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

[mclld]

OK I am not up on benchmarks and tests but I see people saying it is faster than certain macbooks. Is this just on paper or benchmark tests , what about real world performance, are they really comparable with different os's, use situations?

 

[doelcm82]

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.

That was a provocative statement, and you are the one who responded by being defensive.

 

[doelcm82]

This one goes to three.

 

[rwilliams]

This opens up very interesting possibilities for iOS 9 on the iPad.

 

[justin216]

OK I am not up on benchmarks and tests but I see people saying it is faster than certain macbooks. Is this just on paper or benchmark tests , what about real world performance, are they really comparable with different os's, use situations?

It would be very hard to judge in use cases, because the apps and usability are very different. Everyone is discussing synthetic benchmarks, effectively how fast it could run code.

It's very impressive that ARM CPUs in Apple designs have caught up to Intel's performance levels in such a relatively short amount of time -- even though we're still 3-4 years off from current generation Intel chips, it's still a big deal.

What will 5 more years of ARM bring us? Intel may be playing catch-up eventually, what a weird place that would be.

 

[Kevsta26]

Not sure if my dad is right or not, he thinks he is cause he's good with computers.

Is it 3 cores because it's a dual core processor and then the third core is the graphics processor? He claims it's really dual core with the graphics, and the previous iPads were single core with graphics showing 2 cores.

 

[NMBob]

Bestbuy is running a great deal - if you want to flip your Ipad 2

*Guaranteed minimum of $200 toward the new iPad Air 2 with trade in of iPad 2nd generation or newer

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/t...D=1&siteID=BHGfseUWtPc-fUJPemPcTLJmwVXg8FVOyQ

:O My poor iPad2. I knew ye well...
Had no intention of getting rid of it until this. I already have an Air 1, but...

 

[justin216]

Not sure if my dad is right or not, he thinks he is cause he's good with computers.

Is it 3 cores because it's a dual core processor and then the third core is the graphics processor? He claims it's really dual core with the graphics, and the previous iPads were single core with graphics showing 2 cores.

The last few iPads have been dual core CPU, and dual or quad core graphics.

My money for the A8X, after these recent results, is Tri-Core CPU and Hexacore GPU.

 

[bnekic]

There you go 2GB of RAM...hurry someone test out Safari for tab reloading!!!

 

[davva360]

Already sold my iPad 2 in preparation for picking one of these up. Glad to see that there is 2GB ram as it probably makes it much more future proof.

 

[The Doctor11]

I need me $500 fast... Really really fast. As fast as the iPad air 2

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thank god for cut and paste huh?

Cut and past would be counter productive. They used copy and past

 

[dannyyankou]

I need me $500 fast... Really really fast. As fast as the iPad air 2

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Cut and past would be counter productive. They used copy and past

Sell your old iPad at best buy if you have one. You'll get at least $200 towards a new tablet.

 

[gizmo84]

The iPad air 2 crushes my 2010 MacBook Pro. This is how far we've come...

if apple made this thing quad-core it would be super close to the new mac mini performance.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Not sure if my dad is right or not, he thinks he is cause he's good with computers.

Is it 3 cores because it's a dual core processor and then the third core is the graphics processor? He claims it's really dual core with the graphics, and the previous iPads were single core with graphics showing 2 cores.

No it's a 3 core CPU and it has 6 core graphics.

 

[Yvan256]

What a joke

I know the processing power isn't the same, but the iPad Air 2 now has more cores clocked at a higher speed than the entry-level Mac mini.

 

[cfedu]

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.

If this has 2GB RAM it will be easy to confirm who was right/wrong with the safari reload issue. Since the Resolution has not changed on the Air 2, a test between Air 1 and Air 2 will be more or less definitive.


On another note, these have similar capabilities to Macs. Even if this could run acceptable with 1 Gb of ram, surly future iOS versions would be handicapped with the lack of RAM. This thing is a Beast!

 

[827538]

I was feeling a bit let down thinking the new Air only had 1GB of RAM, now if this turns out to be true then I will definitely be picking one up for my Dad.

 

[The Doctor11]

Sell your old iPad at best buy if you have one. You'll get at least $200 towards a new tablet.

But I'm still $300 short. I don't have any money at all after buying the iPhone 6

 

[nt5672]

The iPad air 2 crushes my 2010 MacBook Pro. This is how far we've come...

Now you've let the secret out, MacBook's bye, bye!

 

[sza]

now we are talking.

 

[Yvan256]

It would be very hard to judge in use cases, because the apps and usability are very different. Everyone is discussing synthetic benchmarks, effectively how fast it could run code.

It's very impressive that ARM CPUs in Apple designs have caught up to Intel's performance levels in such a relatively short amount of time -- even though we're still 3-4 years off from current generation Intel chips, it's still a big deal.

What will 5 more years of ARM bring us? Intel may be playing catch-up eventually, what a weird place that would be.

Maybe those rumours of ARM-powered MacBook Airs aren't so weird after all. Apple did have OS X running on both PowerPC and x86 years before we knew about it. I'm pretty sure they have OS X running on PowerPC, x86, ARM and Z80 in their labs, just in case.

 

[smulji]

Wow... just browse around GeekBench and have fun comparing the iPad Air 2 to Macs..!!

Won't be long before Apple can ditch Intel for their consumer portable line of Macs...

I give it two years before Apple starts the transition.

 

[milo]

In all fairness, they've did it before with the PPC to Intel transition. If there was justifiable reason to do it, and they made porting in XCode smooth, then I could see it happen.

Absolutely, the intel transition was painful but worth it. I agree that ARM would be painful again but I don't see enough benefit for it to be worth the trouble (at least not any time soon). Heck, since you'd lose the ability to run windows I'd say that's another major reason not to do it.

11.0 will fix that.

Not sure what you're saying. That somehow 11.0 would make all apps work without recompiling? Sure they could do another version of Rosetta but non-native apps don't run nearly as well, you'd want new versions of them. And of course Apple would probably dump rosetta again after a couple versions.

Sometimes I don't know why I bother with this place.

Maybe you shouldn't.

 

[Will0827]

I was going to get the air 2 but ill be holding out for the the alledged ipad pro which should be interesting. Also these are the specs for an i5 Macbook air, not to far off. Things with the ipad and other tablets in general are going to be really interesing.

 

[smulji]

I was feeling a bit let down thinking the new Air only had 1GB of RAM, now if this turns out to be true then I will definitely be picking one up for my Dad.

While you're at it you can pick one up for me too. iPad Air 2, gold, 64GB. Pleeeez.