New 9.7-inch iPad Pro comes with underclocked A9X chipset
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- AnonD-418011
- yLq
- 23 Mar 2016
Using virtual memory on a none replaceable flash (32gb) is not a good idea in my opinion.
When ipad air came out i was excited to buy one but when i found out that the ram is 1gb i bought galaxy note p605 (resolution 2560x1600) instead with 3gb of ram. I never had any slowness problem on it and it also have pen which i use a lot. I hate the stinginess of apple. I could live with an iPhone with 1gb of ram but please admit that ipad pro and iPhone se both having 2gb is redecouless. IPhone se with 2gb will work for 5 years but you have to replace your iPad in 1.5 years.
Also regarding games just take a look at world of Tanks blitz to see where the trends are heading. I never thought I ever enjoy playing on tablet but man i was so wrong.
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- Zico
- fqe
- 23 Mar 2016
AnonD-418011, 23 Mar 2016look at memory problems with Ipad air (1GB ram). I bought m... moreUsing iPad air for 2 years,,, very minimal memory problems....using a galaxy s6 for 30 minutes...lags started already...galaxy s6 gas 3 GB of ram
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- AnonD-367917
- i24
- 23 Mar 2016
AnonD-418011, 23 Mar 2016look at memory problems with Ipad air (1GB ram). I bought m... moreSure 1Gb of ram was on its last legs with Apple.
The OS this tablet launched with, received some pretty big changes (new OSs) that jumped to 64bit. And no doubt, that ram was shared by the video card.
It was a worst case scenario, and I wouldn't doubt it's life would be limited.
All devices have to have a base working set or minimal amount loaded in order to run. It will not matter the device. That 1Gb of ram would be enough for the OS and apps on top of that, the bigger the app, the less apps in total held in memory.
When we go even a little above 1Gb, we are giving a massive amount of 'headroom'.
The base requirement still takes its chunk, but the free ram is every extra bit of the added ram. Going to 2Gb, would have netted 1.5Gb free. 1.5Gb is a lot for mobile application. (Nobody is running huge 11Gb databases in a spreadsheet on a tablet; or if they are it is using a remote terminal, no doubt)
Now, sure the device you referenced, at the time, coming with 3Gb was running Android, and was future proofed with some breathing space.
In fact that breathing space is unlikely to run out anytime soon.
Yes it has a ridiculously high screen res, and that MIGHT require more memory usage (if games used it), but games are written for the mass market, the 'lowest common denominator' if you will.
Those devices in the android world, generally will have 1Gb of ram and a much lower res screen.
So art assets will be created for the lower res 'common ground'.
Everything will be.
People say android isn't memory efficient.
I think it is.
It isn't battery efficient (compared to the competitors), but it does clever stuff with memory.
Kit Kat optimised for low memory devices.
(My 384Mb Nexus S ran vastly better with the extra 60Mbs of available ram)
So what does Android OS do when it sees huge amounts of RAM?
It caches everything into memory.
Everything it thinks the user is likely to run.
So all of a sudden 2Gb of ram phone shows 200Mb free.
it leaves some free so if the application the user wants isn't in memory, it can load it into the available space whilst it deals with cleaning out some of the 1.8Gb preload.
A 3Gb ram phone. Same
A 4Gb ram phone. Same
A 6Gb ram phone. Same
(See a pattern?)
The fact is all the people who think their android device needs more memory are not saying so because they have experienced a memory shortage, but rather have learned the basics of their phone OS and have read "Available memory:" (and freaked out!)
And if a 2Gb ram android phone with fast memory runs out of memory space; the time to clear the memory and the time to load more into memory will be significantly faster.
Food for thought (let's not play the numbers game).
Your example, with regard to an old iPad that was basically outdated (yet capable) on launch vs a cutting edge part that pushed a trend towards higher numbers... Isn't really proof that an iPad Pro with 2Gb will be outdated any faster than an iPad Pro with 4Gb.
One set of users might have slightly faster times multitasking between a huge number of apps (or a number of huge apps).
2Gb of fast DDR4 paired with super fast storage on a fast system bus; not really an issue 'now' or 'going forward'.
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- AnonD-418011
- 23 Mar 2016
AnonD-367917, 23 Mar 2016Strange comment.
Apple users know that this is not the c... morelook at memory problems with Ipad air (1GB ram). I bought my galaxy note p605 in the same period and it has 3GB:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5532206?tstart=0
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- AnonD-367917
- H3$
- 23 Mar 2016
AnonD-418011, 23 Mar 2016Under-clocking a little is not an issue! The real issue is ... moreStrange comment.
Apple users know that this is not the case.
2Gb of ram being the norm for all their products, unless Apple changes ALL the decision makers on board, and decides to drop all their existing install base (alienating developers overnight as well), they might try some funk to force people to get the latest, but this isn't their style.
They love giving upgrades via software.
iOS is very memory efficient, but it is true, it is always growing in capability, getting more and more of the desktop features. It is, after all, their touch orientated version of OS X...
Even if some huge upgrade to the OS happens that really chews memory (this isn't as like Apple as people try to say), it would be to add functions the user base wants, and that might make use of recent hardware developments (like motion co processors etc).
At which point, older devices, say with 1Gb of ram, would prove slower on the new cutting edge OS. It has happened in the past where four-five year old parts perform slower on their latest OS.
So we are saying 2GB has gotten old and Apple want to force people to higher ram amounts?
Okay, in this (fictitious) scenario, older 2Gb ram iPads run slower; but the A9X variant wouldn't be so impacted: the DDR4 ram on a fast bus, loading from very fast storage chips would cope fine.
