iPad Air 2 Up to 55% Faster Than iPhone 6, Up to 68% Faster Than iPad Air

[iamhollywood5]

I've never owned an iPad (or any tablet for that matter) and I've never wanted one either. Tablets just do not appeal to me, at all. I've always been content with a Macbook and an iPhone.

So, I'm not lusting over the Air 2. However, this makes me pretty irritated with the iPhone 6, which I bought on launch day. It's obvious that the 6S will be at least 56% faster with twice the RAM. On one hand, this really should be expected. In the past, the iPhone doubled in speed/power every year, the 6 was the only phone to buck this trend, so in most cases, this would happen to every iPhone owner, no matter which model they bought (except the 5S which is nearly as fast as the 6, and keeps its owners content for an extra year).

On the other hand, I'm kicking myself for being impatient and getting the only iPhone in the series that is only barely faster than the previous version. I upgraded from a 4S, so the jump was kind of justified, but I really should have waited for the 6S. I convinced myself that the massive leaps in power every year was finally slowing down and perhaps a permanent thing of the past, but it turns out the iPhone 6 is just a bastard child. This will probably make it more difficult to sell than previous generations as well. At least I went with a 16GB 4.7" regular 6, instead of a 128GB 6+.

Oh well. I kind of anticipated unlocking and selling my 6 and getting a 6S, because I don't know how much longer I can tolerate 1GB of RAM. Hopefully the trade-up will be less than $200.

Also, there is no such thing as a "triple-core" processor. It's a quad-core with one core disabled, because that's just the type of thing Apple does. I want to know, with which device will they unlock the 4th core?

 

[Keirasplace]

You hit the nail on the head. This hardware is incredible but iOS takes poor advantage of it in its current form. They need to re-evaluate its implementation in tablet form. As it is currently, it best serves mobile phones.

Only thing reassuring, Android's way way worse at exploiting its own power. This makes the current gap even more massive.

 

[fortysomegeek]

If you're an engineer why would you be using an iPad, surely there are numerous Windows machines that will do what you want, like the Surface Pro 3.

He sounds like a DevOPS engineer. DevOps folks work in POSIX/*NIX environments and Windows (even the Surface) is not suited for that work.

Windows Desktop Apps don't work too well. I tried it myself. Cygwin & PuTTy don't work with tablets in multi-touch mode. The Apps on the Window Stores that do support touch aren't that great for DevOPS work.

If Apple comes with an IOS device that allows you to drop into a UNIX shell, that would be awesome. AKA. Chromebook.

 

[pacfolly]

It looks like I'll have to get a new iPad Air 2 to make calls then since my iPhone 5S certainly can't perform correctly if even the iPhone 6 is slower than the new, faster, and thinner iPad Air

 

[LordQ]

The question now is, when are we getting apps that take advantage of this power? Aside from Procreate, iDraw, iWork and iMovie, there's nothing to really push it to the limits.

Here's hoping for Siemens to port Solid Edge! That would make me the happiest chap! #

 

[Will0827]

This is a result from a test on the new intel core M processors, this is really great news for apple and possibly not so good for intel.

 

[x-evil-x]

If you are going to implement a feature, it is a good idea to produce the hardware first. I bet we will see multitasking in iOS 9.

so this whole next year with this thing you won't see its performance...

 

[ksuyen]

Which doesn't mean they don't release half baked software... iOS 8 has been nothing but trouble.

So yeah. Apple may throw in as much horsepower as they want but the problem that needs to be addressed is the operating system.

IMHO iOS 8.1 is getting better, and I don't want to give an excuse for Apple for that, though I appreciate their effort to quickly churn out updates for their OS. Here is the thing, OS will never be 100% perfect (though iOS is closer to that than Android), and regardless of what's going on lately in their software department, they are on the right track (beta releases, feedback) and they do fixing bugs and giving frequent updates.

 

[Neepman]

I really hope that means it's really future proof.

No worries. They will find a way to virtually brick it two iOS's down the line. Just like every other iOS device.

