A12Z Bionic Chip in iPad Pro Allegedly a Renamed A12X With Extra GPU Core Enabled

[Greenmeenie]

I had planned to wait 2 generations before upgrading my 2018 11” iPad Pro anyway. This news just confirms that for me. The LIDAR camera is cool & all for AR...but I wouldn‘t use it much at all Right now If I had it. Love my 2018 ipad pro. It does everything I need and more. I got the 1TB so it has 6GB of ram too. Yup. Very happy. In fact, if i was in the market for an iPad Pro, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a refurbished 2018 and save some money.

 

[Sodium Chloride]

Would there be any noticeable difference between 2018 and 2020 models when loading 151 Megapixels image? My 2017 iPad Pro is pretty slow in that regard. Takes quite a while to zoom in and out. May be the 6GB RAM from 2020 model would help? Should I by 2018 or 2020 model?

 

[cmaier]

Would there be any noticeable difference between 2018 and 2020 models when loading 151 Megapixels image? My 2017 iPad Pro is pretty slow in that regard. Takes quite a while to zoom in and out. May be the 6GB RAM from 2020 model would help? Should I by 2018 or 2020 model?

Little speed difference between 2018 and 2020. Some 2018’s (the ones with maxed storage) also had 6GB ram, btw.

 

[ian87w]

No...because likely the poster was anticipating a faster/better chip that IS WORTH plunking down $1000 for a product that hasn't been refreshed in 2+ years. The chip could have had a very similar name AND had much better performance, faster MHz, more cores, or a combination of all 3. Instead, it's just 1 core that was magically enabled by Apple.

Regardless of how people can rationalize Apple's decision, this is a very shady step by Apple. This is a Pro unit which means most of the people evaluating an upgrade are going to look at the tech specs (and not to mention the hefty price tag). This marketing/advertising scam was caught very quickly and Apple should be ashamed and likely will have poor sales.

And someone said here that the "real excitement is the new keyboard in May." Seriously?! People wait 2+ years for an upgrade (on a "Pro" device no less) and a)there's essentially no hardware upgrade and b)I have to wait several more months after the launch for the "real excitement" which c)just turns out to be a bleeping keyboard that d)costs several hundred bucks?!

Wow.

How is it shady of Apple? Apple named the chip A12Z, they didn't hide that. It literally has the same generation, A12, so it's obvious that it's still closely related to the A12X.

Somebody smart enough to know the spec about the iPad Pro would've had the common sense about it, and whether the purchase is warranted or not for his/her need. Calling Apple shady means only your lack of knowledge.

 

[Seoras]

Thinking about this more; the lack of effort to develop a new processor (A13X) for this years iPad Pro, you have to wonder where all the effort is going instead?
This could be the biggest signal yet of Apple putting all effort into bringing to market ARM powered Mac OS laptops, and perhaps even desktops, next year.
To switch from Intel to ARM the first offering has to be a bit special.

 

[Alaxlmartin]

I'm sure a lot of suckers who bought the 2018 iPad Pro upgraded to this, too. But with a name like A12Z, you could pretty much sum it up that this was an incremental release. It is likely as Jason Snell said and what I believed all along, Apple will require developers to have in order to test macOS beta on A Series this summer. Hence the mouse support and the new $350 smart keyboard.

But the real iPad Pro is likely to be a bigger one with a larger 15 inch screen and a A13X processor this fall. Apple is not gonna give the iPad Pro A14X, they are likely saving that for the A Series MacBook launching in March 2021. The A14 is likely for the iPhone only.

2018 gave reduced bezels and Face ID. It was worth the bloated price.
2020 gave a camera.
Not enough when a better one is coming.

 

[0924487]

No...because likely the poster was anticipating a faster/better chip that IS WORTH plunking down $1000 for a product that hasn't been refreshed in 2+ years. The chip could have had a very similar name AND had much better performance, faster MHz, more cores, or a combination of all 3. Instead, it's just 1 core that was magically enabled by Apple.

