4th Generation iPad Benchmarks Show 1.4GHz Dual Core Processor, 1GB of RAM

[marconiusrex]

Wow...the iPhone 5 just screams! Can't wait to see what the iPad 4 will perform like (in the store) Not getting one just yet - May wait a bit and hang on to my iPad 3 (and possibly sell it later and use the proceeds for an iPad 4 down the road a bit.)

I think the iPad mini would be fun to have but would rather wait until it get's the A6 and retina down the road. An iPad mini that looks and performs like the iPhone 5 would be great.

M.

[Cockney Rebel]

Originally Posted by GekkePrutser

Yeah I've noticed that as well (not especially lately but ever since I've had my iPad 3).. Pretty stuttery scrolling sometimes, as if it's still scrolling a 1024x768 pixel grid. I think it's still rendering content in a background thread because if I wait a bit after loading a webpage it scrolls smoothly.

Nevertheless the cost of upselling is just too high. I'd say I'd lose at least 200 bucks selling my 3. And the benefits too low, I would love a thinner/lighter one but that never emerged. I'll wait for the next redesign.

It also helps me in some way to have a slower iPad, I develop apps as well and if I can get something to run well on my iPad 3 I know it will run super on the 4. The other way around is a lot harder to gauge.

I hear you, I hear you ...

I never really noticed it before but since the keynote ... damn, it has made me really notice it!

I've said this in another thread but this stuttering thing is much like a dead/stuck pixel ... it can go unnoticed for months/years, but once you clock it (see it) you can't stop noticing it!

You are right with regards to waiting for a complete web page to load. Also, I notice it in the Music app ... it stutters on first opening when scrolling through the playlists, but once they have all loaded up it is smooth.

... maybe it's RAM, as well as horsepower? However, the next gen comes with the same 1GB.

I really am tempted to go for one of the "new, new" iPads, though ... but when do you think the next refresh will be? This time next year? I think they have changed the cycle to this time - just before the Christmas period.

All I know is this ... if they was to update it in Feb, people really would go nuts!!

However ... I would be very surprised if the next refresh didn't come with a redesign, and lighter.

What do you reckon?

[irDigital0l]

Originally Posted by AnonMac50

Mine often does. Try playing a game like Fifa 13 or Asphalt 7. There are definite frame drops occasionally. Especially in FIFA 13. Like in the replays and some of the other stuff.

Try playing those on an iPad 1 :P

Strange...I never heard people complaining about the iPad 3 in gaming until after the iPad 4 got announced.

[pheenix11]

I don't know why people get upset. You never really own an Apple device, you just rent it until the next generation comes out. Sell the old which pays for most of the new, rinse and repeat next year. Small outlay each year after the initial investment and you constantly have up to minute cutting edge technology. Apple has created a system where you can continually experience the benefit of Moore's Law without breaking the bank thanks to their consistently high resale value.

[dylin]

Originally Posted by irDigital0l

Does gaming suck on your iPad 3 or what?

well since i dont game on it, cant really answer that.

[timd.mackey]

Originally Posted by AFDoc

Why? Did your 3gen iPad all of a sudden find out there is a 4gen and decide to commit suicide? Is it on strike because a new younger tab came to take it's place?

Statements like yours above are way over the top and frankly silly. You thought your 3 was the best tab in the land and it was awesome for you, now all of a sudden its crap because a new one with better specs came out. Do you see how silly that logic is?

I was making a joke—that my iPad would feel obsolete when looking at the new one's vastly superior numbers. Actually, your comment about my iPad committing suicide is pretty much what I had in mind :P. I never said that it was crap, and I'm still completely happy with my iPad.

But hardware specs aren't a static measurement, they always have to be considered in terms of the software that the hardware runs. With the iPad 4 having a 40% boost in speed, a doubling of RAM, and over 100% higher benchmark numbers, software is very quickly going to be written to take advantage of that new power, leaving the iPad 3 with less than optimal performance. I'm sure it will still be a decent experience, but while saying that the iPad 3 is "obsolete" may be an exaggeration, it is certainly not over the top or silly.