 

[x-evil-x]

I've never owned an iPad (or any tablet for that matter) and I've never wanted one either. Tablets just do not appeal to me, at all. I've always been content with a Macbook and an iPhone.

So, I'm not lusting over the Air 2. However, this makes me pretty irritated with the iPhone 6, which I bought on launch day. It's obvious that the 6S will be at least 56% faster with twice the RAM. On one hand, this really should be expected. In the past, the iPhone doubled in speed/power every year, the 6 was the only phone to buck this trend, so in most cases, this would happen to every iPhone owner, no matter which model they bought (except the 5S which is nearly as fast as the 6, and keeps its owners content for an extra year).

On the other hand, I'm kicking myself for being impatient and getting the only iPhone in the series that is only barely faster than the previous version. I upgraded from a 4S, so the jump was kind of justified, but I really should have waited for the 6S. I convinced myself that the massive leaps in power every year was finally slowing down and perhaps a permanent thing of the past, but it turns out the iPhone 6 is just a bastard child. This will probably make it more difficult to sell than previous generations as well. At least I went with a 16GB 4.7" regular 6, instead of a 128GB 6+.

Oh well. I kind of anticipated unlocking and selling my 6 and getting a 6S, because I don't know how much longer I can tolerate 1GB of RAM. Hopefully the trade-up will be less than $200.

Also, there is no such thing as a "triple-core" processor. It's a quad-core with one core disabled, because that's just the type of thing Apple does. I want to know, with which device will they unlock the 4th core?

are you happy with your new phone? coming from a 4s its a huge jump in everything. These numbers shouldn't matter to you and people will buy these phones in 2 years for the same amount a 2 year old phone is going for right now. don't worry so much and enjoy new technology. Or you could just keep waiting year after year to see a spec bump...

 

[Freyqq]

I've never owned an iPad (or any tablet for that matter) and I've never wanted one either. Tablets just do not appeal to me, at all. I've always been content with a Macbook and an iPhone.

So, I'm not lusting over the Air 2. However, this makes me pretty irritated with the iPhone 6, which I bought on launch day. It's obvious that the 6S will be at least 56% faster with twice the RAM. On one hand, this really should be expected. In the past, the iPhone doubled in speed/power every year, the 6 was the only phone to buck this trend, so in most cases, this would happen to every iPhone owner, no matter which model they bought (except the 5S which is nearly as fast as the 6, and keeps its owners content for an extra year).

On the other hand, I'm kicking myself for being impatient and getting the only iPhone in the series that is only barely faster than the previous version. I upgraded from a 4S, so the jump was kind of justified, but I really should have waited for the 6S. I convinced myself that the massive leaps in power every year was finally slowing down and perhaps a permanent thing of the past, but it turns out the iPhone 6 is just a bastard child. This will probably make it more difficult to sell than previous generations as well. At least I went with a 16GB 4.7" regular 6, instead of a 128GB 6+.

Oh well. I kind of anticipated unlocking and selling my 6 and getting a 6S, because I don't know how much longer I can tolerate 1GB of RAM. Hopefully the trade-up will be less than $200.

Also, there is no such thing as a "triple-core" processor. It's a quad-core with one core disabled, because that's just the type of thing Apple does. I want to know, with which device will they unlock the 4th core?

Not necessary, as Apple designs their own chips. It's also an SoC, so the area where the 4th core goes could be re-purposed into anything.

This is also an A8X processor, so it could have a higher TDP than what the iphone can handle.

 

[Rennir]

What impresses me more than raw performance is the _improvements_ to mobile performance year to year.

Computers do not get THIS much faster every year. We're lucky to see 3-8% increases.

If you extrapolate just a few years ahead, the future of mobile will unlock completely unprecedented possibilities. That's pretty neat. I honestly don't yet know how all this power can be used yet, but that's an interesting problem to have.

Not to mention we have WebGL on mobile, Metal. Unity publishes to HTML5 + WebGL as well as iOS / Metal.

Doesn't Moore's law say differently?

