iPad2 thread

[Ns1]

where's the OWNED emoticon?

 

[DivideBYZero]

Well, looks like even CPU performance is not the same anymore. Ars Technica ran LINPACK:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/03/ipad-2-the-ars-review.ars/5

iPad 2 is almost 4 times faster at floating point performance than iPad.

Interesting to note is that the XOOM and its dual-core ARM A9 is hopelessly outclassed once again. Galaxy Tab doesn't even come close.

The only device that can challenge the iPad 2 in this benchmark will be the OMAP 44x based PlayBook, which also has ARM's NEON tech. With ~100Mhz extra per core it will be interesting, to say the least.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Well, looks like even CPU performance is not the same anymore. Ars Technica ran LINPACK:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/03/ipad-2-the-ars-review.ars/5

iPad 2 is almost 4 times faster at floating point performance than iPad.

Interesting to note is that the XOOM and its dual-core ARM A9 is hopelessly outclassed once again. Galaxy Tab doesn't even come close.

That's hardly a surprise, everyone knows Tegra 2 has lacking floating point performance compared to A9 SoC's that have NEON support. OMAP 4 on the other hand should have no problem matching the iPad2's numbers. It's also possible that Samsung's Exynos SoC will have NEON support but it's hard to say one way or the other.

Slightly off topic but that test shows how underpowered all tablets really are, all modern laptops are soundly in the muti GFlop range when it comes to floating point performance.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Sunspider is nothing special, though.

But damn, that floating point performance.

Up to 2x faster my arse. Every indication points to the iPad 2 being a computational and graphical monster at this point. Better gaming is out of the question, but I wonder what developers and Apple will let up this time. Floating point is good for a lot of things... even Flash.

The only device that can challenge the iPad 2 in this benchmark will be the OMAP 44x based PlayBook, which also has ARM's NEON tech. With ~100Mhz extra per core it will be interesting, to say the least.

I'm not sure the iPad 2 clockspeed is at 900MHz. It makes no sense because the bus speed is reported at 250MHz in many instances. Even Anandtech's analysis noted that. If it is at 900MHz, bus should be at around 200MHz or 300MHz.

 

[senseamp]

Well, looks like even CPU performance is not the same anymore. Ars Technica ran LINPACK:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/03/ipad-2-the-ars-review.ars/5

iPad 2 is almost 4 times faster at floating point performance than iPad.

Interesting to note is that the XOOM and its dual-core ARM A9 is hopelessly outclassed once again. Galaxy Tab doesn't even come close.

There goes my idea of building a supercomputer out of cluster of Xooms

 

[Patranus]

Well, looks like even CPU performance is not the same anymore. Ars Technica ran LINPACK:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/03/ipad-2-the-ars-review.ars/5

iPad 2 is almost 4 times faster at floating point performance than iPad.

Interesting to note is that the XOOM and its dual-core ARM A9 is hopelessly outclassed once again. Galaxy Tab doesn't even come close.

Update: At the request of several readers, we performed another video test but with the WiFi off and airplane mode on. With these settings (and still at 50 percent brightness), we were able to get about 13 hours and 20 minutes of battery life.

WOW

 

[MrX8503]

I suppose, if that suits your assertion. Prior to the iPad 2 release you and others like you were all too quick to state that any tablet should be rated against the forthcoming iPad 2, rather than the available iPad 1. :hmm:

The iPad1 was already a year old, the iPad2 and XOOM are new. :hmm:

 

[DivideBYZero]

The iPad1 was already a year old, the iPad2 and XOOM are new. :hmm:

Consider yourself busted.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

WOW

I say this whole Tegra 2 business is ridiculous. I bet 80% of the people saw nVidia with Tegra and they drooled.

And look how the Tegra 1 performed. Then they said "No this is the 2nd iteration." Okay, Tegra 2 matches OMAP, and Exynos at best. It's all comparable. Now what?

OVER-RATED.

But it's even more overrated considering we're talking different OS platforms and everything. What matters to the user in the end is UI performance.

You can slap a Sandy Bridge in any computer, but if Windows 7 needed 12GB of RAM and 12 cores to even boot, then of course we'd all be crying.

If Android can just make its UI snappy, I swear half of its issues would go away.

BACK TO TOPIC.... I don't understnad how the iPad 2 outperforms so much. Isn't this all the same generation of CPUs? I thought the A4 was like the Hummingbird and the A5 was similar to the Exynos? No?