[AFDoc]

Originally Posted by timd.mackey

I was making a joke—that my iPad would feel obsolete when looking at the new one's vastly superior numbers. Actually, your comment about my iPad committing suicide is pretty much what I had in mind :P. I never said that it was crap, and I'm still completely happy with my iPad.

But hardware specs aren't a static measurement, they always have to be considered in terms of the software that the hardware runs. With the iPad 4 having a 40% boost in speed, a doubling of RAM, and over 100% higher benchmark numbers, software is very quickly going to be written to take advantage of that new power, leaving the iPad 3 with less than optimal performance. I'm sure it will still be a decent experience, but while saying that the iPad 3 is "obsolete" may be an exaggeration, it is certainly not over the top or silly.

Sorry your humor failed to translate online. I'm actually thinking about picking up a refurb 3 at this time, going cheap on apple.com

[AnonMac50]

Originally Posted by irDigital0l

Try playing those on an iPad 1 :P

Strange...I never heard people complaining about the iPad 3 in gaming until after the iPad 4 got announced.

I know what you mean, I tried just opening the settings app and it was laggy as.

[pik.]

so...iPad3 performs like iPad2....

wtf...?

something s wrong here....

[turtlez]

Originally Posted by MacSince1990

No, it's what happens when there's still tremendous headroom in the mobile CPU industry.

This won't continue forever.

Are they even calling it the iPad 4? It's just a spec-bumped iPad 3..

why can't spec bump mean 4? why would you have to change an already unbeatable design to make it go up a number? Other brand products get spec bumps with new names even.

[iShater]

Originally Posted by steveh

Cost. Power requirements (battery size/weight). Packaging issues. ...

What, you believe that engineering changes and tech development don't have consequences?

----------

They do. When I made the post, I didn't realize they were keeping the iPad 2 around. So now it makes sense.

However, keep in mind that they are saving $$ with the smaller size display, which is a huge drain on the battery.

I dug around a little more to see if this will be a deal breaker for me, but it looks like performance with the 1024/768 res will be quite nice compared to similar 7" tablets.

I might be retiring the Nook Tablet sooner than I expected!

[tbrinkma]

Originally Posted by Virtualball

x86 processors have a decade or two's worth of applications already built for them. Also, while these ARM processors are fast, they pale in comparison when doing any *actual* multitasking or heavy work. Looking past Photoshop and FCP, you should realize that ARM processors, at this point in time, are only running one or two small mobile applications at a time. Phones and tablets just now started to smoothly fill a 720p frame with an app and scroll through a list (well, Android, at least). Try having 14 tabs open with full desktop sites (one full facebook page brings my SGSII to a crawl), running Netflix in the background, and having a full Office-like experience open to type papers. None of that is beyond "normal peoples' needs," it just sounds like a college student writing a paper, looking for sources, and having background noise. None of that is possible on today's ARM chips.

I'm sure there will be an opening for a Chromebook-like market, but I can't imagine it destroying x86; especially not in 3 years.

I don't imagine it'll destroy x86 either (especially not in 3 years), but I think you over-estimate the horsepower that's needed to do the sorts of things you described. Android's main issue with smoothness comes from the fact that the majority of it's apps are running on a JVM (Dalvik VM, actually) on top of hardware that's less powerful than that VM is really designed for.

That said, the iPad 3 is already faster than a PC from 1997, and those were most certainly capable of running a full office experience, and having a multitude of open tabs in the browsers of the time (which in many aspects were less efficient than their current incarnations).

The ability to play 720p (or better) video without dropping frames is comparatively new on the desktop as well, and has been solved on both sides through hardware accelerating the decode of the modern video formats.

On phone-sized displays, multitasking (in the traditional, I'm actively seeing/using multiple applications at the same time, sense) simply isn't practical. (Which is why the multitasking focused Android phone commercials never made any sense to me. Who watches 2 different movies and plays 3 different games at the same time?)

