#FF00AA

The most clear difference is that fact that the iPod Touch’s processor was quietly boosted to 532MHz (up from 412MHz) with the 2nd generation model introduced in September. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3G, Original iPhone and 1st Generation iPod Touch continue to run at the original 412MHz.

Hmm.

I guess it makes sense to limit the iPhone’s CPU speed in order to extend battery life, but what puzzles me is why Apple wouldn’t limit the Touch to the same speed, if only to preserve some sort of consistency across the platform.

Are they really serious about making the iPod touch a gaming device? Or are they just using it to beta-test the 532MHz processor?

It seems that there are additional factors, however, as there are performance differences even found between the models that run at the same speed. […] Due to the heavy 3D nature of his game, Fessler speculates the GPU speeds could have been tweaked as well, but there is no hard evidence of this at this time.

If anything, that changes my perspective on the rampant speculation that Apple would be planning to design custom CPUs for future iPhones: I thought they’d try to avoid segmenting the platform any more than they absolutely needed to, but it now seems entirely possibly that they don’t give a damn about that.