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So use it for something beyond your normal crap. Play Infinity Blade 3 or something and you'll see the difference. Aside from that, if you thought you'd see a major performance boost between the 4 and the Air for checking email, you're a sucker. Sorry pal.
 
My iPad Air is running Meridian's Core Control for SooLoos much faster and smoother than the iPad 3 is is replacing. Swiping from page to page is virtuallt instantaneous. I also like the smaller lighter size.
 
So use it for something beyond your normal crap. Play Infinity Blade 3 or something and you'll see the difference. Aside from that, if you thought you'd see a major performance boost between the 4 and the Air for checking email, you're a sucker. Sorry pal.

Did you even read my post? Why would email be faster?
I'm talking about the iOS UI.
 
Did you even read my post? Why would email be faster?
I'm talking about the iOS UI.


why would that be faster? there is still the limitation of the speed of flash memory and the fact that there is only 1GB of RAM

iOS is efficient with RAM, but there is no reason apple shouldn't have upgraded to 2GB by now. they are starting to make the same mistakes every successful company makes when they get too big
 
why would that be faster? there is still the limitation of the speed of flash memory and the fact that there is only 1GB of RAM

iOS is efficient with RAM, but there is no reason apple shouldn't have upgraded to 2GB by now. they are starting to make the same mistakes every successful company makes when they get too big

Can you cite any evidence that the flash memory is the culprit? There are significant speed improvements between iPad 3 and 4 on iOS 7, both of which would be using similar solid state memory (and RAM).

Beyond that, I have a hard time believing that iOS does not cache the desktop UI in RAM anyway.
 
i don't know

my iOS 7 does stutter a little sometimes on my iphone 5 and ipad 4, but nothing major. iOS has always stuttered at times

but i know from 20 years of following tech that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. its mostly storage and the data bus that slows things down.

Intel solves this by increasing cache on their CPU's every generation or two. the latest Xeon's have something like 20MB of cache
 
Anandtech's review clearly showed significant CPU and GPU improvements; I based my expectations on that data, not an Apple ad.

Again...how many times you have seen those performance benchmarks?

I am not saying those are wrong but it in real life you will hardly have handful of instances where you will notice any performance improvements.

My point...iPad4 and air...not much difference for end user from performance stand point.
 
The OP is 100% correct. Its not that its not actually fast, but the poor optimization on iOS 7 on ALL iPads causes weird stuttering hiccups here and there even on the NEWEST devices. A LOT of this is just software related. Multitasking "zoom" animation is always a little stuttery......really the A6X or A7 cant handle a simple zoom animation???? No, its just poor software and very crazy since we are already on 7.0.3.
 
I think it's iOS 7. I believe Anand said as much in his review.

I don't really see Apple adding a TON of new features in iOS 8. Perhaps some new notification center features, and mail hasn't had much of an update in a while (perhaps they could add a task-based approach like some 3rd party clients). I think they will iterate but the design will remain largely the same, which is fairly obvious. But I think many of the improvements will come in the form of performance. I think they've learned a lot in Mavericks and many of those technologies could really benefit the user if they made the transition to iOS (things such as better battery life, smoother performance and RAM compression).
 
I'm using an Air and iPad 4 side-by-side (both running 7.0.3) and I'm seeing the exact same issues on both devices:

1. Stuttering on home screen when using gesture controls.
2. Wallpaper selection screen stutters/lags when scrolling through wallpaper options.
3. Still takes an oddly long time to set wallpaper.

With the x2 CPU upgrade and improved GPU benchmarks, I really expected a much smoother experience. In all honesty, I see no difference in the UI fluidity.

The weight, form, etc. are all quite good but I'm disappointed with the A7 (or maybe iOS7...not sure).


.....and that's why I'm not falling for the claims this time. In my experience, the iPhone 5S is NOT twice as fast as the 5, so I wasn't about to take a loss on my beloved iPad 4 this time. I tried an Air out at the Apple store this afternoon and I was not impressed.
 
Yes I read your post. I found it uneducated and silly. Hence my response.

Brilliant and constructive addition to this thread. I suppose the many others now reporting the very same issue will also be the target of your illogical disdain.
 
I use my iPad all day, everyday. I noticed a big performance difference between my iPad 4th gen and my Air.
 
I'm using an Air and iPad 4 side-by-side (both running 7.0.3) and I'm seeing the exact same issues on both devices:

1. Stuttering on home screen when using gesture controls.
2. Wallpaper selection screen stutters/lags when scrolling through wallpaper options.
3. Still takes an oddly long time to set wallpaper.

With the x2 CPU upgrade and improved GPU benchmarks, I really expected a much smoother experience. In all honesty, I see no difference in the UI fluidity.

The weight, form, etc. are all quite good but I'm disappointed with the A7 (or maybe iOS7...not sure).

I have to agree with you about the bit of stuttering here and there. I just tried changing wallpaper which did take a long time on my iPad 4. It's instant on the Air, and scrolling through the wallpaper is silky smooth. Browser performance is definitely more snappy. I think the performance issues will be fixed with updates, will probably make the 4 stutter less too I imagine.

I had no complaints for the 4's performance. This is a form factor upgrade for me :D

Ps I just started a thread about the Air's improved wifi performance. Landscape wifi drop issue I've had with every other iPad is solved.
 
I bought the wifey an iPad Air to replace her 4th gen. She doesn't give a hoot about specs so I asked if it was faster and she said yes. If it didn't feel faster she'd make me take it back so I believe her.

When folks talk about lag and stuttering it makes a difference how many apps are in the recently used apps list and what's running. It's been demonstrated in *other threads* that those terms are being used to describe a variety of different things including normal and expected behavior.
 
I had a look at the air today in Australia and the glass is the same as my 4 but I thought the plastic back felt cheap and was no faster than my 4.:eek:

I am hoping Apple will manufacture a 11" iPad also install a flash a better camera and wifi ac other wise no point in updating.
 
I had a look at the air today in Australia and the glass is the same as my 4 but I thought the plastic back felt cheap and was no faster than my 4.:eek:

I am hoping Apple will manufacture a 11" iPad also install a flash a better camera and wifi ac other wise no point in updating.

Plastic back? What have you been smoking?
 
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