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iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D

68 commentsJune 22, 2009 by John Casasanta

raw speed

I just got my new iPhone 3GS the other day. I have an iPod touch and always noticed how much zippier it is over the iPhone. With the newest generation of iPhone, I was expecting Apple to boost the speed to be around iPod touch levels. But after a couple of days of tinkering with it, I have to say that I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with how much faster it is over the 3G!

Yesterday, Daniel Pasco, who’s working with us to deliver our upcoming app, plasma, had posted some OpenGL ES speed test results for plasma, both on a new iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch. So I figured I’d take to opportunity now to post a few more concrete details, including a back-to-back video of plasma running on my somewhat obsolete 3G and my shiny, new 3GS (yeah, I got the white one this time, of course).

no service
iPhone - phone service = expensive iPod touch + camera

So Daniel slapped on a big, honkin’ frame rate indicator and I dragged out the video cam…


download full-size

As the video shows, in our OpenGL ES testing, the 3GS is generally close to four times faster than the 3G. Results will vary depending on the application but this is remarkable to say the least.

plasma’s pretty heavy on particle animation and fairly CPU intensive. The current build only uses features of OpenGL ES 1.1 and we’re considering taking advantage of some OpenGL ES 2.0 features for a richer experience on the iPhone 3GS.

As Daniel noted in his article, the graphics processing unit (GPU) in the 3GS is a PowerVR SGX, which seems to offer a very significant advantage over the PowerVR MBX Lite found in previous iPhone/iPod touch hardware. The GPU is likely where we’re gaining much of the improved performance in plasma. Increased RAM and cache sizes are also likely accounting for some of the better performance.

I mentioned this in the video, but it’s worth reiterating here… plasma’s currently unoptimized and the final frame rates on all devices should be significantly higher than what you’re seeing here. The app configuration we setup for the video is pretty rigorous and we wanted to see how the new phone would fare in a situation where we knew the older devices would choke. But when all is said and done and we release the optimized plasma into the wild, it should run very well on all devices.

So if our tests are any indication of what the 3GS is capable of, I’m sure that there’ll soon be some killer 3D apps coming out that’ll be taking advantage of the raw speed and new 3D features of the new iPhone 3GS. I can hardly wait.

If you’d like to stay on top of news and info on plasma, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

68 comments

  1. [video] iPhone-Generationsvergleich (Update)
    8:16am, June 22

    [...] taptaptap  [video] iPhone-Generationsvergleich [2:29m]: [...]

  2. Finance Geek » The New iPhone Renders 3D 4X Faster Than The Old One (CLIP)
    8:30am, June 22

    [...] much faster than the iPhone 3G. Now, there’s this clip from the the iPhone developers at Tap Tap Tap, showing the iPhone 3GS render 3D about 4X faster than the iPhone [...]

  3. iFUN.de/iPhone :: Alles zum iPhone − News-Mix: Win-Config, Vodafone, Benchmark, Bluchat, Video
    9:05am, June 22

    [...] TapTapTap testet iPhone-Grafik Die Entwickler-Schmiede TapTapTap testet die Grafik-Engine des iPhone 3G S im Video (Download-Link), vergleicht sie mit dem iPhone 3G [...]

  4. tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D : 3g Technology
    11:07am, June 22

    [...] Read the original here:  tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D [...]

  5. Funnel-System.com » tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D
    11:10am, June 22

    [...] post by John Casasanta and software by Elliott Back Categories: Whats Hot On Twitter Tags: Comments (0) [...]

  6. myi.gr » Blog Archive » iPhone 3GS: More than meets the eye!
    11:44am, June 22

    [...] ιστό μιλάνε για 122% ταχύτερο rendering του Safari και 4 φορές το frame rate του παλιού 3G σε OpenGL (μη optimized!) εφαρμογές όπως τα [...]

  7. Cell Mobile Guide » tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D
    4:29pm, June 22

    [...] View original post here: tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D [...]

