Today it was revealed that hacker Zibri discovered what is likely to be the major chip controlling the next revision of the iPhone. The Infineon S-GOLD3H packs some great specs but what exactly does this mean for the next iPhone?
3G Network Capable
Unlike the S-GOLD2 used in the current iPhone the S-GOLD3H is capable of operating on 3G network standards used by most common network providers. These include HSDPA cat. 8 which is capable of delivering download speeds up to 7.2Mbit/second, WCDMA with 384kbit/second simulataneous upload and download.
The chip also packs support for the third-generation of GPRS which will allow the iPhone to drop back to EDGE or GPRS connections when out of range from a 3G network.
Camera
The S-GOLD3H supports up to 5-megapixel camera hardware.
Memory
S-GOLD3H supports new, faster DDR-SDRAM making the phone capable of operating quicker.
Video and Multimedia
The current iPhone already supports MPEG-4 and H.263/.4 playback, but the S-GOLD3H improves upon this allowing video up to 30fps, video streaming and recording, full screen video telephony and the ability to receive TV signals (via add-on module).
It should also be noted that a dedicated 2D graphics engine processor is now built into the chip.
Multitasking
The S-GOLD3H is known for its abilities to do multiple tasks at once, Infineon uses the following example:
surf the internet, download emails or data to a SD-card with HSDPA category 8 while listening to MP3 music over a stereo bluetooth headset.
What Apple's Unlikely to Use
- Card Slots - The S-GOLD3H like its predecessor supports MMC/SD cards but Apple is unlikely to build such technologies into a future iPhone.
- The S-GOLD3G supports three bi-directional digital audio interfaces for audio chips and Bluetooth modules. The current iPhone chip already supports two and Apple fails to make use of them so future inclusions are slim.
- An A-GPS module is available separately to allow geo-tagging for photos taken but also works as a standard GPS module. Apple may make use of this if it wants to improve the mapping abilities of the iPhone.
- DVB-H and FM modules are also available to add-on to the S-GOLD3H allowing digital broadcast signals to be received and standard FM radio signals.