iPad Mini 4 Uses Speed-Bumped 1.5 GHz A8 Chip With 2 GB of RAM

[benji888]

That is the multicore score. The single core score is surprisingly close to the Air 2. Power consumption is likely to be as much a reason as anything why the mini 4 doesn't feature the A8X. The smaller chassis has less room for battery and heat dissipation.

What are you looking at? From what I see, iPad mini 4 is closer to iPhone 6 than iPad Air 2...it's not even close!

I was very upset when Apple left out important information on the iphone 6s concerning battery life, weight etc. at the official keynote last week. But regarding the iPad mini 4, this was basically nothing more than a dirty little lie.

Phil Schiller: "So whats the iPad mini 4? Well simply, we've taken the power and performance of iPad Air 2, and built it into an even smaller and mini enclosure"

Total Lie! Surprising, really, a blatantl lie. Disappointing.

It wouldn't be as disappointing if they would have given numbers of the improvement over the mini 3.

It was was a matter of heat/battery they really could have put the A9 in there!

...at least it has 2GB ram and full iOS 9 features, but, really upset about this bigger is better marketing, some of us want all of the power in smaller packages!

 

[metsjetsfan]

so they put the A8 that should have went in the 6/6+ last year -

 

[onepoint]

Does anyone know if the iPad Mini 4 gets split screen and PiP?

Yes, it does.

Source: http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini-4/

 

[cdm283813]

Yeah he deserves a cream pie in the face for that. Then we should all move on.

Actually Apple should announce a correction. They flat out lied to consumers.

 

[CEmajr]

2GB of RAM is a given. Big question is are the speakers louder? Even my 6 Plus has louder speakers than the iPad Mini 2/3.

 

[Mlrollin91]

Yes, it does.

View attachment 581708

Source: http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini-4/

Yep, I am pretty much sold.

 

[kazmac]

More RAM and faster chip, nice. Let's see if the color gamut and resolution are better too. Glad to hear folks will have a bit more power under the hood regardless.

 

[Shanpdx]

The 8x is already in the Air 2.

What i meant going forward iPad Air/Pro series would have AX series
What i meant going forward iPad Mini series would have just the A series CPU, mostly recycled from iPhone.

even more;

AX goes to iPad Pro to iPad Air
A goes from iPhone to iPad Mini

 

[Shanpdx]

iPad Air 2 has an A8X processor, not an A9.

thanks, I stand corrected.

 

[manu chao]

What are you looking at? From what I see, iPad mini 4 is closer to iPhone 6 than iPad Air 2...it's not even close!

iPhone 6 vs iPad mini 4 vs iPad Air 2:
Single core integer: 1679 vs 1804 vs 1825
Single core floating: 1578 vs 1701 vs 1712
Memory: 1652 vs 1574 vs 2084

CPU performance single core is thus almost the same on the iPad mini 4 and the iPad Air 2 and 8% faster than the iPhone 6. All share the same A8 CPU architecture and the two iPads are clocked at 1.5 GHz vs 1.4 GHz for the iPhone 6 which explains almost exactly the single core CPU differences.

As the article says, for multicore tasks, having an extra core gives the iPad Air 2 about 45% more performance. But the small advance of the iPad mini 4 over the iPhone 6 remains the same for multicore tasks (same clock rate difference).

Where things diverge a bit is in the memory performance where the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air 2 beat the iPad mini for single core as well as multi core tasks. They might use different memory but what I wonder is whether the size of the flash storage affects results here (SSDs used in computers often have higher performance at higher capacities within a given product range), ie, did the devices tested all had the same amount of flash?

So technically, the only certain thing we can be upset about is the missing third core (with a question mark on the memory performance). Overall, I'd say the iPad mini 4 largely gets the innards of the iPad Air 2 with that one exception.

 

[Artmuzz]

So it's good news that the iPad Mini 4 has 2GB of ram. However, I'm still puzzled why they decided to stick an A8 chip in there instead of the A8X or even an A9X.

 

[btrach144]

LOL Apple lied!!! Somebody needs to sue for false advertising.

 

[Donka]

What are you looking at? From what I see, iPad mini 4 is closer to iPhone 6 than iPad Air 2...it's not even close!

Single core score:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/0...ce-preview-a-1-5ghz-apple-a8-with-2gb-of-ram/

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Of course people are not happy. This is macumors where people think they know everything about everything. Data and numbers here are just baselines for justification into their initial rant.

Nothing more.

Wait for the reviews. Stop whining. Internet has made people soft.

 

[Razeus]

I'll guess we'll never get the performance of an iPad Air 2 in a smaller form factor.

 

[camnchar]

I was really excited for 2 things before the keynote: the new Apple TV and the new iPad Mini. After the keynote, meh. I think I'll wait on both products.

