How Does The iPad 2 Do Twice As Much As Other Tablets With Half The Hardware?
iSuppli went and did the math: how does Apple get away with using half as much memory in its iPads compared to the competition yet still manage to just mop the floor with Samsung, Motorola and RIM in performance?
The secret sauce? The fact that Apple designs both the hardware and the software.
iSuppli believes that even though the iPad has only 256MB of RAM and the iPad 2 only has 512MB of RAM, both tablets keep up because they are more efficient. iOS is designed from the ground up for the iPad’s specific hardware configuration in mind, while other operating systems, like Android, need to be hacked by manufacturers to fully take advantage of their tablets’ beefier hardware.
If iSuppli’s take on this is right, tablets running Android might never be as efficient and fast as an equally specced iPad, and the only real hope for the competition catching up with Apple’s performance is from the companies who design both their own hardware and software: HP and — heh — RIM.
John Brownlee is Cult of Mac's Deputy Editor. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his girlfriend and two parakeets. You can follow him 