  8. The iPhone 3G ain’t got nothing on the iPhone 3GS and its blazing 3D performance
    4:51pm, June 22

    [...] TapTapTap] Share [...]

  9. RSS News Portal » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    5:35pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself. On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than [...]

  10. iWyre
    5:51pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  11. Apple Bloog » Blog Archive » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    6:00pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  12. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | HyipLife.com
    6:22pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  13. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    6:30pm, June 22

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we can [...]

  14. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | touchmyiphone.com
    6:32pm, June 22

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we can [...]

  15. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G – Apple Investor in the Wilderness
    6:33pm, June 22

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we can [...]

  16. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G « Info for Life!
    6:33pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  17. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | Touch the Apple
    6:35pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  18. iPhone Central Station » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    6:51pm, June 22

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we can [...]

  19. iTweetie » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    6:55pm, June 22

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we can [...]

  20. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G « Macatron - Unleash Your Mac
    6:59pm, June 22

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we can [...]

  21. iPhone 3G S Really is 4x Faster «
    7:37pm, June 22

    [...] the speed increase is up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t just take my word for it, check out this video and see for [...]

  22. iPhone 3G S 3D Performance Video | The iPhone App Review : iPhone Application News & Reviews
    8:16pm, June 22

    [...] guys over at Tap Tap Tap have just posted a video of an in-house 3D performance test that compares the zippy new iPhone 3G S [...]

  23. Update RSS » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    8:21pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for yourself. On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than [...]

  24. Rant Anything! » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    8:41pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  25. Apple News » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    8:44pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  26. Apple-Overload! » iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G
    9:31pm, June 22

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  27. iPhone 3GS vs IPhone 3G （速度測試） | TechNow 當代科技 - web host by CommuniLink
    9:57pm, June 22

    [...] 有人在網上來了個 iPhone 3GS 和 IPhone 3G 的速度測試，iPhone 3GS 在 3D 處理上真係快好多！以上圖為例，32.6 除以8.9 = 3.66，fps 是 3.66倍就 GPU 速度應該唔止 3.66 倍，當然，除了在 GPU 外，新 iPhone 的 CPU 及其他規格都有提升，方可做到這麼快的效果，按這兒看看影片。 [...]

  28. Vincent
    11:27pm, June 22

    If you want to purchase a iPhone with a better offer, you can go to Epi centre Orchard to take a look. It also provides trade-in services that you can bring in your Apple products for a valuation and trade-in for new Apple products.

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  29. Kiran
    11:47pm, June 22

    Wow! That is one other reason to upgrade, only if ATT lets every 3G user upgrade without BS!

    I am sure you guys will optimize it for both versions of the hardware! Millions of devices with older hardware may push brakes on apps geared for 3G S! In any case, developer decides!

    Kudos guys!

  30. » Blog Archive » Per la grafica 3D, l’iPhone 3Gs è fino a 4 volte più veloce del 3G
    12:55am, June 23

    [...] [via taptaptap] [...]

  31. [video] iPhone-Generationsvergleich (Update) - News ums Netz
    2:48am, June 23

    [...] via taptaptap [...]

  32. iPhone 3G S 3D Performance Video | All iPhone News
    3:00am, June 23

    [...] guys over at Tap Tap Tap have just posted a video of an in-house 3D performance test that compares the zippy new iPhone 3G S [...]

  33. Zach Wise » Daily Digest for 2009-06-22
    3:04am, June 23

    [...] a link on Delicious. tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D Subscribe to comments Comment | Trackback | Post [...]

  34. » Blog Archive » iPhone 3G S: nel 3D straccia iPhone 3G
    4:04am, June 23

    [...] ha condotto un interessante esperimento che mostra la potenza bruta del nuovo iPhone 3GS nel campo del rendering 3D, e i risultati parlano [...]

  35. tommy
    4:38am, June 23

    Hello,

    can I assume, that both run the same App wich is implemented with OpenGL 1.1 and in fact of that it could run much faster than it allready is, if you had implement it in Open GL ES 2.0 on the 3GS?

