iPhone 3G S technical specs laid bare
We know it's speedier, but how much?
Over in the Netherlands, T-Mobile holds the exclusivity contract with Apple, and yesterday it briefly published a spec sheet on the iPhone upgrade, the iPhone 3G S.
Apple's already said the S stands for 'speed', but at the WWDC keynote it wasn't actually revealed what technical differences we could expect.
As expected, the processor speed has been clocked at 600MHz, up from 412MHz of the previous iPhones (and topping the 532MHz of the iPod touch 2G).
Exactly which processor we're talking about is still under wraps, but it's interesting to note that the iPhone 3G has a CPU (ARM 1176JZ) that runs happily at 620MHz, as it does in other devices. But it's underclocked by Apple to run at 412MHz – presumably to save on battery power and reduce heat around neighbouring components.
So it's not at all impossible that the iPhone 3G S doesn't actually have a new CPU, so much as the old one running at its proper capacity.
What's more important is the additional RAM; doubled from 128MB to 256MB. This is likely to make more of a difference to the device's operation than the CPU boost, though a combination of the two is certainly no bad thing.
Interestingly enough, this brings the iPhone 3G S exactly in line with the new Palm Pre, so Palm is going to have to work extra hard to get its hot new handset noticed.