On full-sized tablets it might be practical, but even on a normal desktop-size display, most people don't actually multitask, instead they task-switch. Yes, there's exceptions, like having data up in one window while you type something in another, but that's well within the hardware capabilities of *current* ARM processors, much less those 2+ years down the line.

[bawbac]

Does this mean apps will crash faster on the new iPad than an iPad2?

[Tech198]

Originally Posted by Tech198

When Apple released the iPad Mini, they dropped the ipad 3 (Retina display , or at least that what i thought anyway)

Now, Apple's re-released the Retina, with A6 chip & Lightning connector ?

Never mind....... I think i answered my own question..

Regarding gaming, i game all the time on iPad 3, & never notice any lag at all.... So, its either a huge coincidence that you all have 'flaky' ipad's/apps or its an over-simplification..... *shrugs*


edits: (looks like i also replied to my own post too) ... oh well.. Theres always a first.

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Originally Posted by bawbac

Does this mean apps will crash faster on the new iPad than an iPad2?

lol... probably

[GorgonPhone]

Originally Posted by Sensamic

Keep dreaming...

umm so you must not know that jailbreaking ipad is now illegal..loploo

[twoodcc]

that's really good. i'm not gonna get this one though, but glad they are getting faster. hopefully quad core next!

[MacSince1990]

Originally Posted by turtlez

why can't spec bump mean 4? why would you have to change an already unbeatable design to make it go up a number? Other brand products get spec bumps with new names even.

-shrug-

I'm not for or against it either way. Just haven't seen it called the iPad 4.

[Bheleu]

Originally Posted by JHankwitz

This is likely the driving force for releasing the iPad 4 so soon. They need the processing powere to support the iOS/OSX merge, and want to have as many devices in use as possible so people could instantly adopt it. Good chance the iPad 3 will not perform well with the advanced operating system.

Also expect the iPad 5 to have "64GB, 128GB, 256GB" of storage.

[shiseiryu1]

Originally Posted by Judas1

The only similarity is that they both use icons and touch gestures. Really, you're going to give Apple exclusive rights to icons and gestures?

Android is a blatant ripoff of iOS, I'm sorry. If Apple didn't come out with the iPad everyone would still be talking about how cool Netbooks are.

[shiseiryu1]

Originally Posted by Judas1

The only similarity is that they both use icons and touch gestures. Really, you're going to give Apple exclusive rights to icons and gestures?

Clarification: I'm not saying that Apple has exclusive rights to icons and touch. What I am saying is that the timing of Android's release (1-2 years after iPhone) and the sheer similarity of the devices to iPhone and the UI to iOS shows that it is a blatant copy, albeit an inferior one. Before the iPhone the Blackberry was the coolest device and before the iPad Netbooks were the cool thing to have. Look at how things change when Apple releases an iconic product. Android may have finally created a few neat unique features (I remember who it first came out ppl we're talking about "if you want Flash" get Android...don't hear about that so much anymore for some reason hmmm) but the tradeoff is an OS that is uglier, clunkier, and more difficult to configure, learn, and develop for. Sorry.

One thing I will give you is that Apple is the follower when it comes to small tablets. The other guys thought of it first and now Apple is releasing theirs. However, I'm writing this post on a iPad mini and I have to day it's really great. The size, weight, and feel are just right. Apple may have copied the other guys with a small tablet but at least they did it right instead of releasing a plasticy piece of junk...which goes back to my original point: if you're going to copy something at least make a copy that's better and not worse. Looks at the latest reviews and e consensus is that the Mini is the best small tablet on the market.

[shiseiryu1]

Originally Posted by Judas1

The only similarity is that they both use icons and touch gestures. Really, you're going to give Apple exclusive rights to icons and gestures?

Just one more thought on Android; Apple has nobody to blame except themselves for the rise of Android. The biggest reason is that when they released the iPhone they didn't support it being on other networks. If Apple would have said, "available Friday on all major networks" then Android would never of had an opportunity to become as popular as it did. It would still exist but it would be relegated to tech geeks (for the high end Android phones) and cheapos (for the low-end Android phones).

