iPad Do you think the iPad Air 3 (A8X/A9X) can handle an @3x resolution?

[Traverse]

This thought has been bugging me. One of the main reasons I wanted an iPad Air 2 was that I assumed the Air 3 could get a higher resolution. I got burned bad by the iPad 3. It's a nice device, but the problems are well documented. Next year I'll be very ready for a new iPad, but I really think we'll see some form of a higher resolution screen.

Assuming the iPad gets an @3x display resolution of 3072 by 2304 pixels do you think the A8X or A9X would struggle?

The iPad 3 had the same A5 chip as the iPad 2, just with 2 extra graphic cores which were more than used by the 2x resolution. The Air 2 has 5.6 times the CPU and 10 times the graphical performance as the A5X so I would think it could handle this resolution smoothly. Do you think a higher resolution iPad would lag/stutter like the 3 did after a few iOS updates?

 

[Charliebird]

I'm not really sure higher resolution is necessary. The current resolution looks super sharp to me and everything scales well. I think extra resolution would require extra processor and battery resources for very little gain.

I would rather see better optimization in IOS for the existing devices. The icons on the iPad Air 2 look ridiculously large. Split screen mode would be useful when you need to access several things at once.

 

[macduke]

I don't think the Air 2 would have many problems running @3X currently. The custom eight core (4x2) graphics chip it has right now is a beast. Furthermore, the next line of Imagination chips are pretty insane:

Series7XT and Series7XE GPUs achieve up to a 60% architectural performance increase on the latest industry standard benchmarks compared to equivalent configurations of previous generation PowerVR Series6XT/6XE GPUs

They were also quoted as being able render 4K on mobile, which should more than satisfy any @3X resolution iPad Air 3.

The real question you need to ask is this: "When will it happen?" I'm not sure it will soon. I think Apple is positioning their higher-end devices with the best screens. For instance, look at the MacBooks. No retina on the Air. Look at the iPhones. Higher PPI on the Plus (which I think will get true @3X in a future version so it doesn't have to downscale). I think the iPad Pro will have higher PPI @3X, and with a larger screen I think it will be close to around 4K but probably at 16:10 which is better for toolbars/productivity, much like MacBook Pros. Eventually we're going to get the retina MacBook Air, the @3X iPhone 4.7", etc, but for now I think Apple is comfortable only putting these into higher-end devices for the next couple of years.