iPad Air 2 Benchmark Points to A8X Chip With Triple-Core 1.5 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM

[McPc]

It's encouraging to hear that the iPad Air 2 has 2GB of RAM but for my needs the Air is still doing fine by me.

I also suspect Apple will be upgrading iOS to include split screen capabilities in the near future but I will sit tight on this until rumors materialize. I think I'd also be more tempted to pick up an Air Pro if split screening comes to be rather than an iPad Air 2.

 

[jrswizzle]

Wow!

I've always been curious about something...

Do the Geekbench 3 tablet scores correspond with Geekbench 3 desktop scores? For example, my old 2008 iMac scored 1700 Single-Core, and 3000 Multi-Core on GB3.

Could one assume the new iPad Air is equally as fast as a 2008 iMac or no?

Yes, from their website:

"Geekbench 3 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 2500 (which is the score of an Intel Core i5-2520M @ 2.50 GHz). Higher scores are better, with double the score indicating double the performance."

 

[Ironduke]

The 2GB boys must be cracking one off about just right now!

 

[agsystems]

I think one reason sales are down is even an ipad as old as the 2 is more than enough for most people

Its a tough problem to solve- if Apple decides to drop OS support for A5 devices that would be millions of Ipad 2, Ipad Mini (1st gen) and Ipad touch (5th gen) not able to upgrade 8 - and lots of pissed up folks.

Consequently we can't have higher level of software if the devs have to support 3+ year old devices.

 

[BMcCoy]

This will upset the posters in another thread that insisted that the X versions of Apple chips mean quad-core.

 

[Peace]

What? previous iPhones and iPads never disabled anything.

You are correct. I was thinking of the Apple TV.

 

[3282868]

Forgive me if this was covered (been too slammed to keep up), but did Apple state the new iPad's will support multi-tasking in iOS 8?

 

[tattooedyuppie]

2gb!

 

[smiddlehurst]

Assuming this is accurate... good lord the A8X is a monster! Some comparisons between the Air, Air 2, iPhone 6 and Nvidia Shield Tablet:

Single Core: 1467 / 1812 / 1631 / 1027
Multi-Core: 2656 / 4477 / 2925 / 3040
Memory Performance (Single Core): 1394 / 2065 / 1649 / 981
Memory Performance (Multi Core): 1657 / 2698 / 1842 / 1142

Bear in mind that the K1 is a 4 core CPU running at 2.2Ghz...

For me the most interesting figure is the memory performance jump not just from the Air but the A8 in the iPhone 6. That would suggest a move back to a 128bit interface and, considering the ridiculous disk speed the other benchmark in the iPad forums showed, might also suggest a bigger cache. The A7 had a 4Mb cache on-chip which takes up a *lot* of space. If that was bumped up it may be big enough that a benchmark program (especially an older one) doesn't have to hit main memory at all... Probably not though, but it's fun to speculate, right?

 

[Faelan]

So glad that I preordered. Space gray 128GB wifi being prepared for shipping as I type this. 2 gigs of RAM is all I really asked for, but the extra core, reduced weight and thickness, better screen... damn. This is a sweet replacement for my iPad 4.

 

[Sasparilla]

Guys, this thing is just 20 % slower than the present entry iMac!!!

That's just astounding - the current iPad would smoke alot of Mac's from when Snow Leopard and Lion were the current OS's.

 

[Mackinjosh]

So it has 2 GB of RAM. Now what will the primary gripe be?

What is it with fanboys being so defensive. The gripe against browser tab reloads is legit. As are complaints about the lack of multitasking. But don't let that stop you from protecting your precious corporation.

 

[jackson83]

this has more CPU performance than 2008 MacBook Pro.

crazy.

More CPU performance than my MacBook Pro mid-2010, 2.4 Ghz, 4GB

Interesting times ahead, I guess!

Imagine at least 4 core (A9X or A9Mac) with bigger cache, at least 2.4 Ghz, at least 4 GB Ram (LPDDR4), PCIe storage support, Thunderbolt - Displayport - USB 3.1 Type C, Custom Apple - Imagination (desktop suitable GPU) ===

ARM Based OS X Machine ===

= And here we GO!

 

[fourthtunz]

that they short changed all those iPhone buyers 1 gig of ram

I guess if it made the iPhone 6 smaller and cheaper, I'm all for it!
I Love my iPhone 6! Best phone ever!

 

[opfreak]

2gb ram. not possible every true isheep knows that 1gb is plenty.

 

[manu chao]

that they short changed all those iPhone buyers 1 gig of ram

That is of course true in principle. I however cannot remember when I last had reloading tabs in Safari on my iPhone. But I have them frequently on my iPad. Which is rather understandable as I rarely have more than a handful of 'tabs' open in Safari on my iPhone, and I normally don't view pages with a lot of image-heavy content.

That means, it makes perfect sense in my mind to give the iPad more RAM then to the iPhone.

 

[rwilliams]

What is it with fanboys being so defensive. The gripe against browser tab reloads is legit. As are complaints about the lack of multitasking. But don't let that stop you from protecting your precious corporation.

I am far from a fanboy. It was a post made in jest. Lighten the hell up.

 

[icowboys]

I guess if it made the iPhone 6 smaller and cheaper, I'm all for it!
I Love my iPhone 6! Best phone ever!

But it didn't?

 

[Nozuka]

must resist.. dont need one... its just gonna gather dust... stay strong

 

[Paddle1]

iPhone 6 and 6 plus are already underpowered in comparison. The regular A8 is such a small upgrade in comparison to A6 and A7. I wonder if a "6S" would score higher.

 

[MrVinney96]

This thing scores a 1000 points better than the best performing 4-core Android device which is actually the Shield tablet with the nVidia Tegra K1 @ 2.4 GHz. 64-bit and close software integration ftw.

 

[usarioclave]

So it has 2 GB of RAM. Now what will the primary gripe be?

OMG, it has 2GB of RAM! Now I'll be able to do all those things that I wasn't able to do with 1GB of RAM!

I can't think of any of those things right now, but when I do think of that thing I'll be ready!

 

[milo]

That's better than the new Mac Mini.

Funny...but not true.

 

[christarp]

my ipad 1 still runs netflix, I'll wait.

That being said I'm glad the ipad air 2 is a huge jump in performance. It's almost up there with the macbook air in terms of performance now... Hmmm

 

[dantracht]

OMG, it has 2GB of RAM! Now I'll be able to do all those things that I wasn't able to do with 1GB of RAM!

I can't think of any of those things right now, but when I do think of that thing I'll be ready!

Exactly. STILL not enough of a reason to upgrade from my iPad 4, which works just fine, thank you very much. If I didn't have one, I would get this in a heartbeat, but for now I'll hold off until these iPad Pro rumors either come true or die.