![]() Both the speaker and microphone may be used by third party apps, though as to be expected with a device the size of an iPhone, the sound quality of the speaker is widely considered to be poor. Speaker and MicrophoneĪs with most other phones on the market, the iPhone includes both a built-in microphone and a speaker to enable the use of the device as a speakerphone. The older iPhone 3G contains the PowerVR MBX GPU which only supports OpenGL ES 1.1 and OpenVG 1.0. This is also the same GPU that is built into the iPad and provides support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 (a lightweight version of SGI’s OpenGL platform) and OpenVG 1.1 graphics drawing and manipulation and includes the Universal Scalable Shader Engine (USSE), all key requirements for graphics intensive games development. IPhone 3GS graphics are handled by an Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). With the arrival of the iPad, however, Apple has started to use processors manufactured to its own designs, so it is possible that the iPhone 3GS will be the last model to use an ARM based CPU. The Cortex A8 chip is based on the ARMv7 processor architecture and was chosen by Apple for its combination of high performance and low power requirements. This differs considerably from the approach taken by companies such as Intel who both design and manufacture their own chips. This is a processor designed by a British company called ARM Holdings that specializes in designing chips and then licensing those designs to third parties who then manufacture them. The central processing unit (CPU) of the iPhone 3GS is an ARM Cortex A8 chip running at 600 MHz. In the event that GPS signals are unavailable or too weak to establish the current coordinates, the iPhone can also gain an approximate location using cellular and Wi-Fi information. Essentially this enables the iPhone to detect the direction the device is facing and to identify the current location by detecting radio signals from GPS satellites. The iPhone contains a digital compass and GPS support with Assisted GPS (A-GPS) support. These consist of a proximity sensor that detects when the front of the phone is covered or otherwise obscured, an accelerometer that uses the pull of gravity to detect when the device is moved or rotated and an ambient light sensor that detects current environmental light levels. The latest generation of iPhone has an array of sensors that would make even the most die-hard 1960s science fiction fan jealous. Once again, we will do this within the context of the iPhone 3GS. ![]() Now that we have set the scene, we can move on to discuss some of the hardware features built into the iPhone in a little more detail. When you consider these capabilities you will hopefully begin to appreciate the engineering achievements behind the iPhone and other similar smartphone devices. Next, check the expected battery life of your laptop and see if will allow you to play music for 30 hours or video for 10 hours, or talk non-stop to a friend for 12 hours without needing a recharge. The chances are your much larger and heavier computer has only a small subset of these features. Then take a look at the specification for your computer and see if it has built in GPRS, EDGE and 3G wireless support, a digital compass, GPS, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, Bluetooth capability, Wi-Fi, a multi-touch screen, a vibration generator and a 3.5 megapixel autofocus camera. Now, compare the size of your laptop or desktop computer to your iPhone. This is a sleek device that is 115.5mm long, 62.1mm wide and 12.3 mm deep and weighs a mere 135 grams. This is a shame because the iPhone is an incredible technical achievement that we are already starting to take for granted. Most books covering the development of apps for the iPhone tend to overlook the underlying hardware of the device and instead dive immediately into the software development environment. SwiftUI Essentials – iOS 16 Edition book is now available in Print ($39.99) and eBook ($29.99) editions. Learn SwiftUI and take your iOS Development to the Next Level
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