Over the weekend, iPad 2 rumors and speculation were churning away with wild abandon, including the revelation that Apple may be including graphics in their own apps that are double the current device’s resolution -- and that a refresh of the tablet will include a dual-core GPU to handle them.
MacRumors has turned up some credible evidence that points to the iPad 2 effectively doubling its screen resolution, from 1024x768 to 2048x1536. That’s not quite Apple’s own definition of a “Retina display,” although it would be keeping with the tradition established by the iPhone, which also doubled in resolution from the 480x320 of older models to 960x640 last summer with the iPhone 4.
“Version 1.1 of Apple's iBooks application seems to have accidentally included some artwork for this hypothetical pixel-doubled iPad,” MacRumors notes. “The app’s bookmark icon included versions for the iPad, the iPhone and the iPhone Retina Display (iPhonex2). It, however, also included one additional version labeled ‘iPadx2’ (shown above). Sure enough, this is exactly double the resolution version of the iPad icon and is distinct from the other versions. The most likely explanation for this added graphic is plans for a double-resolution iPad. Apple has since removed this extra artwork in subsequent versions of iBooks.
“Based on this information, and persistent rumors of a higher resolution iPad 2, we believe the next iPad will have a 2048x1536 screen resolution. It would also explain why Apple would have to upgrade the GPU on the new devices to drive this higher resolution,” MacRumors concludes.
No sooner did MacRumors post that speculation then it was seemingly validated by AppleInsider, who also claims that the next iPad (and likely the iPhone 5 expected in June) will use a dual-core GPU, specifically the SGX543 from Imagination Technologies.
“A source familiar with Apple's graphics strategy says the company will not only be upgrading its video core, but also going to multiple cores, a feature that is designed into the SGX543 design,” AppleInsider noted. “The most likely configuration of Apple's next custom chip is reportedly the SGX543MP2, which pairs two SGX543 cores to work as one, offering around four times the capability of the previous A4 in graphics and video tasks.”
MacRumors notes that the current iOS 4.3 beta actually includes drivers for the new SGX543 GPU, “so it should be no surprise that it is the most likely contender to be the next GPU for the iPad.”
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(Image courtesy of MacRumors)
