iPad Is it just me or does the iPad Air 2 sync REALLY fast?

[stephen1108]

My iPad Mini 1 and late on iPad Air (using the same back up from the Mini) took FOREVER to sync in iTunes. It used to always stay stuck for minutes on the 'Waiting for changes to apply' screen.

Fast forward to October 2014, I got the iPad Air 2 and restored from the same back up as those devices and to my surprise it syncs EXTREMELY fast. And I have the same amount of data on this device as I did on the last two. I believe it even syncs faster than my 6 Plus does.

Do you guys think it could be the 2GB of RAM or new processor that makes it sync so fast? Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[scaredpoet]

If there IS any actual increase in speed, it's more likely due to faster NAND flash storage.

 

[mangomind]

My iPad Mini 1 and late on iPad Air (using the same back up from the Mini) took FOREVER to sync in iTunes. It used to always stay stuck for minutes on the 'Waiting for changes to apply' screen.

Fast forward to October 2014, I got the iPad Air 2 and restored from the same back up as those devices and to my surprise it syncs EXTREMELY fast. And I have the same amount of data on this device as I did on the last two. I believe it even syncs faster than my 6 Plus does.

Do you guys think it could be the 2GB of RAM or new processor that makes it sync so fast? Has anyone else noticed this?

It is due to the 4.5x faster internal storage (NAND flash), which is only in the iPad Air 2.

 

[richardmu]

Thanks for the explanation. I'd also noticed how quick the sync had become after the Air. No big deal but a nice to have.

 

[stephen1108]

Wow, thanks y'all! I had no idea that the Air sported faster flash memory.

It really does make a world's difference. Syncing my iPad in the past was such a tedious and long affair, but the iPad Air 2 really made it such a breeze.

 

[rgarjr]

Is there a source that says it has faster flash storage chips

 

[Rigby]

I don't think what Stephen1108 is seeing has anything to do with faster NAND. Syncing long files (like HD iTunes movies) to the Air 2 is just as fast (or rather slow) as it was on the older models. If it's hanging in "Waiting for changes to apply" for a long time that's probably caused by bugs in iTunes. I have seen similar hangs in iTunes sync coming and going.

EDIT: Just did a little experiment. I transferred the same ~3.5GB movie file to my Air 2 and my old iPad 2 using iTunes file transfer (by dropping it into the Documents 5 app). This should be a more accurate and reproducible measure of the pure transfer speed than syncing. Result: It took 2:28 minutes on the Air 2, and 3:25 minutes on the iPad 2. So it looks like the write speed of the Air 2 is about 35-40% faster than that of the 3.5 year old iPad 2.