New iPad Mini Has Downclocked A15 Chip Compared to iPhone 13

[MacRumors]

Both the iPhone 13 and the new iPad mini are equipped with Apple's latest A15 Bionic chip, but benchmark results reveal that the chip is downclocked to 2.9GHz in the iPad mini, compared to 3.2GHz in all iPhone 13 models.

As to be expected, the downclocked chip appears to have a small 2-8% impact on the iPad mini's performance compared to iPhone 13 models. In early Geekbench 5 results, the new iPad mini has average single-core and multi-core scores of around 1,595 and 4,540, compared to averages of around 1,730 and 4,660 for the iPhone 13 Pro.

MacRumors ran the benchmarks by Geekbench founder John Poole, who said the results appear to be legitimate, including the 2.9GHz clock speed.

It's unclear why Apple has downclocked the A15 chip in the iPad mini, but most users are unlikely to encounter any issues with performance using the device. Even with a downclocked A15 chip, the new iPad mini is up to 40% faster in single-core performance and up to 70% faster in multi-core performance compared to the previous-generation iPad mini with an A12 chip, according to benchmarks. We've reached out to Apple for comment.

The new iPad mini is available to order now and launches Friday, September 24. iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro pre-orders begin tomorrow at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, and we've also shared iPhone 13 benchmarks for those interested.

Article Link: New iPad Mini Has Downclocked A15 Chip Compared to iPhone 13

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Still managed to cost $499 😂

I have a feeling this iPad Mini will make Apple billions of 💵 $$$

 

[golgo1313]

That is lame... They stick an overkill M1 in the iPad Pros and hamstring these.

 

[winxmac]

I only heard downclocking the processor speed on iPod touch vs their iPhone counterpart...

iPhone 6/6 Plus vs iPod touch 6
iPhone 7/7 Plus vs iPod touch 7

 

[NMBob]

They must be worried about battery life with such a small mini battery.

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

Does downclocking save apple money?

 

[Caliber26]

I know y’all love to complain but the vast majority of people won’t know or care, or even need that extra performance. Those who care about this kinda thing already know what device is best suited for their needs.

 

[cmaier]

Still managed to cost $499 😂

I have a feeling this iPad Mini will make Apple billions of 💵 $$$

We get it. You think it’s too expensive.

 

[cmaier]

Does downclocking save apple money?

Maybe. These good be chips from the bottom tail of the Schmoo plot.

 

[Pezimak]

I seriously doubt ANYONE will notice the difference, even less so when you consider the iPad Mini is half the cost of the iPhone 13 Pro...

 

[cmaier]

That is lame... They stick an overkill M1 in the iPad Pros and hamstring these.

”Hamstring?” Really?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Does downclocking save apple money?

Oh yeah, they are saving billions of dollars.

 

[winxmac]

Does downclocking save apple money?

Quite the opposite... It brings them more money since they want you to go for the highest performance device they offer...

 

[jz0309]

Could be binning related

 

[Black.Infinity]

That is lame... They stick an overkill M1 in the iPad Pros and hamstring these.

They just did not want to spend money developing a chip for Pro model.

 

[Homme]

Third iPad in history to have a underclocked processor

the other two are the iPad Pro 9.7 inch (2.16 from 2.26) and iPad 7th generation (2.32 from 2.34)

 

[collin_]

Why though? Maybe a battery life thing…? Maybe just lower binned chips? Idk.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

We get it. You think it’s too expensive.

Not expensive. The cost is not properly justified. There’s a difference, buddy.

 

[Marzel]

How can a much larger chassis (utilising a similar passive cooling method) have a processor running at lower clocks? Is it maybe to save battery power?

 

[cmaier]

Not expensive. The cost is not properly justified. There’s a difference, buddy.

No there isn’t. When someone says something is “too expensive” they mean “its price is not warranted by what it does/is/provides.” And if you think it’s ”not properly justified,” please explain to us what product is out there that is comparable to this device but which is priced less.

 

[cmaier]

How can a much larger chassis (utilising a similar passive cooling method) have a processor running at lower clocks? Is it maybe to save battery power?

It’s more likely to use chips that can’t run at full speed, instead of throwing them out. The tail end of the curve is smaller than the middle, so you need to use those in a low volume product, which iPhone is not.

 

[Techwatcher]

iPad mini being weaker than the 13 is odd.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

No there isn’t. When someone says something is “too expensive” they mean “it’s price is not warranted by what it does/is/provides.” And if you think it’s ”not properly justified,” please explain to us what product is out there that is comparable to this device but which is priced less.

The regular iPad. Only $329. $299 with educational discount.

Powerful. Easy to use. Versatile. The new iPad is designed for all the things you love to do. Work, play, create, learn, stay connected, and more. All at an incredible value.

iPad 11-inch (A16)

iPad has an all-screen Liquid Retina display, the A16 chip and four color options. And it supports the Magic Keyboard Folio.

www.apple.com

 

[Serban55]

Not expensive. The cost is not properly justified. There’s a difference, buddy.

again, the ipad air is $599....so if the ipad mini would have been cheaper than the ipad air makes no sense...
$499 is the right price for what we get

ipad is 329 the ipad air is 599 ...if the ipad mini would have benn what..399? lets get real...who in the right mind would get the base ipad just to save 70 bucks.....$499 is nothing nowadays for a device that you use it almost everyday for 2-3 for some even for 5 years ive heard

 

[one more]

The heat reduction and/or longer battery life, I guess?