Apple's New iPad Air Equipped With 4GB RAM

[MacRumors]

Benchmarks leaked over the weekend gave us some insight into the performance of the A14 Bionic chip in the iPad Air that's set to launch soon, and also revealed another tidbit -- Apple's newest tablet has 4GB RAM.

That's 1GB over the prior-generation iPad Air that had an A12 Bionic processor, but less RAM than is available in the iPad Pro models. Apple's 2020 iPad Pro models all have 6GB RAM.

With the jump in RAM and the impressive performance of the A14 chip, the new iPad Air is quite a bit speedier than the prior-generation model, plus it has the all-display design with Touch ID Power button, a first for Apple.

The A14 iPad Air Geekbench result that was leaked featured a single-core score of 1583 and a multi-core score of 4198, a solid improvement over the single-core score of 1112 and multi-core score of 2832 earned by the third-generation iPad Air with A12 Bionic.

Notably, the benchmark results suggest other devices equipped with the A14 chip, such as Apple's iPhone 12 lineup, will also see notable speed improvements. The A14 is a step up in terms of performance and efficiency because it is Apple's first chip built on a smaller 5-nanometer process. Reduced node sizes result in higher power chips that use less power, bringing gains in battery life and speed. The 5-nanometer A-series chips are also expected to be used in upcoming Macs with Apple Silicon, though the Macs may use an upgraded A14X variant that's even faster.

Apple is planning to release the new iPad Air with A14 chip at some point in October, though no launch date has been announced. It's reasonable to expect the new iPad Air to come after the debut of the new iPhone 12 models because the tablet does contain new technology (the A14 chip) that Apple may not want inspected thoroughly ahead of the debut of its flagship iPhone lineup, despite the benchmark leak.

Article Link: Apple's New iPad Air Equipped With 4GB RAM

 

[thadoggfather]

I wonder when these will arrive at retailers like Best Buy, etc.

 

[sublunar]

Very competitive with the A12x (except maybe in graphics I guess)

 

[QCassidy352]

The new air is very impressive, but the problem with it remains price/storage. Unless you’re ok with 64 GB, the Air gets very close in price to the Pro, which still has a number of advantages (including the RAM, as mentioned here).

 

[Ds6778]

120hz gang check in!

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Hoping iPhone gets 6MB.

 

[itsmilo]

Release it already! The worst is that once we get a order date it will probably be like + X days

 

[kazmac]

Wouldn't be surprised if these launch later this week. Between this, stores already having promo materials and the interview on the Touch ID with Justine and Jenna yesterday, launch is any day now.

 

[justperry]

Reduced node sizes result in higher power chips that use less power, for gains in battery life and speed.

Awkward to read the above, and the comma shouldn't be there.

Higher Power chips that us less power...
Yes, I know what's it means, just oddly worded.

 

[2010mini]

The new air is very impressive, but the problem with it remains price/storage. Unless you’re ok with 64 GB, the Air gets very close in price to the Pro, which still has a number of advantages (including the RAM, as mentioned here).

does the onboard storage matter much if you use iCloud?

 

[dantracht]

Impressive, but not upgrading from my Air 3 for it. My Air 3 works fine for my needs, which, as far as ipads are concerned, are less and less these days. With the cost of a keyboard and a new pencil, this gets very pricey.

If I was in the market for a pro, however, which I am not, this is definitely worth a look.

 

[now i see it]

The component cost a RAM for Apple is probably a couple bucks at most yet they're always are so stingy with it like it's unobtainium or something.

 

[DiamondarBoss]

does the onboard storage matter much if you use iCloud?

Well, local storage is still speedier and more Accessible than iCloud. On my 2020 256gb iPad Pro, I also got 200GB of iCloud Storage to store things like messages, contacts, and reminders so that it’s continuous on all my future Apple Devices.

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Hoping iPhone gets 6MB.

I sure hope not! I don’t think iOS would work with just 6 Megabytes of RAM. 😉

 

[polee]

Please release this soon¡

 

[fokmik]

So, not today, but tomorrow will have better chances for some updates about release of the ipad air 4 and the announcement of the Apple event

 

[QCassidy352]

does the onboard storage matter much if you use iCloud?

I think different people would answer that differently. If you always (or almost always) use your iPad where you have fast wifi, then it matters less, that’s for sure. But even still, on board storage is faster than wifi access to iCloud storage. Some people are going to be satisfied with the speed/accessibility of iCloud storage and others are not.

My air 3 is 256 GB, and I really like it because literally everything I could want to access fits on my iPad with room to spare. So I just don’t even have to think about storage space anymore. I also do the 200 GB iCloud plan, so I *could* do a 64 GB iPad. But it would mean managing the storage in a way that would feel like a big step back.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I am not really a hardcore user to justify upgrading. My 2017 iPad Pro still works super fast like the day I got it. The days of disposable income on latest and greatest is kinda over for me.

Question, for those planning to upgrade, what type of iPad are coming from or Android tablet?

 

[GuruZac]

Very competitive with the A12x (except maybe in graphics I guess)

Yeah a strong processor. The A14X will be phenomenal. The crazy thing is nothing feels like it taxes my iPad Pro 10.5 with A10X, let alone my iPad Pro 12.9 with A12X. It all feels like there’s just ton of headroom built in to these processors and tablets.

 

[edwrap]

This was to be expected, right? The A13 in last year's iPhones came with 4GB RAM, so it wouldn't make sense if its successor had less. And considering they had just increased from 3GB, another jump seemed unlikely as well

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Question, for those planning to upgrade, what type of iPad are coming from or Android tablet?

I only have a mini 2nd gen so it has been awhile.

 

[Dwalls90]

Apple is planning to release the new iPad Air with A14 chip at some point in October, though no launch date has been announced. It's reasonable to expect the new iPad Air to come after the debut of the new iPhone 12 models because the tablet does contain new technology (the A14 chip) that Apple may not want inspected thoroughly ahead of the debut of its flagship iPhone lineup, despite the benchmark leak.

I don't agree with this. Why would they announce the Air before the iPhone, if they didn't plan on making it available for sale before the iPhone? If the invites for the October iPhone "event" go out this week, with the event being next week, then I think these will launch this week or no later than next Friday.

 

[JM]

The air seems pretty great; but that $599 is hard to stomach...

But, looking at the pricing of all the iPads, I guess it makes sense being halfway between the mini and the Pro. And we all know the ridiculousness of the macbook vs. macbook air pricing a few years ago, lol. Glad that's all sorted out now.

 

[bodonnell202]

Hoping iPhone gets 6MB.

Hopefully a lot more than that 😆

 

[Logamaniac]

More ram also means more battery drain. If you’re not using a device that really takes advantage of the extra ram then it doesn’t make sense for them to further tax the battery. Regardless of ram cost or personal desires that is.