Makes sense..no telling what multiple chips and cooling could provide
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New iPad Pro Has Comparable Performance to 2018 15" MacBook Pro in Benchmarks
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
But people will say what if it had a real cooling solution! I take all of these benchmarks with a grain of salt. They are great for comparing mobile to mobile. A12 vs. A11 or A12 vs. Snapdragon and Exynos. The GPU solution in the A12 while fantastic for ARM and mobile, is comparable to the recent GT2 versions of Intel's HD integrated graphics.
I have a really hard time believing these A12s would give Intel Core i5s, Core i7s and i9s a run for their money if they were running a full version of macOS and/or Windows.
Right now these SoCs don't support virtualization so they are useless for use with a desktop OS, unless Apple included both ARM and Intel CPUs somehow.
Last edited:
However you look at it...this is an amazing level of compute performance in a thin device with passive cooling.
One really wonders what could be achieved with active cooling. I can now easily see ARM coming to MacOS (or maybe macOS virtualised on iOS?) sooner rather than later.
One really wonders what could be achieved with active cooling. I can now easily see ARM coming to MacOS (or maybe macOS virtualised on iOS?) sooner rather than later.
Yes but for mobile devices. It is just really hard to believe that these ULV chips can even begin to rival 45w mobile and >100w desktop chips. Maybe they can replace Intel's core M for the MacBook but I don't see ARM replacing Intel or AMD X86-64 anytime soon.
Maybe I missed it, however I wonder how the 6GB 1TB version compares with more RAM. Any difference, a little bit of an edge, etc. Curious
They will demolish core m in a MacBook and use less power. Affinity photo a heavy duty image editor is a lot faster even on the a10x let alone a12x
[doublepost=1541110098][/doublepost]
Haha.. even the a10x in many ways is faster than gt2 intel graphics. Apple is claiming up to 2x faster in A12X so I expect it to be faster than the top end iris plus in the 13” MacBook Pro. Well have to wait for the results though.
Edit: some comparison on gfxbench
http://barefeats.com/ipad-pro-versus-13-inch-macbook-pro.html
A10x is already close to iris plus. If A12X is up to 2x faster then it will have no issues surpassing iris plus.
Last edited:
I really doubt it beats Iris. Maybe Haswell era Iris. People trash Intel GPUs but they've actually come a long way in a short period of time. I still remember when integrated graphics were a complete joke and a dedicated GPU was a necessity for anything more than 2D stuff. I will admit this PowerVR tech has improved dramatically year over year much faster than the improvements on desktop chips.
[doublepost=1541111007][/doublepost]
Sure, but iOS is a much lighter environment. It simply isn't consuming the resources than a full desktop OS does. Even though macOS is much lighter than Windows. The iOS version will even be more optimized than the desktop version because there are fewer configurations it has to support.
It's the same situation with console games vs. PC. People are always surprised at what several year old consoles can manage with hardware that would barely be able to run the same games today.
Of course none of this matters if the mobile device, in this case an iPad Pro, can do the required task faster than a notebook.
See my edit above. At least for gfxbench it is likely that A12X will far surpass the latest iris plus.
I also just checked out Geekbench 4 compute - A12X beats iris plus.
It really depends on what your needs are. For some, an iPad is just as good as a Mac and cheaper and more portable. For others, it's not. However, we are seeing a return to the client - server model like the old VT100 - big iron days. Except in this case. the client is much more powerful so there can be more of the work done on the client but also act as a terminal for programs running on servers. What is old is new again.
Mine runs Linux. I still have an iMac I bought a year ago, but all my laptops (3 of them) are PC's running various flavors of Linux. If my only alternative to MacOS / OSX was Windows, I'd be between a rock and a hard place. Yes, I have last year's iPad Pro, and it's a nice machine. I use it mainly for my musical pursuits, it having mostly replaced the need for sheet music in rehearsals and performances.
