iPad Pro What CPU feels like there's an odd delay.

[TheRealAlex]

So the iPad Pro released with the A9X CPU and soon after the iPhone 7 released with A10 CPU.

So the cycle refresh should be the A10X CPU (for upcoming IPad Pros) and the A11 for the IPhone 8

However multiple benchmarks have shown despite the A10 being 4 Cores vs the A9X 2 Core it is only a fraction faster. Given that the A10 only has to render 1080p vs the A9X rendering 2048x1536 I'd guess that even in real world use the A9X is even faster.

All this casts a huge doubt if I even want a new iPad Pro with a CPU that's this lacking or potentially lacking.

 

[Skika]

A10 is still basically a dual core chip, it just has 2 extra slow, low energy consuming cores for low level tasks for better battery life. It cant use 4 cores at the same time.

A10X wont lack in anything it will be a better chip all around than the A9X.

 

[Newtons Apple]

So the iPad Pro released with the A9X CPU and soon after the iPhone 7 released with A10 CPU.

So the cycle refresh should be the A10X CPU (for upcoming IPad Pros) and the A11 for the IPhone 8

However multiple benchmarks have shown despite the A10 being 4 Cores vs the A9X 2 Core it is only a fraction faster. Given that the A10 only has to render 1080p vs the A9X rendering 2048x1536 I'd guess that even in real world use the A9X is even faster.

All this casts a huge doubt if I even want a new iPad Pro with a CPU that's this lacking or potentially lacking.

You always can not buy it. That is everyone's choice.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

What I'm wondering is why would Apple release an iPP with A10X only to have their mobile heavy hitter's performance surpassed by the iPhone less than 6 months later?

At this point it makes more sense, at least from my point of view, to wait until after the iPhone launch and use an A11X chip, which restarts the cycle we were on and allows the iPP to be the fastest ARM-based device on the market for a full year (and even when A12 appears, it won't be a huge upgrade over A11X).

I could be completely wrong, but if it were up to me this is the strategy I would go with. There's nothing in the tablet market threatening the iPP right now -- Intel is currently so stuck that even if MS refreshed the SP they wouldn't be able to improve performance, and Samsung just isn't that interested.

 

[acorntoy]

What I'm wondering is why would Apple release an iPP with A10X only to have their mobile heavy hitter's performance surpassed by the iPhone less than 6 months later?

At this point it makes more sense, at least from my point of view, to wait until after the iPhone launch and use an A11X chip, which restarts the cycle we were on and allows the iPP to be the fastest ARM-based device on the market for a full year (and even when A12 appears, it won't be a huge upgrade over A11X).

I could be completely wrong, but if it were up to me this is the strategy I would go with. There's nothing in the tablet market threatening the iPP right now -- Intel is currently so stuck that even if MS refreshed the SP they wouldn't be able to improve performance, and Samsung just isn't that interested.

This, I'm thinking Apple is going to skip A10 and release the iPad's in November with the A11X. Seems to me like the A10 is the A9X slightly tuned because improvements in process over time with two low power cores to keep the phones energy efficient when they don't need the massive power. I'm thinking the iPad pros are on a 2 year upgrade schedule. I wouldn't be massively surprised to see the A11X be a dual core chip either.

 

[Howard2k]

Seems to me like the A10 is the A9X slightly tuned

Nope, it's a fundamentally different architecture.

 

[macduke]

So the iPad Pro released with the A9X CPU and soon after the iPhone 7 released with A10 CPU.

So the cycle refresh should be the A10X CPU (for upcoming IPad Pros) and the A11 for the IPhone 8

However multiple benchmarks have shown despite the A10 being 4 Cores vs the A9X 2 Core it is only a fraction faster. Given that the A10 only has to render 1080p vs the A9X rendering 2048x1536 I'd guess that even in real world use the A9X is even faster.

All this casts a huge doubt if I even want a new iPad Pro with a CPU that's this lacking or potentially lacking.

At this point it would be surprising to get an A10X this close to the launch of the A11. The iPhone is only dual-core as it either uses the low power or high power cores simultaneously. If they made an A10X, it would blow the pants off the iPhone 7 as they always clock it higher and usually give it extra graphics cores. The iPad always has a higher powered GPU because of the additional thermal capacity of the device. When comparing numbers, compare the off-screen tests at a standard like 1080p and see that the X version is always way faster than the base A chip.

It is pretty weird, though, that the iPhone 7 is faster than the iPad Pro with no update in sight. Going back over the last five years of Geekbench iPad multicore scores suggests the A10X would have benched around 5984 (I used some Forecasting functions in Numbers as the line of best fit for the iPad scores over the years is really close), and the iPhone 7's actual number is 5491, so that sounds about right. Given this, the A11X should bench around 7112, but I also have to wonder if it will go that high as mobile numbers are starting to crunch up against desktop numbers and the laws of physics will probably catch up with them soon. There's also the larger 10.5" display to factor in, as well as a potential bezel reduction on the 12.9", which cuts back on battery size unless they can implement some new battery tech. I'd expect the A11X to bench around 6500-6800, which isn't too bad when you consider that's faster than the fastest 2016 MacBook 12" and about as fast as an early 2015 MBP 13". Not sure how the GPUs would compare, but probably faster than the Tegra chip in the Nintendo Switch.

I think the reason they haven't updated it is because they might be overhauling the iPad OS and want to launch that alongside fast new hardware for the Pro models. Some people say WWDC but it would be strange for Apple to release a new A series chip ahead of the new iPhone. However, at this point it's no surprise when Apple has a new A series chip because they do it every year. I really doubt by mid-June they'd be releasing just an A10X. And it would be especially weird because the new iPads wouldn't get the new OS until September when the beta testing is done. If they do have a redesigned 10.5", then it might be a similar look to the new iPhone, so they don't want to ruin that either. They'll probably show off some of the new iPad Pro features, but if they don't have new hardware to show, then that weakens the autumn iPad Pro announcement and probably means that older iPads will also get these new Pro features—or maybe they'll just limit it to the Pro line? I think they'll show some of the improvements at WWDC, make those available to newer iPads, then save some special features for an iPad event in the autumn with the new design.