Many of us here aren’t as technically adept as you evidently are, so I was hoping you could provide a source to back up and explain what you’re talking about.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
A12 Bionic in New iPad Paired With 3GB RAM, Clocks in at Same Speed as Latest iPhones
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Many of us here aren’t as technically adept as you evidently are, so I was hoping you could provide a source to back up and explain what you’re talking about.
You got me intrigued.
Was thinking about buying two XR for me and my girlfriend.
What is the downside with to little ram when capturing photos with the device?
Been checking out reviews and the photos look fine.
Same Speed as Latest iPhones
Yeah, but iOS on iPad does not have a Low Power Mode. So it will start to burn when I play C&C Rivals.
Yeah, but iOS on iPad does not have a Low Power Mode. So it will start to burn when I play C&C Rivals.
This announcement didn't even make me blink about replacing my 10.5 Pro. *shrug*.
The iPhone Xr ram setup is the same as the iPhone Xs. The iPhone Xr is gimped in one key way to encourage sales of a future model, but Apple didn't play with the ram beyond cutting a gig of it.
They did also did something much more damaging - they left out Gigabit LTE. Gigabit LTE is live on major US carriers now. The real world speed difference is more than twice the speed you get on an Xr. The idea being to encourage sales of a future Xr model by pointing out how much faster the 5G it offers is than the LTE speeds achievable on the first generation Xr.
The resolution difference between the Xs and the Xr more than makes up for the 1 gig less of ram. This new iPad doesn't have the luxury of running at a lower resolution than the model it is replacing.
Last edited:
The 10.5, I have one too, has the promotion display. It would have been much better if the new mini supported ProMotion and the Apple Pencil 2.
Thought Apple would be increasing the RAM floor to 3GB given the XR got the boost with no obvious specific features that required it. 3GB will be ample for the life of these devices, should help to keep them running smooth right up to iOS 17!
As far as I'm aware 3GB is 3GB as far as iOS is concerned. The iPhone 7 plus had 3GB 'for the dual camera' but it fully used the RAM for other things as well, it wasn't like 1GB was sealed off and only used when the camera was fired up. It was shown the 7P kept tabs in safari loaded longer than the 7 (which had 2GB) so it was definitely using it. I'm also not sure what he means by 12MP photos requiring 4GB - as the iPhones 6s/plus, 7 and 8 with 2GB and the other plus variants with 3GB show this isn't the case.
I have had every mini since the original.....Actually still have all of them...just ordered two new ones...no delay in shipment yet...I like this kind of release much better...no staying up until 3AM to get in the first order..
This can't be a serious comment. Either you're trolling or you're the U.S. President as your jargon, grammar, and sentence structure are spot on.
So why exactly are the Phones so much more expensive again ? The screen is smaller, battery as well....
I think it is hard to knock the performance/price points of today’s two additions to the lineup.
Am I the only one that’s disappointed that 7.9 uses the Apple Pencil first generation rather than the second. It looks like Apple is saving the second generation Pencil for pro devices only.
Because it needs 2 GB just to show you the time and date and 3 GB for garbage, because we know how "efficient" automatic garbage collection is.
Rest is up to you to use as you wish.
There is a Performance Controller bug in at least the A12 in the XR.
That's been proven.
Hopefully, the new iPads don't get the exact same A12 !
For those of you who don't know, the Performance Controller is basically "the Scheduler" for work on the various processor cores.
Earlier versions of AAPL's processors had simpler Performance Controller designs that do NOT have the problem.
For example, the A10 in the 7+ runs like an absolute Gem of an iPhone.
The XR runs like a Performance Lemon.
There is ONE benchmark out there that enables anyone to test any currently available iPhone or iPad.
That's been proven.
Hopefully, the new iPads don't get the exact same A12 !
For those of you who don't know, the Performance Controller is basically "the Scheduler" for work on the various processor cores.
Earlier versions of AAPL's processors had simpler Performance Controller designs that do NOT have the problem.