 

[TMRJIJ]

Very impressive numbers on an app which obviously pushes the hardware to the limits but that's not the problem with the iPad Air. The problem is that since iOS 7 that the entire operating system needed to be re-engineered and optimised for the iPad. It's still an upscaled version of the iPhone ios and as much as I didn't like the look of iOS 6, the iPad version was indeed special and tailored for the larger device. All that was lost in iOS 7 and it hasn't been improved with iOS 8 at all.
The iPad Air lagged even with iOS 7 and there was the eternal issue of the Safari windows (which is now better but still not nearly as good as it was in iOS 6 which ran on much slower machines).
So yeah. Apple may throw in as much horsepower as they want but the problem that needs to be addressed is the operating system.

iOS is supposedly built from the ground up to be optimized for the newest hardware, . . . then they try make it supported for older models (which of course leads to most bugs on older iOS devices). I never notice any problems with the iPad Air on iOS 7. Safari, well, its Safari .
I think the performance bump for the iPad Air 2 is directed for something in the near future.

 

[ksuyen]

Also, there is no such thing as a "triple-core" processor. It's a quad-core with one core disabled, because that's just the type of thing Apple does. I want to know, with which device will they unlock the 4th core?

Apple is always focussing more on efficiency and battery life than increased power.

 

[0098386]

I don't know what it is about iPads but I feel no need to upgrade from my iPad 3 yet. I'd like more storage from 64gb and that's pretty much it.

Funny isn't it how we (or at least me+friends!) feel the need to get a new phone ever 2 years but tablets can go for much longer before needing to be upgraded.

 

[Bahroo]

You realise the GPU side of the K1 hasn't been tested correct? The CPU side yes its better on the A8X, but we don't know the GPU side yet.

GPU'S are eithrr on par or the Power VR GX6650 beats the Kepler K1 GPU in the Tegra K1

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7796/...ounces-new-high-end-mobile-gpu-powervr-gx6650

 

[Homme]

now Appleinsider says the tri-core processor trashes Android Tablets processors, even the tegra 1 and the Nexus 9 thanks to a new geekbench result

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14...gra-k1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

im happy now

 

[cpnotebook80]

i ordered one for my boss at work. I gave my 1st gen to my mom and 3rd gen to my dad and sis. I kept the second gen which i kinda just use it before bed to browse news sites etc.

but will see how it looks when boss gets it in. I have the 6plus so not sure which will be abandoned more between the 2 device usage.

 

[DaveN]

I did a little checking on my systems. Amazingly my 2009 iMac has nearly identical single and multi core results as my iPhone 5s. I think it is incredible that you really are holding a full fledged computer in the palm of your hand and it runs a long time on a small battery.

 

[DCJ001]

Most surprising to me is how little difference there is between the 6 and the 5s.

I guess it really is Form over Function.

The iPhone 6 is about 14% faster than the iPhone 5s.

 

[braintumor]

Wow... This is amazing, a mobile SoC is as fast as a 2010 MBP that can still run Yosemite very well.

But what this news really shows is the last piece of a puzzle what is to come from future apple products. I believe we will see two possible scenarios now that the mobile SoC are fast enough to offer real desktop class like performance.

Scenario 1:
iPad Pro (rumored 12" inch version) with the A8X will be released to offer something like a Surface Pro where we will see a hybrid of iOS and OSX or possibly iOS9 that offers a desktop mode which offers standard functions from OSX.

Scenario 2:
The next Macbook Air will get the A8X SoC and the next OSX version will support the A8X (and future A-series SoC)

A combination of both scenarios is also possible, but I truly believe that Apple is interested to totally integrate its product hardware and have full control. And if we look again at the development of Metal and Swyft, this tells us that Apple is preparing something. Why else create a new programming language? Simple, give the developer community the chance to get used to it, so that Apple can release their future products and developers can then quickly react with software that supports the new hardware...

