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Why is iPad 2 not that much faster than iPad 1...?

doug in albq

doug in albq

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Original poster
Oct 12, 2007
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Trying to convince myself to update my iPad 1 with an iPad 2 but all the videos around the net comparing the two versions show not so much speed improvement with the update, especially in web browsing.

Yes. iPad 2 is faster, but not that much. I am a heavy user of iPad 1 and have watched videos of comparisons of two versions and have used iPad 2 in best buy...honestly, why is the speed not more fast!

If feels maybe 10% faster (subjective number, yes) when it should be 50-??% faster with dual core chip and the 9x video....what gives? yes, dual core is clocked down to 8xxmhz X 2....still should feel faster than it does compared to iPad 1.
 
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The real difference in Safari is having multiple pages open and not having them reload every time you want to go to one of them.

I see a great difference in apps like Zinio and I notice iBook and iworks apps load material quicker.

Keep in mind, iPad 1 was no slouch, I didn't get what the difference in speed was until I put it to my test in everyday use. There's a noticeable difference in some things, in other things not so much.

Hope that helped a little.
 
Am not techie but I have noticed a difference between the two. It is enough to make me happy with the ipad 2. My games, books etc load faster and everything seems smoother.
 
When going from one perfectly smooth and optimized experience to... another perfectly smooth, optimized experience, you won't really notice a big difference. That's why SJ is so into the whole Post-PC concept. It's not about the specs or the faster processor, it's about the experience. If your OS can do more with less, all the better.
 
it feels the exact same to me and I was excited to see the difference when I first compared the two... I think if you keep telling yourself its faster, than maybe it will work, but realistically, its the exact same IMO.
 
Each core in the A5 is roughly the same clock speed as the A4's single core. This means that there won't be much difference between the iPad 1 and 2 when using a single threaded app, which at this point is most of them. Of course the extra RAM and GPU power will make a more noticeable difference in many cases.
 
I find the iPad 2 faster for large PDFs, iBooks, etc., and way, way faster for Keynote and Pages (I'm not a big Numbers user, so can't speak to that).

Web page loading isn't going to be 2x the speed, since often times the bottle neck will be the wifi speed. Plus, iOS 4.3 brings a lot of speed improvement to the iPad 1 (which is pretty fast to begin with).

I'd imagine it'll get faster yet as more and more apps are optimized for it.
 
Just a test for those fortunate to have both.

Open Safari

Open 9 different Internet boxes in iPad 1 and 2

Randomly go through the open pages and take notice how iPad 1 reloads the page you want to read every time, iPad 2 holds the page for you, no reload necessary.

Now download the Daily. Open the app on both devices, tell me which loads quicker and runs smoother.

Last test, go to iBooks, tap on a book and tell me which loads quicker.

Subtle differences, but they surprised me enough.
 
admanimal said:
Each core in the A5 is roughly the same clock speed as the A4's single core. This means that there won't be much difference between the iPad 1 and 2 when using a single threaded app, which at this point is most of them. Of course the extra RAM and GPU power will make a more noticeable difference in many cases.
Click to expand...

Same clock speed but not same architecture. A4 was an ARM A8 design, while the A5 is an ARM A9 architecture. This is like moving from a Pentium II to a Pentium III. The new processor allows out-of-order processing for example, which greatly improves the processing efficiency of each core. I read the memory bus speed has also improved. So, overall, the processor in the iPad 2 should actually be significantly faster even if it was just one core.

Of course, the new GPU and extra RAM help a ton too.
 
Remember what Steve said, it's up to 9x faster.

Just keep repeating this to yourself :D
 
doug in albq said:
Trying to convince myself to update my iPad 1 with an iPad 2 but all the videos around the net comparing the two versions show not so much speed improvement with the update, especially in web browsing.

Yes. iPad 2 is faster, but not that much. I am a heavy user of iPad 1 and have watched videos of comparisons of two versions and have used iPad 2 in best buy...honestly, why is the speed not more fast!

If feels maybe 10% faster (subjective number, yes) when it should be 50-??% faster with dual core chip and the 9x video....what gives? yes, dual core is clocked down to 8xxmhz X 2....still should feel faster than it does compared to iPad 1.
Click to expand...

You answered your own question with the first line of you post.

If you're trying to convince yourself, then you'll never be happy with the upgrade.

Having my iPad 2 for about 14hrs now and I can honestly say that it does feel twice as fast. I think it's dependent on what apps you use. The Daily loads way faster. Mobile Safari is really snappy. PDFs on GoodReader load and scroll smoother.
 
The AnandTech review demonstrates nicely that iPad 2 is significantly faster than the original iPad (and Moto Xoom, for that matter). It's a big upgrade.

But to see the difference in iOS 4.3 you're going to need to push it; as many have said, the original iPad is no slouch and the whole experience is carefully optimised by Apple. I constantly outpace my iPad, so I'm sure iPad 2 will be a worthy upgrade.

I have no doubt iOS 5 will make very good use of iPad 2's extra grunt.
 