Regardless of how people can rationalize Apple's decision, this is a very shady step by Apple. This is a Pro unit which means most of the people evaluating an upgrade are going to look at the tech specs (and not to mention the hefty price tag). This marketing/advertising scam was caught very quickly and Apple should be ashamed and likely will have poor sales.

And someone said here that the "real excitement is the new keyboard in May." Seriously?! People wait 2+ years for an upgrade (on a "Pro" device no less) and a)there's essentially no hardware upgrade and b)I have to wait several more months after the launch for the "real excitement" which c)just turns out to be a bleeping keyboard that d)costs several hundred bucks?!

Wow.

I would like to add that, careful Apple buyers care about the product lifecycle and its valuation. Apple practice planned obsolesce, therefore, for a given CPU architecture or RAM configuration, from its inception, optimization, discontinuation, extended support, and finally included in the vintage list, is inevitable.

If you buy an iPhone 5 just days before the iPhone 5S launch, then even if the difference isn't major, years later, you will realize the difference when upgrading iOS. Newer features require this and that that you don't have in your devices, like Bluetooth LE, or 64-bit processors.

*It doesn't matter how performant a chip is today, what matters is where the chip is with respect to its product lifecycle.*

 

[iZac]

After the dust settled on this announcement, I guess I'll stick with my Gen 2 for a while longer.

It's also very disappointing to see the thing still bends in half so easily. I know it's unfair and people don't actually use devices like this, but the iPad thing travels with me in my bag every day and I'd like the confidence that it's not going to warp if i learn against a wall in an unfortunate way, or clonk by bag too hard on a balustrade. Also you have to assume Apple knows that the thing is too soft, but chose to just release this as a stop gap.

I guess this was meant to come out last September, but maybe proper mouse support & the keyboard case got delayed, so they were stuck holding it back, and releasing iOS 13 with a half baked assisted touch.

Now the thing gets released late and the keyboard still isn't ready.

And then we immediately have rumours of 5G mini LED screens in September, perhaps putting this poor machine in the "shouldn't have bothered" category?

Cascading errors?

 

[44267547]

Funny thing is, for my uses, I could probably use a 4-5 year old chip and not even notice a difference. I read books, watch YouTube and Netflix and comment on sites like this. How much power does that take?

My reply isn’t aimed at you, it’s a conjunction:

For all the members (On this very thread) that are complaining about the ‘lack of upgraded chip’, how many of those members probably have any idea the power behind that chip that’s probably not even being utilized to its full capacity? The majority of iPad owners use their devices for ‘media consumption’, which probably isn’t even taking full advantage the power this iPad has. But hey, it’s really easy for some to Find anything to complain about with the new Pro.

 

[Deliro]

If the iPad wants to replace the laptop than it should have hardware you don’t feel compelled to update every two years. My desktop PC still runs a processor over 7 years old and runs everything I need just fine. My daughter uses my old MacBook Air 2012 and has minimal slowdown for her use cases and schoolwork.

Fact is the pro isn’t limited by hardware it’s limited by software. A $1000 purchase should last 4-5+ years.

And for those still yapping about the iPad bending, just stop already.

 

[redman042]

I wonder if not going to a next gen processor frees up a bunch of OS development time to focus on badly needed iPad software improvements. The A12 is already lightning fast for a tablet. The keyboard and trackpad take it a big step closer to laptop capabilities, but it needs much more functionality in the OS. If holding off on a processor upgrade helps with that, I’m all for it.

 

[Maigrais]

This is what Apple does. When they updated the MacBook 15 inch mid 2019. They were already aware of their plans to release a 16 inch for late 2019. Many companies behave this way.

 

[TheAustrianGuy]

Best iPad update EVER!

(Because I don't have any urge to upgrade and as a bonus even save a bunch of money)

 

[TransPNG]

It seems the iPad Pro 2020 will become the next iPad 3 in the future iPadOS.