I can't count how many people told me years ago "I want an iPhone but I'm on Verizon/T-Mobile,etc". The majority of those people got Android devices because smartphones were the future and they didn't have the ability to pick Apple on thei carrier. That is one of the biggest mistakes that Steve Jobs did...the iPhone makes Apple a lot of money but limiting to AT&T for so long has cost them billions upon billions of dollars. They could have locked in a majority of the population early and kept Android from rising so fast...now the field is much more competitive and Android has a foothold and isn't going away. Way to go apple.

[Judas1]

Originally Posted by shiseiryu1

Android is a blatant ripoff of iOS, I'm sorry. If Apple didn't come out with the iPad everyone would still be talking about how cool Netbooks are.

You seem to not know how technology evolves. Apple isn't the only one with access to touchscreens, and they certainly weren't the only ones that recognized that touchscreens are the future. They just had the jump on everyone else. Android is a completely different OS, with completely different codes. How is it a blatant ripoff? Oh because Apple was the first to make a successful mobile OS to work with touchscreen, they should not own all mobile OS's, and nobody can make a competing OS?

[shiseiryu1]

Originally Posted by Judas1

You seem to not know how technology evolves. Apple isn't the only one with access to touchscreens, and they certainly weren't the only ones that recognized that touchscreens are the future. They just had the jump on everyone else. Android is a completely different OS, with completely different codes. How is it a blatant ripoff? Oh because Apple was the first to make a successful mobile OS to work with touchscreen, they should not own all mobile OS's, and nobody can make a competing OS?

Touchscreens existed a long time before iPad/iPhone...remember all the great Microsoft tablets running full windows and using a stylus? My point is that Android came after iOS because the creators are unimaginative copycats. I'm not saying there shouldn't be competition; what I'm saying is the competition copied Apple. It's kind of like buying generic mouthwash that's the same shape and color as the Scope brand. Sure it's competition and sure if Scope didn't exist the company might have one day created a mouthwash...but let's be serious everyone knows its a copy. That's what Android is to me; it's the generic toothpaste of the technology world.

I don't think that Google was working on the Android software the same time as Apple and Apple just happened to release theirs first. Do you think that's what happened? I think google saw the release of the iPhone and said, that's awesome...lets make something like that and sell it on any network since the iPhone is limited to AT&T. It was a very schrewd move and it worked...however don't try to tell me it's not a copy. They may have written their own code but googles job was much easier having a successful product to emulate. It's the same strategy that generic brand produces use; let the big company invest the money for R&D and once they bring something successful to market then create a generic copy.

Even forget the iPhone...where were all the Android tablets before the iPad...can you name one? If you can't then please admit that the crapdroids are ripoffs.

[cgc]

Originally Posted by Ubele

I can only only imagine: "I spent almost $4,500 on my Mac Pro seven months ago, and now there's new one out, and mine is obsolete! I can only get $2,000 for it on Craigslist, and Apple is forcing me to spend another $4,500 on the new one, so I'm really out $6,500! Thanks a lot, Apple!"

Why is your MacPro obsolete? Does it still do the tasks you need it to do? You're just mad it's been surpassed in terms of speed and/or features. Get over it and keep your MacPro until it no longer works for what you need it to work for. I have a Sawtooth G4 Mac tower in my basement running a really old (PPC) XBMC to watch exercise videos. Hasn't been updated in five years but it works so I'm good with that. Similarly, my day-to-day MacPro is the 2006 1,1 model. Works great and that's good. Even if I did work on it, if it did what I needed it to do (and didn't take too long to do it) I'd be fine with that. A new model does not make the last model obsolete, that's just a weird thing to say.

[IGregory]

Originally Posted by WatchTheThrone

Seems like the 4th gen isn't really getting any attention at all to me. Everybody is about the iPad mini right now!!
Apple should have waited until march to release it that way it doesn't mess with the cycle and gets more media....

Well, there is a new competitor on the block going by the name Microsoft Surface. The holiday shopping season is just around the corner. With that in mind, what would you have done. The two offerings will cut into any possible sale numbers that Surface might have realized.