Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s secrecy around their products is famous, paranoiac, and frequently infuriating. Some of it makes sense: they stop leaks to maximize the surprise potential of new product announcements. But some of it doesn’t make as much sense, for instance refusing to release basic details about the capabilities of their existing products.

For instance, take the iPad. The iPad has an “Apple 1Ghz” processor in it, and it’s running iPhone OS 3.2. The iPhone OS, at least up until now, has been written for ARM processors; Samsung makes the one in the iPhone 3GS. So the iPad also has an ARM, right? Right?

ARM executives interviewed today at Mobile World Congress not only wouldn’t confirm that there’s an ARM processor in the iPad, they wouldn’t even confirm that Apple is an ARM licensee, or that Apple acquisition PA Semi was.

The reason the iPad’s processor architecture is important is because it directly impacts performance. Apple quotes it as a “1 Ghz” processor. But 1 Ghz ARM11, Cortex-A8 or Cortex-A9 processors would be very different speeds – and we’re not even talking about the graphics hardware yet.

I guess we’ll just have to wait until the teardown firms get iPads and tear them apart with an electron microscope. Of course, things could be much worse. Unlike the Reuters investigative reporter checking out Apple’s suppliers, I wasn’t actually assaulted by any guards.