MacRumors is reporting that Apple’s new iPhone 3GS, while indeed using Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR graphics core, may just have a little more under the hood than previously thought:

iPhone developers, however, have discovered that the iPhone 3GS has extension files named “IMGSGX535GLDriver” suggesting that the new iPhone uses the more powerful graphics processor intended for “high end” mobile devices. This may not be entirely conclusive evidence by itself but it is consistent with a report from a Anandtech commenter who claims to have heard directly from Apple engineers at WWDC that the iPhone 3GS does indeed use the SGX 535.

Zoom. Zoom.

In a related story, Apple has apparently raised their stakes in Imagination Technologies to 9.5% on the heels of Intel’s 16%.

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iPhone 3GS Graphics Even More Powerful than Imagined?

Anandtech gives their usual in-depth look at the processors inside Apple’s new iPhone 3G S. First the CPU, the new ARM Cortex A8 and the short of it is — if the iPhone 2G and 3G were old 486 PCs, the iPhone 3G S would be a Pentium:

As for the GPU, the PowerVR SGX — even if it’s clocked down to half-speed, it’s rendering geometry 3.5x faster with a fill rate 25% higher as well:

Their take away? Well, they say the iPhone 3G S packs a similar hardware punch to the new Palm Pre, but while webOS uses some of that power for 3rd party multitasking, Apple’s “highly optimized software stack” will bring the speed.

And that only scratches the surface. For the gritty details, check out the full article.

[Thanks to Damon for the tip!]

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Inside the New iPhone 3G S Processors: More than Just Mhz

Apple Insider reveals that:

Sources have now reported that Apple has detailed that Imagination’s PowerVR SGX is indeed the graphics processor used in the iPhone 3G S, and that it is “designed for OpenGL ES 2.0.” The new 2.0 specification of OpenGL for Embedded Systems eliminates most of the fixed-function rendering pipeline for a programmable approach to 3D rendering using shader programs.

So while we’re not yet getting that PA Semi + multicore ARM/PowerVT + OpenCL + Papermaker + ATI gurus system on a chip we’ve been fantasizing about this year… we’re still getting a clear focus on speed from Apple. And that’s a Good Thing.

Oh, and yeah, that’s totally the Kingdom Come Flash trouncing his golden age and silver age counterparts in the graphic above. /geek.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3G S Uses PowerVR SGX to Become One with Speed Force