 

[otternonsense]

It's rather typical in the silicon chip business. What's "meh" is that it took them 2 whole years (fox years in tech) just for that, adding some RAM and a wonky Lidar scanner on the camera of the one device (almost) nobody uses.

The 2020 iPP is not a parts-bin device by any stretch, like e.g. that last iPad and iPad Air, but when it comes to flagships Apple has accustomed us to expect more.

 

[manu chao]

No...because likely the poster was anticipating a faster/better chip that IS WORTH plunking down $1000 for a product that hasn't been refreshed in 2+ years.

I have no idea how you arrive at the 2-year number, let alone the '+' part.
[automerge]1585298207[/automerge]

It's rather typical in the silicon chip business. What's "meh" is that it took them 2 whole years (fox years in tech) just for that, adding some RAM and a wonky Lidar scanner on the camera of the one device (almost) nobody uses.

Since when does 1.4 round up to 2? Or how does 0.4 equal a 'whole'?
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Thinking about this more; the lack of effort to develop a new processor (A13X) for this years iPad Pro, you have to wonder where all the effort is going instead?

Given that Apple has pretty consistently averaged an 18-month refresh cycle for the iPad, one has to wonder why you wonder why they skip CPU generations every now and then.

 

[arvinsim]

Keeping my 10.5 2017 Pro.

Honestly, I am more excited to buy Logitech's Combo Touch accessory for it now.

 

[Steve121178]

Disappointing upgrade

It's an amazing upgrade if you have an older iPad like the 1st or 2nd gen iPad Pro or older iPads. No one needs to upgrade from the 2018 model to the 2020 model so that's why it's an incremental update to 2018 owners. 2018 owners should wait as there's no significant reason to upgrade at all.

 

[T-Bob]

Not a big deal, buyers of the 2020 update should be aware of what they're getting. Clearly this isn't intended to be enticing to 2018 owners. Also the improved thermals will help if you are one of those few going from 2018 to 2020 hoping to increase pro performance.

 

[chineseguy38]

It seems the iPad Pro 2020 will become the next iPad 3 in the future iPadOS.

You mean when Apple released iPad 4 after a few months released iPad 3 because of it was lacked of 4G? I'm sure Apple will be using the same trick this year. Releasing a 5G iPad Pro after a few months.

 

[PickUrPoison]

It seems the iPad Pro 2020 will become the next iPad 3 in the future iPadOS.

What, an underpowered piece of crap from day 0 that should never have been released?

Zero chance. Not now, not next year, not ever.

 

[oldmacs]

This is all Apple's plan to introduce a new higher tier of iPad Pro above the current Pro pricing..

I miss the days where you could buy a top of the line iPad for an affordable (ie a lot cheaper than a MacBook) price.

 

[hagjohn]

I just got the 11 Pro yesterday and it's way nicer than my 9.7in. Just ordered a Smart Keyboard Folio for it.

 

[PickUrPoison]

You mean when Apple released iPad 4 after a few months released iPad 3 because of it was lacked of 4G? I'm sure Apple will be using the same trick this year. Releasing a 5G iPad Pro after a few months.

iPad 3 was 4G/LTE, but only for US and Canada. It only had the 700MHz and 2.1GHz bands, so compatibility was limited to Verizon, AT&T, Telus, Rogers, or Bell. (Not sure about T-Mobile.)

The A6X on iPad 4 fixed the problem of iPad 3 being underpowered,but there was a lot of bitching about the new Lightning connector, while so many had 30-pin cables and accessories.

 

[MauiPa]

Really? Maybe that’s why they named a slightly modified SOC, extra cpu core, with an almost identical name as the chip it replaces? Oh the shock, the outrage, the horror. Shame on Apple for claiming it was faster than its predecessor (oh wait, they didn’t) I suppose some would prefer no update than an incremental update. No value in cameras, extra Gpu core, WiFi 6 - meh!

isn’t the headline just click bait for the haterbois?