 

[Ns1]

BACK TO TOPIC.... I don't understnad how the iPad 2 outperforms so much. Isn't this all the same generation of CPUs? I thought the A4 was like the Hummingbird and the A5 was similar to the Exynos? No?

iPad2: where specs don't matter

 

[smartpatrol]

If Android can just make its UI snappy, I swear half of its issues would go away.

BACK TO TOPIC.... I don't understnad how the iPad 2 outperforms so much. Isn't this all the same generation of CPUs? I thought the A4 was like the Hummingbird and the A5 was similar to the Exynos? No?

Honestly, I think it comes down to iOS just being a lot more efficient with its CPU usage. Android seems to be a terribly, horribly optimized OS.

Just an example from personal experience: I had an Evo 4G and I switched to an HD7. They have almost the exact same specs: same CPU, same 512 MB memory, same screen resolution and size. Yet, if I didn't know any better, I would believe the HD7 had a next-gen processor in it. EVERYTHING is faster. . . scrolling, zooming, navigating the UI, zero input lag when using the keyboard, boots up faster, etc.

What's more, the HD7 has a smaller battery (~1200 mAH vs ~1400 mAH) and yet it still lasts 20-30% longer than the Evo.

Running Android on a Tegra 2 is like running Windows ME on a Core i7. I have no doubt the Tegra 2 could really soar if it had some decent software running on it.

 

[zerocool84]

You people are crazy. I got my shipping notice from Apple today. Mine should arrive early next week.

Shipping times are multiple weeks. I'm just trying to buy them and flip them. I don't want one for myself and my brother already has his. If I don't get them it's no big deal.

 

[runawayprisoner]

BACK TO TOPIC.... I don't understnad how the iPad 2 outperforms so much. Isn't this all the same generation of CPUs? I thought the A4 was like the Hummingbird and the A5 was similar to the Exynos? No?

Linpack is kind of an application that just calls OS APIs to calculate something, so it's all up to the OS to do whatever it takes to achieve the best output.

Based on the results, you're seeing boss-level optimizations in iOS (possibly combining both VFP and NEON somehow), which results in the iPad 1 performing almost on the same level as the XOOM's Tegra 2 Cortex A9 design. But comparing the XOOM's Tegra 2 against the Galaxy Tab's Hummingbird and you can see the Cortex A9 offering some benefits. If we are talking about raw performance and proper OS optimization or same-OS performance, I'd say it's safe to assume Tegra 2 should be twice as fast as A4.

But regarding the A5, the CPU likely has super beefed-up vector processing units beyond standard Cortex A9 specs, so it's like a completely different chip from the Cortex A9 altogether. I'm not sure about Exynos until we start seeing results comparing Exynos vs Tegra 2 to really judge raw performance, but I don't doubt Exynos and A5 might be different since A5 just went into mass production in January this year, and Exynos likely have been designed a bit before that. It's not like Apple threw the A5 design on the table for Samsung to steal or anything.

This is mostly a showcase of iOS vs Android in terms of optimizations and performance, if you are reading beyond the fact that the iPad 2 is 4 times faster than the iPad 1, that is.

And either way, these facts remain: iPad 1 is on the same level as XOOM in some cases. Galaxy Tab is not even up for competition. iPad 2 is way ahead of anything else.

 

[zerocool84]

Linpack is kind of an application that just calls OS APIs to calculate something, so it's all up to the OS to do whatever it takes to achieve the best output.

Based on the results, you're seeing boss-level optimizations in iOS (possibly combining both VFP and NEON somehow), which results in the iPad 1 performing almost on the same level as the XOOM's Tegra 2 Cortex A9 design. But comparing the XOOM's Tegra 2 against the Galaxy Tab's Hummingbird and you can see the Cortex A9 offering some benefits. If we are talking about raw performance and proper OS optimization or same-OS performance, I'd say it's safe to assume Tegra 2 should be twice as fast as A4.

But regarding the A5, the CPU likely has super beefed-up vector processing units beyond standard Cortex A9 specs, so it's like a completely different chip from the Cortex A9 altogether. I'm not sure about Exynos until we start seeing results comparing Exynos vs Tegra 2 to really judge raw performance, but I don't doubt Exynos and A5 might be different since A5 just went into mass production in January this year, and Exynos likely have been designed a bit before that. It's not like Apple threw the A5 design on the table for Samsung to steal or anything.

This is mostly a showcase of iOS vs Android in terms of optimizations and performance, if you are reading beyond the fact that the iPad 2 is 4 times faster than the iPad 1, that is.

