The Apple iPad Air 2 Review
by Joshua Ho on November 7, 2014 9:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Apple
- Mobile
- iOS
- ipad Air 2
CPU Performance
Now that we’ve managed to take a good look at the changes between the A8 and A8X, we can get a good idea of what those differences translate to in some real world performance. While we’ve already seen pure CPU performance, such differences can be small when viewed from real applications. To this end, we use a few browser benchmarks and similar benchmarks. I definitely want to caution against comparing SoCs across platforms though, as rendering engines have a significant effect upon the performance of the device.
There's really not too much that needs to be said here, as the extra core and minor clock speed bump make for ridiculous amounts of performance. The A8X is class-leading here despite generally having fewer cores and lower clocks than the rest of the competition. However, in comparison to A8 we don't see a massive jump in performance. This seems to suggest that even a third core will invoke diminishing returns in general, although these changes mean that it's enough for the iPad Air 2 to be one of the fastest ARM-based devices on the market. One can see an odd regression in the Basemark OS II storage test, but this is likely to be production variances in NAND quality rather than anything notable.
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hughlle - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
iOS may not be perfect..Damned right. The nexus 9 could offer half the performance of this and i'd still pick that due to no other reason than iOS.
Desusenam - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Indeed, exactly the reason I just bought a Nexus 9. That and not needing to install iTunes.However, I'm still annoyed I can't yet buy the cover for the Nexus 9. When I bought the iPad 2, it came with the cover I bought at the same time. I can see why some people like the Apple experience...
dmunsie - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
You do know that you don't need iTunes to setup and use an iOS device anymore, right? Been that way since iOS 5 (2011).Desusenam - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Cheers, I had no idea, I must be someone companies really like, they get a bad experience, go somewhere else and never look back...darwinosx - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
Most Android users have no idea.ITunes hasn't been required in years.
Tikcus9666 - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
until you install an update that bricks the device, then you need a pc or mac with itunes to fix it....iOS 8.0.1 update anyone
svan1971 - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
um other than just itunes and a pc to fix a bricked apple device, how about listing the items required to fix an android device thats been bricked?StevoLincolnite - Friday, November 7, 2014 - link
On WIndows Phone, I just press two buttons and it un-bricks itself.sprockkets - Saturday, November 8, 2014 - link
"On WIndows Phone, I just press two buttons and it un-bricks itself."Then your phone wasn't bricked.
Nokia has tools just like everyone else that runs on a pc to fix a phone. Except Google's can be fixed with macs and Linux.
akdj - Thursday, November 27, 2014 - link
And with iOS, you can fix on a Mac, Windows PC OR Linux!& you're coreect. A pair of buttons doesn't (un)brick a phone of any make, model, manufacturer or OS