For example, the A10 in the 7+ runs like an absolute Gem of an iPhone.
The XR runs like a Performance Lemon.
There is ONE benchmark out there that enables anyone to test any currently available iPhone or iPad.
Apple's new fifth-generation iPad mini and resurrected iPad Air were announced this morning, and both of the new tablets are equipped with Apple's latest A12 Bionic processors, initially introduced in the 2018 iPhones.
The first Geekbench benchmark of one of the new iPad models (11,2) surfaced shortly after Apple's announcement, confirming a 2.49GHz clock speed, identical to the iPhone's clock speed. The benchmarked iPad also features 3GB RAM, 1GB less than the iPad Pro and 1GB more than the 9.7-inch iPad. 3GB RAM is also the amount of RAM in the iPhone XR, while the XS and XS Max feature 4GB.
At this point in time, we don't know if iPad 11,2 is an iPad mini 5 or a 10.5-inch iPad Air, but given the similarity in specs between the two tablets, we suspect that both models are using the same clock speed and RAM.
The iPad 11,2 earned a single-core Geekbench score of 4806 and a multi-core score of 11607, which, unsurprisingly, is right on par with iPhone Geekbench results, though a bit faster, perhaps due to improvements in iOS 12.2.
While the iPad Air and the iPad mini 5 appear to feature similar specs and may include the same amount of RAM, we'll need to wait for further Geekbench scores to confirm. We'll update this post when more information is available.
The new iPad Air and the iPad mini 5 are both available for purchase from Apple today and will arrive to customers at the end of March. The iPad Air, which features a 10.5-inch Retina display, Touch ID, a headphone jack, and Apple Pencil support, is priced starting at $499 for 64GB storage.
The fifth-generation iPad mini with a 7.9-inch Retina display, Apple Pencil support, Touch ID, 8-megapixel rear camera, and a headphone jack is priced starting at $399 for 64GB storage.
Article Link: A12 Bionic in New iPad Paired With 3GB RAM, Clocks in at Same Speed as Latest iPhones
I don't know, this kind of seems fishy to me. Why would one of the new iPads be numbered "iPad11,2"?
Usually iPads using the same (or a derivative) SoC share the first number of the Model Identifier, for example iPad Air 2 (A8X) and mini 4 (A8) are iPad5,x while both the 2nd generation iPad Pro (A10X) and the 2018 9.7" iPad (A10) are iPad7,x.
The latest iPad Pro is iPad8,x. So what happened to iPad9,x and iPad10,x?
Usually, "missing" Model Identifiers are explained by in-between models that were in development but didn't make it to market, like it happened with the iPod touch which went straight from the 2012 (iPod5,x) to the 2015 (iPod7,x) model. But I don't believe Apple "swallowed" two entire iPad generations between release of the current iPad Pro models and today's new iPads...
You know what current device has a "Something11,x" model identifier? The iPhones have!
Might this score come from a jailbroken or something iPhone, disguised as an iPad?
Why does Processor Information, Name state "ARM" instead of "Apple A12 Bionic"?
My doubts aside, the data itself seems quite believable. I could imagine the iPad mini having 3 GB of RAM with the Air having 4 GB, since the much bigger screen allows for better multitasking.
This is good news for you iPhone XR owners. The more people that have current devices with 3GB ram in circulation, the more devs will target apps with that in mind as the lowest common denominator. Seeing as how iPad owners hold onto their devices for a very long time, this is good for longevity overall.
EDIT: Now I see why updates to the 11 iPad Pro sizes is so slow. Half of iPad owners are still on the A7/A8 devices.
Source: https://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/
* This one is iPhones + iPads I believe
EDIT: Now I see why updates to the 11 iPad Pro sizes is so slow. Half of iPad owners are still on the A7/A8 devices.
Source: https://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/
* This one is iPhones + iPads I believe
Last edited:
IIRC, stuff like this happens when new models are released as the Geekbench app hasn't been updated to specifically support those models. However, that's often with brand new chips. The A12 isn't brand new.