iPhone 3GS’s PowerVR SGX graphics chip more powerful than first believed?

Anyone with any bit of gadget knowledge can take a look at the various tear downs of the iPhone 3GS and see that it is truly a modern marvel of engineering. The latest iPhone brings a much upgraded graphics chip that goes by the way of the “PowerVR SGX”. Now, we know that this chip is many times faster than the old chips found in the previous iPhones and iPod Touches. However, a bigger mystery pertained to what model the chip actually was as there are many different models of SGX.

SGX520 (7 MPolys/s, 250Mpx/s) for the handheld mobile market
SGX530/1 (14 MPolys/s) for the handheld mobile market
SGX535 and SGX540 (28 MPolys/s) for handheld high end mobile, portable, MID, UMPC, consumer, and automotive devices
SGX540 (1000M pix/s, 20-35M Polys/s), SGX545, SGX555

Now, for starters, the Pre uses the SGX 530 and so far hasn’t really displayed much in terms of eye candy, though that is more a limitation with current software and development methods as opposed to the actual hardware. iPhone developers meanwhile have found a file named “IMGSGX535GLDriver” which would naturally lead one to believe the iPhone is using the SGX 535 model. Of course, just because a particular file is there doesn’t confirm the rumor 100%. Still, it is a big clue as to what really makes the iPhone 3GS tick. Further backing up this claim is a report from an Anandtech commenter who claims to have heard the real deal on the iPhone 3GS’s hardware. Does the SGX 535 actually reside inside the newest iPhone? At this point I’d say it’s safe to say yes. Care to disagree?

Source: Mac Rumors, Image Source