    THX

    tommy

  36. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Cellphone Ultra
    5:12am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed pop quiz results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, soon after John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The aftereffect is: The 3GS is [...]

  37. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | web | computing | optimisation
    5:20am, June 23

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  38. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Technology News
    5:22am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed experiment results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, thereupon John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The aftermath is: The 3GS is [...]

  39. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Fortysixty's Blog
    5:31am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed analysis results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, next John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The conclusion is: The 3GS is [...]

  40. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Gadget News
    5:41am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed analysis results for plasma on iphone 3GS and an Ipod touch, soon after John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iphone 3G and 3GS. The aftereffect is: The 3GS is [...]

  41. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Mobile Phone Reviews
    5:42am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed tryout results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, thereupon John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The aftereffect is: The 3GS is [...]

  42. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Gizmo News
    5:46am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed pop quiz results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, thereupon John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The aftereffect is: The 3GS is [...]

  43. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Cellphone Reviews
    6:12am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed tryout results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, soon after John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The conclusion is: The 3GS is [...]

  44. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | Technology News
    6:20am, June 23

    [...] some OpenGL ES speed pop quiz results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, thereupon John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The aftermath is: The 3GS is [...]

  45. iPhone 3GS im Grafikvergleich mit dem iPhone 3G | kingmade.ch
    6:59am, June 23

    [...] speed. Und dieser kann sich sehen lassen: Die Jungs vom tap tap tap demonstrieren dies in einem Video eindrücklich. Wärend das iPhone 3G bei der intaraktiven 3D Demo gerade mal 7 Fps schafft kommt [...]

  46. schenkus
    9:03am, June 23

    How does the battery life on the 3gs compare to the 3g while running this kind of graphics intensive code at full speed ?

    Is it about the same or does the 3gs “pay” for the performance by running down the battery faster ?

  47. iPhone Blog | iPhone 3GS vs 3G i 3d grafik
    9:56am, June 23

    [...] iPhone 3GS viser krafter og er ca 4 gange bedre i denne test mht til fps (frame pr sec. / billeder pr sekund) Videon kan ses på  taptaptap.com [...]

  48. Misleading benchmarks « Abraham Vegh
    11:29am, June 23

    [...] came across a post on the Tap Tap Tap blog yesterday, in which John Casasanta marvels about the near four-fold increase in raw available power [...]

  49. Who» Who
    11:30am, June 23

    [...] ha condotto un interessante esperimento che mostra la potenza bruta del nuovo iPhone 3GS nel campo del rendering 3D, e i risultati parlano [...]

  50. Raw Performance: iPhone 3GS 4x Faster than iPhone 3G at 3D! | Gizmo Addiction
    11:37am, June 23

    [...] TapTapTap, developers of the upcoming Plasma app decided to slap a big, honkin’ frame rate indicator on a raw version just to see what differences, whether any, the iPhone 3GS hardware provided compared to the previous generation iPhone 3G. The results? [...]

  51. Raw Performance: iPhone 3GS 4x Faster than iPhone 3G at 3D! | Apple News
    12:23pm, June 23

    [...] TapTapTap, developers of the upcoming Plasma app decided to slap a big, honkin’ frame rate indicator on a raw version just to see what differences, whether any, the iPhone 3GS hardware provided compared to the previous generation iPhone 3G. The results? [...]

  52. iPhone 3G vs 3G S Game Load Time Comparison | OS X REALITY
    12:55pm, June 23

    [...] of Plasma and found the performance boost of the 3G S over the 2nd gen iPod touch to be 2x and 4x when pitted against the 3G. Previously the 2nd gen iPod touch was the king of graphics performance, but with those kinds of [...]

  53. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | iPhone Firmware
    1:54pm, June 23

    [...] up to four times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  54. iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D | All iPhone News
    3:14pm, June 23

    [...] Pasco’s some OpenGL ES speed test results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, then John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The result is: The 3GS is close [...]

