user interface and apps, high-definition video recording, and fast browsing from a WP7 handset, for example, with its two-year old single core 65nm processor, as from the first dual-core phones, whose chipsets are produced with the 45nm ARM Cortex-A9 design.
The typical user wouldn’t even notice that their brand new WP7 phone is sporting 2009 tech, since the platform is optimized for this exact CPU, and because of that, it runs faster and smoother than even some Android overlays powered by two Cortex-A9 cores. Not to mention how oily iOS and adjacent apps move on the iPhone 4, for instance, whose silicon is circa 2010.
To quote James Bruce, the lead mobile strategist of ARM: "Badly designed software will overcome quality hardware", and we couldn’t agree more. Only when the mobile operating systems and their applications are designed for multiple cores are we to see tangible benefits in the UI and app performance. So why are these guys waving their chipsets at us?
For now, the two visible advantages of having a dual-core CPU in your phone or tablet – Full HD 1080p video recording, and faster webpage rendering - are not on the top of everyone's list when choosing a phone, but they do hint at the possibilities that multicore chipsets are enabling.
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Moreover, we can rest the case with Adobe Flash and performance with the dual-core chipsets – if decently coded, one can browse most heavily Flash-ed pages without a hiccup, making Apple all the more stubborn not to include support for it in its mobile browser. We can turn it off in Android, but with any dual-core phone you never need to. All in all, the browsing experience itself is worth getting a dual-core phone.
And now we come to the Achilles heel of dual-core phones and tablets – software support. The multicore optimization of Android Honeycomb will come to phones with Android Ice Cream Sandwich later this year, and Apple will have measures for taking true advantage of the A5 chipset in iOS. Apps, however, that are written from the ground-up for dual-core mobile chipsets, are few and far between - you probably have enough fingers on you to count them all both for Android, and iOS. As you can guess, they are mostly games, where CPU/GPU power matters most.
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Great Battles Medieval is dual-core optimized |
Apple’s iPad 2 has more apps optimized for the A5 chip to show for it. The iPad 2-optimized versions of Dead Space HD and Infinity Blade, as well as racers like Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, are boasting visual and gameplay enhancements that are only working with the new chip in the iPad 2. We also have A5-requiring versions of apps like iMovie, for example, which have been optimized to distribute the load between the cores, allowing for faster multitrack audio editing, and stitching videos without a hiccup. The deep voice-recognition integration called Siri in the new iPhone 4S also wouldn't be possible without the computational prowess of the dual-core A5:
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Better game visuals on the iPad 2 (right) compared to the the iPad show that dual-core does matter. Images courtesy of touchArcade | |||
As for battery life, contrary to urban myths, we aren’t observing degraded metrics. Android phones with suboptimal power management barely make the workday even with single-core chipsets. Phones with well thought-out power management perform better than average, dual-core might and all. The Samsung Galaxy S II allowed us 62 hours between recharges with normal usage, running the often chastised in that respect Android, and that’s without the recent firmware update. Apple also cites battery life on the iPhone 4S that is the same as on the iPhone 4, despite the A5 monster inside, so the juicing shouldn't be a cause for concern.
Coming back to our imaginary friend waving their dual-core gadget in our face – do they have bragging rights? Yes, be it only for the gain in browser performance and the Full HD video capture. Is dual-core a staple necessity? Not until more quality software gets developed with multicore in mind from the onset.
What do you think, will Apple manage to squeeze the maximum out of its dual-core A5 on the iPhone 4S better than Android in terms of software to take advantage of it?
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34 Comments
1. Bob (unregistered) posted on 02 Jun 2011, 06:11 2 0
Apps make the smartphone so I'll wait for the true dual core beast. I think it'll take a year more for that. Till then I don't mind using a FroYo based single core device.
4. Bob2 (unregistered) posted on 02 Jun 2011, 07:01 10 0
Wait for the true dual core beast? It's gonna be a never ending wait. Once you think you've got the perfect phone of the year with breaking benchmarks and battery life, 2ghz dual core, 1 month after release some random company will taunt you with quad cores that doubles that performance with an estimated 6 months release date or so...
