Had the iPad 2 come w/256kb, I never would have bought it.
I would have then gotten the 3 instead and then would have wound up just as unhappy as that group.
Small favors...
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iPad 2 on iOS 9
- Thread starter joeblow7777
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Had the iPad 2 come w/256kb, I never would have bought it.
I would have then gotten the 3 instead and then would have wound up just as unhappy as that group.
Small favors...
The funny thing is, the iPad 3 was the first to have 1GB of RAM but is widely considered to have aged worse than the 2 with its 512MB.
Just downgrade the iPad 2 to iOS 6. Problem solved
Lol. i so wish that was possible..
When I see people try to say the pro isn't really an improvement over the air 2 it's a little funny how a long list of improvements is listed then ended with BUT it only has 2 gb's of ram.
It's really not an accurate statement to say it's basically the same product because it has the same amount of ram.
To be honest, if the Pro 12.9 didn't come with 4GB, I doubt it would be such a big issue. I don't think people familiar with Apple's business practices expect a RAM increase every generation unless there's a specific need for more. However, since the big Pro did come with 4GB RAM, 4GB has become the "new normal".
iPhone
Original: 128MB
3G: 128MB
3GS: 256MB
4: 512MB (retina)
4S: 512MB
5: 1GB (4")
5s: 1GB (64-bit)
6/6+: 1GB (4.7"/5.5" -> arguably should've gotten 2GB already)
6s/6s+: 2GB
iPad
Original: 256MB (arguably should've started with 512MB)
2: 512MB
3: 1GB (retina)
4: 1GB
Air: 1GB (64-bit -> arguably should've gotten 2GB already)
Air 2: 2GB
Pro 9.7: 2GB
Pro 12.9: 4GB (12.9")
With the 12.9" Pro, going with a 2x2GB RAM configuration serves a couple of purposes: 1.) increased memory to support bigger display cache, and 2.) increase memory bandwidth for faster GPU performance. Both those things are necessary in order to support the higher resolution on the bigger display.
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Thats because the RAM wasn't the problem with the early retina devices, it was the CPU/GPU being underpowered. The A5X was *just* enough to run the iPad 3's retina display, but was not enough.
Had the iPad 3 had performance relative to the iPad 2 (in terms of being properly matched to the display it would have been far better - in fact the iPad 4 is practically that 1GB of ram plus a processor and GPU matched to the Retina display - what the iPad 3 should have been originally.
Ram is not always the limiting factor, as with the iPhone 4 it was the GPU (which imho was always a bit underpowered). That is why the iPad buyer who is looking for longevity will buy generations where there is a big improvement in GPU, CPU and RAM as they will last the longest. The iPad 2, (iPad 4 to a lesser extent) and the iPad Air 2 are good examples of devices that have or will have long lives due to a bump in RAM and Processing and Graphics.
Had the iPad Pro 9.7 featured 4GB of ram but the same GPU/CPU as the iPad Air 2, I would have probably not bought that. Anything that will limit the longevity of an iPad, be it the processor, GPU or Ram will put me off purchasing.
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Surely the display doesn't need an extra 2GB of ram to run? The iPad Mini and iPad Air also have about 2 inches of screen size between them, and the Air doesn't need that much more ram to run. Same with the GPU performance, it is not better.
This is not a decision where Apple thought "oh lets help out the 9.7 inch iPad Pro users by giving them less ram, as it will improve their performance, it is a decision over margins.
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I personally would never say that- it is obviously a big upgrade in many ways. However I would just say that its not a good upgrade for me, as it is hard to justify a $350 price increase when I don't care about pen support, keyboard support or the speakers and would just like an iPad that will last me a long time.
It's not a question of display size, it's a question of resolution. iPad Mini 2 onwards have 2048x1536 resolution same as the 9.7" retina iPads so they actually get the same amount of RAM.
While the big Pro quite likely doesn't need the full extra 2GB RAM, Apple probably gets better contract pricing buying a whole bunch of 2GB LPDDR4 and using it across all their devices. Besides, if they do 3GB on the big Pro, do memory manufacturers even make 1.5GB LPDDR4 modules? Interleaving's not gonna work all that well if they go 1GB+2GB. And again, likely better pricing just going all 2GB.
As for GPU performance, if you look at onscreen benchmarks for Manhattan 3D, the Pro 9.7 is even a tiny bit faster than the Pro 12.9. It seems to me, it does need the extra memory bandwidth in order to match Pro 9.7 GPU performance.