Even if they tried to purposefully overload it, there would simply be slight hiccups whilst the ram loaded whichever task was needed.
To be honest I'd love to see an officiant OS on clever architecture get maxed out.
Would be an awesome experience to see. Like lawnmower man level of 'this is cool'.
As that is not likely to happen, and all developers are writing for Apple tablets with 2Gb of ram, I don't think it will be such a problem.
If anything I would question game developers and ask if they will be in some way hindered with regards to working ram and video ram.
Given most apps are written for multiple platforms and the market 'lowest common denominator' Apple tablets with an A9X will be alright for many years yet.
Even if Moores law is followed, where it makes sense that earlier generations have greater usable longevity, this A9X is ahead the curve, it will breathe for quite a bit.
Besides it is more power than is needed to render webpages, decompress files, play video and music etc,.. Internet bandwidth will remain a limiting factor for the majority more than the likeliness of this tablet becoming 'obsolete'.
Seeing CAD software render in realtime 'creation' mode with textures and sublime curves at 5.6million pixels, I'd say the A9X wows me in ways I no longer thought I could be wowed.
More power than tech people can understand, sure... But laymen claiming it is underpowered? Against what?
It doesn't have to render toy story 3 in realtime. That is what desktops do.
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- Steve Max
- Fcn
- 23 Mar 2016
So, you get a GPU that's 4.3x faster than an A7 to drive 4.3x as many pixels ((2048x1536)/(640x1136) is 4.32676). This means that graphically speaking, this tablet shoud be as fast as an iPhone 5s. This GPU sounds woefully underpowered for the task, and this will likely show up during regular usage.
For the same reason (GPU power per pixel), the iPhone SE should be a beast, though.
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- AnonD-498650
- gyt
- 23 Mar 2016
2GB is enough today, but won't be enough in 3 years. And yes, I'm using an iPad 3 now, which is more than 4 y.o.
Looks like Apple is pushing me towards SP4 instead. Well, at least it'll be more useful for working and not only note taking.
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- AnonD-418011
- 23 Mar 2016
Under-clocking a little is not an issue! The real issue is the ram size that will force you to upgrade in 1.5 year!
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- AnonD-443545
- teX
- 23 Mar 2016
Noor, 23 Mar 2016And the worst part still there....9.7 pro has only 2GB RAM.... moreDoesn't matter cause it is way faster than any other tablet in the market, even though it's not 4GB RAM. Memory management in iOS is different than android. 2GB is enough to handle everything. I have an iPad Air 2 running buttery smooth with 2GB RAM.
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- Anonymous
- bJb
- 23 Mar 2016
Noor, 23 Mar 2016And the worst part still there....9.7 pro has only 2GB RAM.... moreand more worst part is ... people still believe apple operate like android ...
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- Anonymous
- uJD
- 23 Mar 2016
Anonymous, 23 Mar 2016Who buys tablets these days???Yup. No one.
Everyone buys iPads!
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- Anonymous
- 7t7
- 23 Mar 2016
Who buys tablets these days???
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- AnonD-485189
- m5}
- 23 Mar 2016
Noor, 23 Mar 2016And the worst part still there....9.7 pro has only 2GB RAM.... morebut 2gb of ram + a9x + ios= still quiet powerful
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- sa11oum
- 0CP
- 23 Mar 2016
Anonymous, 23 Mar 2016264 ppi resolution for the 5th year (half a decade) in a ro... moreYou don't need more. It's a 9.7 inch screen, how close are you really gonna look at it? I love that Apple are true to the 'retina' campaign. More pixels hurt battery life and performance. 350-400ppi for phones and 250-300ppi for tablets is much more than enough.
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- Anonymous
- SdF
- 23 Mar 2016
264 ppi resolution for the 5th year (half a decade) in a row truly is pathetic.
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- Anonymous
- uJD
- 23 Mar 2016
Noor, 23 Mar 2016And the worst part still there....9.7 pro has only 2GB RAM.... moreshould be 4gb. But who cares :) Its a A9x. This "pathetic" tablet beats all other tablets hands down.
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- AnonD-367917
- i24
- 23 Mar 2016
AnonD-105795, 23 Mar 2016so they can milk more from fruit fans with maximum profit. Apple target battery run times of ten hours web browsing.
They obviously opted to get the weight down to a specific point, so they made the battery as big as they could (within the weight envelope), and then down clocked the processor a 'tad' to make the runtime target.
Perhaps they bin the best parts for the larger tablet, and put the 'b' grade SoCs in the smaller part?
It is all for nought to worry about,.. Having half the pixels to push means that games will not need the tad extra CPU, nor half as much GPU.. And, arguably, Apple have not done much of a downgrade, and general tasks will run at the same speed.
I would take either unit and never worry about the processing power.
The efficiency of the OS to make use of specific hardware; that hardware is all onboard!
The system will run fluent as much as the big brother...
Half the memory? Not likely to edit three 4K videos at once (a feature that is advertised for the bigger brother) on a sub4k screen.
Procreates 16k canvases probably won't work on the
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- Noor
- nXI
- 23 Mar 2016
And the worst part still there....9.7 pro has only 2GB RAM. Still named "Pro". How pathetic.
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- AnonD-105795
- xAd
- 23 Mar 2016
AnonD-517730, 23 Mar 2016It's not only the underclocked SoC, the iPad Pro 9.7 just h... moreso they can milk more from fruit fans with maximum profit.
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- AnonD-517730
- kw4
- 23 Mar 2016
It's not only the underclocked SoC, the iPad Pro 9.7 just have 2gb od RAM.