Is it worth the EXTRA $$$

I agree, it should feel faster, but for what I do web, uTube, NetFlix, the speed is in the WiFi not processor or graphics. When explaining his to the apple employee he said over all if you have iPad 1 it's not worth the upgrade. I think the ram should have been 32,64,128, now that would have been worth the upgrade to me with faster processor and graphics + Face Time. That being said I opted to just get another iPad 1 from at&t for $529 64GB WiFi + 3G. Although I do feel the iPad 2 is faster runnig apps and it does open web pages faster but is it worth an extra $300 to me NO. I'll wait for the next upgrade.
 
Interesting, no reply from the OP, I noticed it right away. It definitely, at least 50 % faster in browsing, everything! OP must have bad wifi. Surely, he knows that bandwidth varies place to place. Try fast switching apps that are farther from the left.
 
I have both and side by side the iP2 downloads faster and the graphics is FAR smoother in games, etc. In the every day mundane use the iPads would be the same speed.

What we need now is new software that will use the new processing power but as the iPad is no more than an Internet Appliance to me, it will make little difference. Still love mine:p
 
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X Cruz 187 said:
I agree, it should feel faster, but for what I do web, uTube, NetFlix, the speed is in the WiFi not processor or graphics. When explaining his to the apple employee he said over all if you have iPad 1 it's not worth the upgrade. I think the ram should have been 32,64,128, now that would have been worth the upgrade to me with faster processor and graphics + Face Time. That being said I opted to just get another iPad 1 from at&t for $529 64GB WiFi + 3G. Although I do feel the iPad 2 is faster runnig apps and it does open web pages faster but is it worth an extra $300 to me NO. I'll wait for the next upgrade.
Click to expand...

So if you have the ********* processor ever but the best wifi you can get than your netflix web and YouTube will still work flawlessly?!?! I don't think so processor has plenty to do with those things. Cmon now.
 
I'm the biggest skeptic in the world, especially when it comes to Apple and their fanboys. But I must say the ipad2 feels quite a bit faster than the ipad1, especially in web browsing where pages don't take a second lag to load like they did with the ipad1, and I haven't seen a checkerboard yet.
 
doug in albq said:
Trying to convince myself to update my iPad 1 with an iPad 2 but all the videos around the net comparing the two versions show not so much speed improvement with the update, especially in web browsing.

Yes. iPad 2 is faster, but not that much. I am a heavy user of iPad 1 and have watched videos of comparisons of two versions and have used iPad 2 in best buy...honestly, why is the speed not more fast!

If feels maybe 10% faster (subjective number, yes) when it should be 50-??% faster with dual core chip and the 9x video....what gives? yes, dual core is clocked down to 8xxmhz X 2....still should feel faster than it does compared to iPad 1.
Click to expand...
Like they say, Apples not about specs. It's about saving something to sell in the next rev. I'm sure that one will be faster.
 
iPad 2 has longer wait times to actually get the device too.

I think the biggest selling point of the iPad 2 is not the speed but the HDMI mirroring in all apps. Even Android only can do videos and pictures just like the iPad 1. The speed is just a bonus for encoding your video to post to Youtube for example.
 
The problem is not with the iPads it's with us.

Go back and read some of the responses...

My iBook opens faster, the second for safari lag is gone, 9 pages opened and no checker boards..

We are so impatient that less than a second matters and everything must be at my fingertips immediately.

Unless ur heavy into games there is no reason to upgrade at this point.
 
This isn't surprising. In revising iOS devices every year, Apple can't deliver a must-upgrade every year. Even if they could, they can't. There are a tangle of marketing issues. You want to ship something that will entice people who don't own a tablet to buy an iPad, get people who bought into Android early to switch, and make incremental steps in improving platform performance and features to lay groundwork for new, more powerful and unique "must-have" apps and iOS features that may not launch a year or more from now.

You don't want to ship something that makes people who spent $500+ on an iPad not even just a whole year ago, but perhaps around the 2010 holidays, feel like they've in any way been left behind and must upgrade for their iPad to remain useful. Make people feel like they wasted their money a few months ago and they'll drop out of the tablet market or switch to a tablet product they feel has longer legs, that they feel will readily last them at least two and preferably three years without virtually demanding an upgrade.

Look at iPhone. Out of three distinct model updates, the iPhone 4 was really the first "hey, we threw everything into this one and you absolutely must jump on the bandwagon or upgrade now" model. That's a two-year gap with models covering three years. There were incremental feature and performance upgrades in between but the 4 was the heavy hitter. Expect with the iPad, the iPad 3 or 4 will be the first heavy hitter upgrade.

It's all a balancing act, especially if you're selling a lot of media and software for the devices, too. Pull in as many new customers as possible without alienating your base, making them feel forced to upgrade, until they also feel they wrung every dime of worth out of their previous purchase.

Devotee forums don't give the broad perspective that Apple is concerned about in marketing their devices. In general, no one buys a new phone or tablet or laptop or desktop every time a revision is released. Most people go three years or more, depending on the device. But in these sorts of forums, a lot of people do upgrade at every new revision. If your business model relies mostly on current customers upgrading every time there's a new revision to your product, you're either going out of business straightaway or you have a very small customer base.

Nothing odd about not perceiving large performance gains in regular iPad usage with current generation apps. You're not supposed to.
 
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