And either way, these facts remain: iPad 1 is on the same level as XOOM in some cases. Galaxy Tab is not even up for competition. iPad 2 is way ahead of anything else.

Yea the OS optimizations really show even with similar hardware. It's not like an OMG the hardware is that better, it's that they made optimizations. Android has done better in some things because of optimizations and now iOS is doing better. It's good that both companies are making each other push harder.

 

[Mopetar]

I'm not sure about Exynos until we start seeing results comparing Exynos vs Tegra 2 to really judge raw performance

Anand put up some benchmarks for upcoming phones a while back and one of the Samsung models was using the Exynos.

Looks fairly similar to the Tegra 2 in terms of performance. Although we only have a fairly small set of benchmarks, it should give us an idea of the general performance level.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

But regarding the A5, the CPU likely has super beefed-up vector processing units beyond standard Cortex A9 specs, so it's like a completely different chip from the Cortex A9 altogether. I'm not sure about Exynos until we start seeing results comparing Exynos vs Tegra 2 to really judge raw performance, but I don't doubt Exynos and A5 might be different since A5 just went into mass production in January this year, and Exynos likely have been designed a bit before that. It's not like Apple threw the A5 design on the table for Samsung to steal or anything.

Actually Exynos launching a bit after A5 would follow the same pattern as A4 and Hummingbird. They both shared the same cpu core that was co developed by Intrinsity and Samsung and then manufactured by Samsung. The arrangement kind of makes sense for both parties, Apple gets the advantage of Samsungs fabs and Samsung gets to benefit from extra engineering talent working on the cpu core.

Since we haven't seen Linpack numbers for OMAP 4 is is premature to say that A5 may have additional enhancements not present in a normal Cortex A9. The only thing we can really say is Nvidia seems to have underestimated the competition and cut corners where they shouldn't have, in this case floating point performance. Given some of their semi recent blunders in the pc market that really isn't to surprising.

Keep in mind that those benchmarks of Exynos were done on pre release hardware and Anand stated that poor drivers could have been responsible for the gpu's underwhelming performance.

 

[endlessmike133]

I can't wait until the NGP comes out and beasts every single handheld device out there by a large margin in benchmarks.

it's gonna be so hilarious..

 

[DivideBYZero]

I can't wait until the NGP comes out and beasts every single handheld device out there by a large margin in benchmarks.

it's gonna be so hilarious..

The only thing hilarious about it is you actually comparing a handheld console to a tablet computer or a smartphone.

 

[Generator]

Will both ipads be getting iOS 5?

 

[MrX8503]

Consider yourself busted.

I tend to compare devices that are in the same timeframe. The iPad1 is not in the same time frame as the XOOM and the ipad2 is not in the same time frame as Tegra 3.

Yeah....busted....

 

[Mopetar]

The only thing hilarious about it is you actually comparing a handheld console to a tablet computer or a smartphone.

There's no reason that you can't think of the NGP as a 5" tablet with additional controls for alternative input methods. The thing also has 3G, so it's possible that some model may also work as a phone considering that there's a PSP phone already. It'll probably run some modified version of Android as well.

It's not using any parts that aren't available to competitors and Nvidia may have their Tegra 3 part out by then which will also feature quad Cortex-A15 ARM CPUs. Even if does beat every single device, it probably won't for more than a few months.

 

[SandEagle]

played with an ipad2 today and was very impressed by its performance, weight and build quality. i want one, but will just wait til the old ipad1 dies out on me....probably never though

 

[Fingolfin269]

The battery life on these "iDevices" is really what is starting to win me over to that camp. I mean holy shit. Full video @ 50% brightness + more and ~13h battery life? I have not researched other tablets at all but have a feeling the competition wouldn't even make it through two movies before needing a charge. If I'm wrong I'm probably not wrong by much...

 

[MrX8503]

The battery life on these "iDevices" is really what is starting to win me over to that camp. I mean holy shit. Full video @ 50% brightness + more and ~13h battery life? I have not researched other tablets at all but have a feeling the competition wouldn't even make it through two movies before needing a charge. If I'm wrong I'm probably not wrong by much...

Apple has gotten battery life down. The iPhones, Macbooks, and iPads all get excellent battery life. Its all about hardware and software optimizations.

If you check out the ifixit tear down the iPad2 is all battery.

 

[gus6464]

I'm calling a quad Cortex A9 with PowerVR 543MP4 on the iPad 3. Apple is going to go head to head with the NGP. Unreal Engine 3, CryEngine 3, and ID Tech5 are not being ported to iOS for shits and giggles.