  55. The new iPhone 3Gs future as a gaming device | Curiousonion.com
    3:35pm, June 23

    [...] by the will inevitability make their way onto the App Store. The makers of taptaptap have a video comparing the frame rates of the two different iPhones and you will see that the 3Gs is almost four times [...]

  56. Spicy iPhone » Blog Archive » iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D
    5:13pm, June 23

    [...] Pasco’s some OpenGL ES speed test results for plasma on iPhone 3GS and an iPod touch, then John Casasanta, posted a few comparisons in 3D capabilities on iPhone 3G and 3GS. The result is: The 3GS is close [...]

  57. Wednesday Morning News - Rapid Fire Edition | MacTalk Australia
    6:54pm, June 23

    [...] tap tap tap guys show us how grunty the iPhone 3G S is when it comes to 3D graphics. They found it to be 4x faster in a range of [...]

  58. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | iPhone 3G Tricks
    8:30pm, June 23

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

  59. Raw Performance: iPhone 3GS 4x Faster than iPhone 3G at 3D! | My Apple iPhone
    8:47pm, June 23

    [...] TapTapTap, developers of the upcoming Plasma app decided to slap a big, honkin’ frame rate indicator on a raw version just to see what differences, if any, the iPhone 3GS hardware provided compared to the previous generation iPhone 3G. The results? [...]

  60. ANthony
    9:52pm, June 23

    Now if Apple works with app developers to integrate a two tier based system for game settings (3G and 3G2) then we’ll be seeing compatibility across the iPhone/touch board and an enhanced gameplay experience for those with the newest phones.

  61. iPhone? (Merged threads) - Page 303 - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum
    12:48am, June 24

    [...] and the 3GS’s framerate was so much smoother than on my 3G. Here’s a post/video with more proof: tap tap tap ~ iPhone 3GS blows away iPhone 3G in 3D I’m still on the fence whether or not I’ll [...]

  62. iPhone 3G S: nel 3D straccia iPhone 3G | Banda del Buco
    3:36am, June 24

    [...] ha condotto un interessante esperimento che mostra la potenza bruta del nuovo iPhone 3GS nel campo del rendering 3D, e i risultati parlano [...]

  63. iPhonemofo - Everything iPhone » iPhone 3GS 4x Faster than iPhone 3G at 3D!
    4:49am, June 24

    [...] TapTapTap, developers of the upcoming Plasma app decided to slap a big, honkin’ frame rate indicator on a raw version just to see what differences, if any, the iPhone 3GS hardware provided compared to the previous generation iPhone 3G. The results? [...]

  64. iPhone 3GS vs. iPhone 3G - Performance Test | Inside iPhone
    11:15am, June 24

    [...] to the test, the iPhone 3GS is almost 4 times faster than the iPhone 3G. Take a look at the video here As the video shows, in our OpenGL ES testing, the 3GS is generally close to four times faster than [...]

  65. Carlos Saldanas
    1:28pm, June 24

    the bluetooth is on the 3G, would that make it any slower?

  66. iPhone 3G S OpenGL performance rocks - IPHONETOUCH.BLORGE
    10:38am, June 25

    [...] Tap Tap Tap, developer of a range of apps for the iPhone and iPod touch that does not include any of the hugely popular Tap Tap Revenge games, is working on a new title and they’ve noticed something amazing—the iPhone 3G S’ performance rocks and not just a little. [...]

  67. iPhone 3Gs smokes 3G at 3D. : NASHP.COM
    12:38am, July 8

    [...] that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof – check out the video and see for yourself.On a related note, we hear that Apple has done “even more” than we [...]

  68. iPhone 3G S is crazy fast at 3D compared to iPhone 3G | iphone-zone.co.cc
    2:05am, July 29

    [...] times that of the 3G. But don’t take his word or these OpenGL ES speed tests as proof — check out the video and see for [...]

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