With the 3rd Generation iPad now out in the wild, we are starting to see more benchmarks comparing the new iPad to the iPad 2 and other devices.
Insanely Great Mac provides this nice overview video comparing both graphics and processor benchmarks between the new iPad, iPad 2 and original iPad.
They found that the extra Quad-Core GPU power found in the new iPad seems to primarily allow the new iPad preserve performance on the new Retina Display rather than providing any significant boost in the experience over previous devices. The new iPad, however, is pushing 4-times the number of pixels as the iPad 2, so you do get a distinct visual improvement, but raw framerates seem to be near identical on the tested benchmarks. Benchmarks, of course, are rather artificial measures of performance, and developers may find other differences between the two devices depending on the circumstance.
Meanwhile, LaptopMag pitted the 3rd Generation iPad against the NVIDIA Tegra 3. Apple specifically claimed that the new iPad's A5X chip had 4x the graphics performance as the Tegra 3. They did find, in at least one graphics benchmark, the iPad 3 did exceed the Tegra 3 by a comparable factor:
CPU (Processor) speed, however, was a different story. The Tegra 3's Quad-Core CPU did beat out the new iPad's Dual-Core CPU:
Apple specifically boosted the new iPad's graphics processing unit (GPU) from Dual-Core to Quad-Core in the A5X chip, but kept the same Dual-Core central processing unit (CPU) as the previous generation. The unreleased A6 chip is believed to be Apple's next generation Quad-Core CPU which is still in the pipeline.
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then.
We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025.
iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
A new report from The Information today reveals much of the internal turmoil behind Apple Intelligence's revamped version of Siri.
Apple apparently weighed up multiple options for the backend of Apple Intelligence. One initial idea was to build both small and large language models, dubbed "Mini Mouse" and "Mighty Mouse," to run locally on iPhones and in the cloud, respectively. Siri's...
Thursday April 10, 2025 4:19 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we catch up on the latest iOS 19 and watchOS 12 rumors, upcoming devices, and more.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos
Detailed new renders from leaker Jon Prosser claim to provide the best look yet at the complete redesign rumored to arrive in iOS 19, showing more rounded elements, lighting effects, translucency, and...
A common complaint about the iPad Pro is that the iPadOS software platform fails to fully take advantage of the device's powerful hardware.
That could soon change.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS."
Gurman said that iPadOS 19 will be "more like a Mac" in three ways:Improved productivity
Improved multitasking
Improved app window management...
Apple's current struggles with Apple Intelligence and Siri began in early 2023 when AI head John Giannandrea sought approval from CEO Tim Cook to purchase more AI chips for development, according to a new report from The New York Times.
Cook initially approved doubling the team's chip budget, but CFO Luca Maestri reportedly reduced the increase to less than half that amount, and instead...
Apple is working on a new version of the Vision Pro with two key advantages over the current model, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Specifically, in his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple is developing a new headset that is both lighter and less expensive than the current Vision Pro, which starts at $3,499 in the U.S. and weighs up to 1.5 pounds.
Gurman said Apple is also...
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold") will feature two screens as part of its book-style design, and a Chinese leaker claims to know the resolutions for both of them.
According to the Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station, the inner display, which is approximately 7.76 inches, will use a 2,713 x 1,920 resolution and feature "under-screen camera technology." Meanwhile, the...
Transformer Prime. Its Tegra CPU is apparently more Optimized for geekbenching than the A5X.
However, when you look at the article in total, and consider the Retina display and GPU performance, there's clearly More Than Meets The Eye to this article, than simply the numbers. :)
I don't know much about the Transformer Prime sales numbers, but it would seem that Apple can't Roll Out enough iPads!
i was hoping for a faster processor, but since there is no app or game out there pushing the ipad to its limits i guess apple was thinking that the A5x was still ok.
I think Apple also had to make a compromise when they discovered how much power the new display would need; 70% more battery already with he graphics.
Quad CPU to come later, perhaps when the manufacturing process shrinks down to be come more power efficient.
You're right, I only sold eight of them this Friday. Don't get me wrong $500 profit in one day is nothing to sneeze at but it's nothing compared to 2-3K I'd clear on average release weekend. Apple needs to hurry up with new iPhone so that fanboys can subsidize my next vacation :D