What should be interesting, is what will apple do with the apple-tv in combination with all this processing power? Apple could soon create an apple-tv with console like performance if it wishes to do so and that would be a huge problem for MS and Sony since Apple already dominates the mobile gaming platform and could easily get their users/players in front of the TV.

 

[sirozha]

He sounds like a DevOPS engineer. DevOps folks work in POSIX/*NIX environments and Windows (even the Surface) is not suited for that work.

Windows Desktop Apps don't work too well. I tried it myself. Cygwin & PuTTy don't work with tablets in multi-touch mode. The Apps on the Window Stores that do support touch aren't that great for DevOPS work.

If Apple comes with an IOS device that allows you to drop into a UNIX shell, that would be awesome. AKA. Chromebook.

Cisco Route/Switch and Collaboration (formerly known as Unified Communications and before as VoIP).

I could easily use Surface, but I only use Windows under duress.

I actually do use Windows almost daily as a VM on my Mac. Cisco still doesn't have all the their tools ported to Mac, so I have to use Windows for certain things. However, most of the work I do is from OS X.

I tried to use the iPad for work, and it's just not usable. I even jailbroke it to get to the shell, purchased a few terminal apps on the App Store and got a few from Cydia. Purchased a mouse app from Cydia that works with Jump Desktop for right-clicking with a mouse, so that I can use an external keyboard and a mouse. Still, it takese much longer to do my work on the iPad than on my MacBook Pro.

iPad is not usable for engineers - even with all jailbreak apps. It works as a proof of concept, but no one should subject oneself to such torture. Surface is usable, but I don't like Windows 8, especially their mobile GUI.

I believe the future of the MacBook Air is in a dockable tablet form. It should be able to be a laptop for work and a tablet for when on-the-go or for content consumption, by undocking from the keyboard. It definitely needs a trackpad. The idea I'm proposing of a single kernel with two OSes should be doable, and the OS development can proceed within either branch to benefit OS X and iOS but yet contribute to this "hybrid" device running a hybrid kernel.

 

[Tycho24]

People expect the phone to check for their latest emails in the background.

I'm talking about looking up an actor in IMDB WHILE streaming a movie, for example.

I've been trying to imagine this for a while now and just can't...
My IMDB app is PERFECTLY formatted to fit my iPad screen; I love it!!!!!
My video content PERFECTLY fits my screen; I love it!!!!!! Sooooooo...... how exactly would your example work??
Two halves of the screen, both with a MUCH less than half sized teeny tiny scaled down app with enormous black banding to keep the ratio the same?! Sounds godawful... Or, perhaps- one quarter sized floating window, too small to be useful, but too big to actually still enjoy the content it's floating in front of?! Sounds equally horrible...
I guess I can vaguely imagine if you limited it to landscape apps can only run two at a time, stacked in portrait... & vice versa there'd be less banding... but the 1st time you want one landscape & one portrait app, all hell would break loose.
Hmmm... I honestly just don't think there's a good way to do this now. There's a reason why Samsung's is SO limited. What do they have... like half a dozen "apps" that can multitask? Apps is apostrophed because I believe most of them are built-in Samsung apps; NOT anything a user would actually choose... but therein lies the rub!! You can't allow ANY two apps to multitask... it would be insanity... What if shaking the screen meant "delete text" on one app, but "send message now" on the other? Two games simultaneously? How would they decide resource priority? Two audio sources? Would they play over each other?
Ugh.... we are a LONG way from this being solved.
I'm sure eventually Apple will figure out rules & protocols that allow apps to coexist multiwindowed in a sensical way and will allow developers to do just that. I do NOT believe it is immediately imminent and frankly, will gladly wait for it to be done right.

 

[Sylonien]

Well we now know what the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus specs will be like then
I'll patiently wait, just like my 4S, 5S iPhones...

 

[AliMacs]

All that jelly and no toast!

Even though I have the air 2 arriving soon, I hope there will be a change to iPad iOs. Right now its just a big iPod. Its totally a waste of hardware.

I like owning a Ferrari but please let me drive on the freeway at nasty speed . Right now I can drive my Ferrari around the park. Total waste.