9. remixfa posted on 02 Jun 2011, 08:40 10 1
intel? you mean Nvidia. The Kal El is the quad core revision of the tegra2. i guess they will call it a tegra4? lol.
right behind that will be sammy with the exynos quad core next year probably.
If your always waiting for the next great thing, you will always be waiting as its always changing. Just grab what is great at the time you need a new phone and dont worry about 3 months from now.
10. phbelov posted on 02 Jun 2011, 09:43 1 0
I totally agree with you. Especially with the last paragraph
23. jthiagesan posted on 02 Jun 2011, 16:08 0 0
Me too
35. snowgator posted on 04 Oct 2011, 18:53 0 0
Excellently said. I really enjoy playing around with WP devices and they are using W7 Mango, at a time when W8 is being teased. I really like the Titan and the Focus, but now they are teasing a fantastic looking Nokia. I could wait forever.
And if My families best interests is going to Verizon, where the one WP they have is not for me, do I make everyone wait?
Just look at the options, do your homework, and grab a great phone. Sure, in two or four months something really cool will come. But that doesn't make your choice bad. We are supposed to enjoy these things. So, enjoy em.
34. shafboy posted on 04 Oct 2011, 15:59 0 0
I admit Siri is amazingly amazing. But the iPhone 4S isn't the best, lets face it. However I believe it's camera will be excellent too.
2. jplayer01 posted on 02 Jun 2011, 06:35 3 1
Completely satisfied with the 'dated' 65nm single-core CPU in my WP7 phone. Faster browsing would be nice, sure, but I'm sure Mango (and IE9) will deliver better performance and ... well, I'm not going to get a new phone for a while. Expensive little buggers. :/
3. seeds posted on 02 Jun 2011, 07:00 0 0
i will wait heavy optimized apps for single core, or dual core 2nd generation...
but now i'm wanna buy sensation LOL
*i just courious with new sense
hahaha
5. Chuck222 (unregistered) posted on 02 Jun 2011, 07:15 1 0
The survey answers are designed so that the third answer is the only one you are to pick:
"I might look into getting a dual-core device when developers finally get it together, and release swarms of multicore-optimized apps."
The first two answers are designed to make you sound like an idiot if you pick them.
PA, stop doing surveys when you don't want to hear the answers.
6. Dannyjayfuller (unregistered) posted on 02 Jun 2011, 07:28 1 0
Definitely wanting a dual-core. I'm an android addict and a gamer, who also uses their phone for (SHOCK!)basic phone functions, so everything about dual-core, the battery life especially, appeals heavily to me. The Galaxy S2 has me drooling, but I'll probably go for the EVO 3D since it's the only dual-core on Sprint within my time window for jumping ship from T-Mo.
37. GG (unregistered) posted on 04 Oct 2011, 21:27 0 0
Galaxy s2 has a battery life issue. even with root n stuff. and i also noticed processor heating problem on heavy gaming.
7. bucky posted on 02 Jun 2011, 08:24 1 0
I came from an overclocked desire z and i noticed a good difference moving up to my atrix. Then, i sold the atrix and moved up to an sgs2 and the difference is immense. Well worth it. The phone simply does not slowdown...EVER.
11. WirelessCon posted on 02 Jun 2011, 09:49 1 1
I can care less about apps; browsing, calling, video, and photography define my phone use.
19. alien45 posted on 02 Jun 2011, 13:53 1 1
Probably u just keep ur phone in the show case????
30. haroon (unregistered) posted on 02 Jun 2011, 22:53 1 0
perhaps, you forgot to notice the semi colon there.
I did too and had to read three times to understand what he meant. All he is saying is he doesnt care about apps but everything else that he mentioned are important for him
13. luis_lopez_351 posted on 02 Jun 2011, 10:03 4 4
Whats with all the power??? Obviously people need to stop playing games on their Andtoys
14. skymitch89 posted on 02 Jun 2011, 10:30 4 2
Until cell phones can record with the same HD quality as some of the actual digital cameras out there, I'll be just fine with the 720p on my Evo Shift.