Does this translate to OpenGL and OpenCL though? Metal is one thing and great for the Apple environment but Iris is not just for Metal. The A chips are designed with Metal in mind just like nVidia focuses on CUDA.
What about a benchmark like 3DMark? I doubt things would be anywhere similar to what Geekbench is showing.
Last edited:
You are right but that's the curse of buying high-end products at the beginning of the transition phase.
You're saying that like nobody knows it though. Yes, this isn't a laptop. It can hit performance levels close to this year's pro laptops. For some reason it angers people that even though it isn't a laptop replacement for you specifically, it might be for someone else. It's gonna be okay, take a deep breath.
Everybody talking about being professional and not being able to do work on an iPad, I’ll present a case for you. I run a publishing company (web based.) I write novels, edit novels, make covers, market, and so on. I consider my self a pro, in the sense I make my living on these machines. You know what keeps me from having my portable computer being an ipad full time? Two programs. One is photoshop, (and from the demos that looks like they’ve solved that). The other is a book publishing program called Vellum. It’s Mac OS only right now. That’s it. Best writing program is Scrivener, and their IOS version works great. I’ll still do plenty of work (hell, the majority) on my imac 5k. It’s the best tool for my job, because of the two programs, and two other factors. I do like a mouse for editing, and I really like having a great keyboard. But compared to the apple laptops (and I like the new MacBook Air) the wireless keyboards I can get for an ipad are WAAYYY better for my job). So as a tool, iPads are almost there, for my portable device. But really, I need a good desk, a great chair and a keyboard plugged into my computer and I have that. Apple has made it clear they will continue to make good desktop computers, and they love the iPads. I can love the iPads too, if they keep making them so damn compelling. Hell, for under $1500, I can get the new pro, a wireless keyboard, pen, and some good case from target and have a device that has 256 gigs of memory, and wireless LTE. Something that macbook’s can’t do.
While this is remarkable, keep in mind the ARM chip is built on the 7nm proces.
The intel CPU is built on 14nm.
So basicly the ARM has a massive advantage it may not have in the future.
Not doubting ARM is the future, though it's not for soon (first years will be problematic softwarewise)
The intel CPU is built on 14nm.
So basicly the ARM has a massive advantage it may not have in the future.
Not doubting ARM is the future, though it's not for soon (first years will be problematic softwarewise)
That's awesome. I'm hoping the Pro can become a laptop replacement for me in the next couple years. Unfortunately, some people on here refuse to believe that it may be a replacement for some, just because it's not a replacement for them specifically. Really weird thing to get worked up about.
This is probably one of the most frustrating things about being a fan and daily user of Apple’s product line. That every time Apple advances the iPad or iPad Pro forward, it seems like half the internet has to come out of the woodwork and scream to the universe that the iPad is not a real computer. It’s unbelievable. I am slowly learning how to tune it out, but there are still some days where you can easily fall down that rabbit hole.
That's a cute set of numbers. But can I run Autodesk Maya on that iPad? No? How about Katana? Nuke? ZBrush? SpeedTree? Terragen?.... Hello??!?
Unless you use wired headphones as a musician - I find the 2017 iPad Pro to be a wonderful tool for me and other musicians I know. I can purchase, compose, and/or edit music with the iPad pen. iPads should be, and mostly have been, great for absorbing content. I've seen organists and other musicians use iPads in place of sheet music in performance - they're easier to read and you don't need a light to see the music in a dark concert hall. I've seen speakers/lecturers use iPads for their notes. Don't really care about face id - touch is fine and cheaper without more infrared radiation. But I really like the option of using high quality wired headphones with my tablet.
Last edited:
No - geekbench compute is either openCL or Metal - nothing to do with openGL.
Metal (OSX) and openCL(Windows) result is about the same 38-39k
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/3133893
while latest a12x is about 42k:
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/3135166
Haven't looked at 3dmark for a while but I recall a10x was already close to Iris Plus as well.