 

[dgdosen]

Well, I'm happy I pre-ordered a 4 mini a few days ago. I just want them to ship now.

I've always liked my mini2 - but was always more impressed by the feel, speed and look of the Air 2 (not the size) - I'm looking forward to the update.

 

[Krayzkat]

I've currently for an iPad 3 (don't laugh )

Can anyone stuck up some comparable stats for that vs iPad Mini 4, to convince me to upgrade? (so i can justify it in my head lol)

Thanks

 

[magbarn]

iPhone 6 vs iPad mini 4 vs iPad Air 2:
Single core integer: 1679 vs 1804 vs 1825
Single core floating: 1578 vs 1701 vs 1712
Memory: 1652 vs 1574 vs 2084

CPU performance single core is thus almost the same on the iPad mini 4 and the iPad Air 2 and 8% faster than the iPhone 6. All share the same A8 CPU architecture and the two iPads are clocked at 1.5 GHz vs 1.4 GHz for the iPhone 6 which explains almost exactly the single core CPU differences.

As the article says, for multicore tasks, having an extra core gives the iPad Air 2 about 45% more performance. But the small advance of the iPad mini 4 over the iPhone 6 remains the same for multicore tasks (same clock rate difference).

Where things diverge a bit is in the memory performance where the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air 2 beat the iPad mini for single core as well as multi core tasks. They might use different memory but what I wonder is whether the size of the flash storage affects results here (SSDs used in computers often have higher performance at higher capacities within a given product range), ie, did the devices tested all had the same amount of flash?

So technically, the only certain thing we can be upset about is the missing third core (with a question mark on the memory performance). Overall, I'd say the iPad mini 4 largely gets the innards of the iPad Air 2 with that one exception.

Then iOS 8 must really know how to take advantage of the 3rd core as my Air 2 DESTROYS my 6+ and wife's 6 in raw performance, gaming, safari, switching apps etc....
Our iPhone's feel sluggish in comparison to the Air 2.
Unless the mini's A8 has extra GPU cores vs the iPhone 6, then it's GPU performance won't come close to the Air 2 either.
I've been waiting 2 years for a proper replacement to my decked out 128gb LTE mini, but I'm probably going to wait until 2017 for a proper mini.

I've currently for an iPad 3 (don't laugh )

Can anyone stuck up some comparable stats for that vs iPad Mini 4, to convince me to upgrade? (so i can justify it in my head lol)

Thanks

Considering how much faster the Mini 2 is to the iPad 3, you will be amazed at the performance jump.

 

[jav6454]

Yeah but the iPad Mini is still big enough to contain the heat and the chip size, it's hardly that much size difference. Inside the iPads are mostly battery's. They could fit them if they wanted to.

I'll weigh in here. I am a PCB engineer and know this kind of stuff first hand. First off, an extra core can make a difference. That difference is either having a warm to the touch iPad or seemingly hotter than expected iPad. Yes, one core can make that difference.

On the computational side, I see little difference single core wise in performance between both iPads. Almost all games use single thread computing. Now, we may see a bigger difference in graphic operation as that does directly impact performance.

That being said, the last point is the most important. Battery life, I can't highlight how much of an impact an extra core is to the TDP of a chip (and hence power consumption) that will impact battery life. A trade off of one core for same battery life is acceptable in my book.

Thoughts?

 

[Tech198]

"mini's" always run slightly faster than there full blown brother

 

[MistrSynistr]

Their tiers of products are so convoluted lately. They always seem to keep old tech around confusing the buyer.

Somehow it goes from Ipad Mini 2 to 4. And the Air is still around with the Air 2.

I expect them renaming everything in their line up soon. Macbook and Macbook Pro's, lose the Air models.

 

[jafingi]

Pretty solid upgrade from my old iPad mini 1!

 

[erasr]

False advertising?!? How is it false advertising? It wasn't an advert. It was a presentation with a brief mention that they'd crammed the Air 2 power into the Mini. They basically have but they can't do anything more due to the smaller size and overheating.

Jeez, people these days are blame blame blame, whine whine whine. You can buy an iPad Mini 4 today and you're still complaining? First world problems. Get yourself over to Syria for a year and then will you be complaining that your precious Mini 4 isn't as powerful as it possibly could be? Whining that Apple have lied to you? Aww! They don't care.

 

[MiniMe77]

I have an iPad 1, iPad 3 and iPad Air. The iPad 3 is actually my favourite. It performed great and I never had any problems with it. I don't like the iPad Air because of one thing. The display. When you type on it or tap the screen, however gently, you hear a cheap tapping sound when your fingers hit the display. This wasn't the case with the earlier iPads. I hate it, it makes the screen feel cheap. I don't know if the iPad Air 2 has the same problem?

I guess I just need to go into the shop and try it out. If the Mini 4 is like that too then I won't be getting one.