iPad A8x chip vs A7

[FatPuppy]

Wait a second, the A7 has a quad core GPU, right?

 

[vigilant]

I some what imagine it was a size of the chip issue.

The A7 in the iPad was different though not noticeably so. I believe it was clocked faster, and had noticeably higher sustained performance compared to the iPhone variant. It could also be that an A7X would have lead to worse battery life.

It is fun though to say that Apple didn't create an A7X because they secretly hate us, and want to punish us

The iPad Air was a fantastic device. Looking forward to seeing how the iPad Air 2 compares.

 

[rotation]

Wait a second, the A7 has a quad core GPU, right?

Yes.

 

[Donka]

A7 is not at all underpowered. It still floors every other SoC out there except A8 in browsing. Its graphics are second only to the A8 and Adreno420 (Note 4).




They stuck it in the mini 3 because it's more than adequate performance wise, and it's cheap to make as it's on 28nm .

That was kind of my point.

 

[Erasmus]

Wait a second, the A7 has a quad core GPU, right?

What "Chundles" probably should have said is that the "X" classifier is reserved for modified chips with more graphics cores than the baseline variants. So up until now, it's been four, instead of two. But now, it's 6-8 instead of 4.

The A7 in the iPad was different though not noticeably so. I believe it was clocked faster, and had noticeably higher sustained performance compared to the iPhone variant. It could also be that an A7X would have lead to worse battery life.

I'd guess that the higher sustained performance is purely due to the larger device, which would radiate heat more efficiently than a tiny iPhone. And yes, an A7X would eat more power, but considering the massive power drain of the screen, I think it's very unlikely that it would have had a noticeable effect on battery life.

Now I think about it, I'm guessing that Apple thought that an A7X with 6 graphics cores would demand 2GB of RAM, but they weren't ready to open that can of worms just then. As soon as Apple release an iOS device with 2GB RAM, I think they are going to find it very difficult to release any (un-gimped, i.e. iPTouch doesn't count) device with less than 2GB RAM. Because someone is going to develop an app that requires 2GB RAM to run properly.

 

[addictzz]

Why was there never an A7X? Did they use the same A7 in iphone 5S in the iPad Air? And how does this compare with A8 and A8X?

Wasn't there an article that shows A7 in iPad Air is better performance than A7 in iphone.

 

[FatPuppy]

What "Chundles" probably should have said is that the "X" classifier is reserved for modified chips with more graphics cores than the baseline variants. So up until now, it's been four, instead of two. But now, it's 6-8 instead of 4.



I'd guess that the higher sustained performance is purely due to the larger device, which would radiate heat more efficiently than a tiny iPhone. And yes, an A7X would eat more power, but considering the massive power drain of the screen, I think it's very unlikely that it would have had a noticeable effect on battery life.

Now I think about it, I'm guessing that Apple thought that an A7X with 6 graphics cores would demand 2GB of RAM, but they weren't ready to open that can of worms just then. As soon as Apple release an iOS device with 2GB RAM, I think they are going to find it very difficult to release any (un-gimped, i.e. iPTouch doesn't count) device with less than 2GB RAM. Because someone is going to develop an app that requires 2GB RAM to run properly.

So you're saying that the A8X has more than 4 GPU cores?

 

[Donka]

I'd guess that the higher sustained performance is purely due to the larger device, which would radiate heat more efficiently than a tiny iPhone. And yes, an A7X would eat more power, but considering the massive power drain of the screen, I think it's very unlikely that it would have had a noticeable effect on battery life.

Read a book for an hour on the iPad and then play a graphically demanding game such as Real Racing 3 for a hour and compare battery life.

 

[Erasmus]

So you're saying that the A8X has more than 4 GPU cores?

Yes...

Read a book for an hour on the iPad and then play a graphically demanding game such as Real Racing 3 for a hour and compare battery life.

I don't have one yet, but I will soon, and I will soon. I can't wait to play RR3 on something newer than my iPod Touch 4

My point is that when you're torching the screen, CPU, RAM, SSD, etc as well as the GPU in a game, then an extra 50% power drain of one particular part of the device (the GPU) may not make as much difference as one would think.

 

[Samtb]

I never notice any difference between performance in iPhones and iPads unlike with MacBooks where I'm more likely to push the cpu.

 

[RebornProphet]

There was talk that the A7 in the Air was an A7X but Apple couldn't use the name due to copyright issues with Avenged Sevenfold who refer to themselves as A7X.

 

[RebornProphet]

So you're saying that the A8X has more than 4 GPU cores?

A8X has an 8 core GPU and tri-core CPU.

 

[RebornProphet]

The A8X specs out nicer than the A7 but I have seen that in real world usage that the end user may not perceive all of the benefits. It depends on the app, what they are doing and other factors. Hey, upgrades are upgrades though and we'll take them.

I'm just saying that when something has a spec that claims its xxx% faster that doesn't mean that performance is always tangible.

A point will come when developers will push the A8X to levels where it shows what it can do, but it won't happen any time soon. This is the thing with iOS devices now, they're so powerful but refreshed so quickly by Apple that a new one is out before developers have even pushed the current model to its limits.

There's not a single game on the App Store my Air can't run and run well, yet oddly enough while it can handle intense games, Apple try to gimp it via iOS with some questionable animation performance in certain areas of the UI.

I'll be getting my Air 2 next month, simply because every June my work give us the option to take up a tablet of choice and pay it from our salary over a year with 10% discount. Due to this I've had the iPad 3, iPad 4, and iPad Air. People wonder why iPad sales are declining ... well this year my wife will get my outgoing iPad and her current iPad (my previous old one) will be handed down to a family member who wants one. I think there are many annual upgraders who do this.

For me I upgrade not for the gaming performance now but because I know Apple will make iOS run that little bit worse next time around.