Apple Watch Running “Most” of iOS 8.2

[Maura]

AppleInsider reports that the Apple Watch is apparently running “most” of iOS 8.2, using a new subsystem, Carousel, instead of the Springboard home screen that features on iPhone and iPad.

The news comes via developer Steve Troughton-Smith, who also said that the Apple Watch’s S1 processor is roughly the equivalent of the Apple A5 chip.

In a tweet, Troughton-Smith said that the Watch firmware features a PowerVR SGX543 driver. The A5, which first appeared in 2011 in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s, also boasts an SGX543 driver.

The S1 is, as you would expect, much more compressed, and is encased in resin in order to give it extra protection.

AppleInsider says that the AppleWatch firmware is not considered as an actual iOS release, as it requires a paired iPhone in order to operate, but this latest news shows that it is still very much run on the same codebase.

Troughton-Smith also said that all of the Apple Watch faces are stored in one framework, which is called a NanoTimeKit. The faces use SpriteKit graphics, but the animated faces, such as the Mickey Mouse face, are rendered with OpenGL.

Source: Apple Watch runs most of iOS 8.2 may use A5-equivalent processor