Apple's iPad Gets a CPU Performance Review

Seems to perform very well compared to 1Ghz Snapdragon,hope to see this kind of CPUs in mobile phones in future

This brings up the big question for me:

Why haven't we seen any Tegra phones yet? It's more powerful than both of these platforms.

Really this thing is as big as a netbook so why they put a smartphone chip?

Would definitely like to see a detailed benchmarks.

Here are some detail of the A4 Soc from iFixit:

"•The A4 is a Package-on-Package (PoP), with at least three layers of circuitry layered on top of each other. A4 is packaged just like the iPhone processors, microprocessor in one package and two memory modules in the other package. They're all sandwiched together in a very nice and thin PoP.
•
•The iPad RAM is INSIDE the A4 processor package. Confirming this took quite a bit of sleuthing: we had to partner with Chipworks to X-ray the processor. The X-ray revealed two layers of RAM. In addition to the ARM processor, the A4 package contains two stacked Samsung dies."

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03 [...] to-shreds/

You can find the detail of performance tests used in the AnandTech's review.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3633 [...] snapdragon

Battery life. It is a reading device, not really an all around multimedia device.

LOL, netbooks using Intel Atom CPUs lowered the bar for CPU performance to 1998-ish standards, and now Apple's iPad lowers pseudo-general purpose computing even further, so we compare it to cellphones so that we can claim it's fast?

Sorry, but I can't do any worthwhile computing with less than a modern ~2ghz+ dualcore and graphics better than an Intel IGP. I don't need that much power in my cellphone, but the iPad is not a cellphone.

I find it amazing that people are comparing this product to netbooks, phones and computers. First you can't have an iPad without a computer. Second, netbooks are cheap (and you get what you pay for), netbooks have the highest dissatisfaction marks in portable machines, primarily because they are under powered, slow and run a full blown OS which is optimized for the hardware.. Apple has wisely, utilized an existing infrastructure and OS to make their iPads work. Finally a company created an OS to work specifically on the device, they ran on iPhones for years, then tweaked it for the iPad. I hate to say it, but it is smart. As I predicted people who consume media will love this device, 90 percent of us consume content.
The device isn't perfect, but Apple delivers an product that will bring back many industries (Comic Books for example). So call it a giant iPod or iPhone, Apple just sold 700k of them in day! I will pick up a 3G for travel, surfing and book reading. As long as you have a purpose for it, you won't be disappointed. People who expect to use them as a computer replacement will be disappointed (you need a computer and itunes to make it work). Thus it should be compared to netbook or anything else, it is it's own thing.

Well said!

Complains like "I can't do any worthwhile computing with less than a modern ~2ghz+ dualcore" are out of the context. Nobody in his mind expects running 3DMax on an iPad :-)

What iPad does it does vast or very fast.

Battery life. Good performace.

C'mon man, really. It's not even on the same page. It's "a big iPod touch" as everyone is calling it. It's NOT a TABLET PC! Or a Netbook! Go getcherself a netbook son! I truly don't understand the reasoning for blasting a device that doesn't claim to be anything you mention.

pshh this cant even load a screenshot of crysis, enough with the ipad. I swer ive never seen so many people get interested in netbooks until apple came out with their cheap interpretation of it. Even tv shows are showing it, like the late night show and many others. People say macs arent a big market but apple makes its money of ipods and all their other stuff and pretty much 99% of teens nowadays have macs. Or if youre not a complete idiot you build a pc.

I'm waiting for a real computer in this form. I don't want to go to 'app stores' and to be limited to Apple approved software with MY hardware.

God I wish Google made this first in another dimension. Wish I could of seen all of these trolls loving it instead of bashing it simply for its maker. Poor souls.

More like, but can it run... Windows?

The tablet is cool but the first person I see with a Iphone and one of these at the same time Im going to walk up and punch em, then say WHY? You idiot! Im just fine with my iphone 32gb and Asus G73 gaming laptop, blows this out of the water and does so much more!

hmm... sort of... but not nativelly...

"In our instantiation of space-time, the iPad is simply running a VNC client called Desktop Connect, and connecting to my Macbook,"

http://gizmodo.com/5508794/video-windows-7-on-the-ipad

Perhaps I'm asking the obvious here, but why is an iPad being compared to a phone? I guess I could put an iPad in my pocket if I had cargo pants in XXXL, but otherwise... Phones are phones... iPads are tablets running the iPhone OS.

In short, "One of these is not like the other..."

5 articles of the ipad in a roll.....

Go read something else. No one forced you to click on an iPad article.

Was just about to type that tipmen, Tom's getting paid for all this Apple advertising?

Yeah that is getting really damn old. Everytime we post something that you don't like, oh em gee Tom's must be getting paid. Whatever man, if you don't like it that I spent my weekend trying to write stuff for people to read then go read something else. The internet is full of options.

The fact is, there are things to cover and be said. And if you haven't noticed, Tom's isn't really Apple's cup of tea.

I don't know about anybody else, but if I had a device like this I'd want to play hd videos (which without graphics acceleration would take a lot of cpu). Although looking into it more, I'm disappointed that the resolution is so low and there is not hookup for anything external at higher than 1024x768. There are media players that can output HD video, and this thing can't even display above 1024x768??? Apple = Fail

Also, why do we have 5 articles in a row about the ipad when its not the first device of its type and we only get 1 article (if that) about any other device? THG = Fail

Cuz if ya haven't noticed, no other publication really gives a twit about other devices that are me too. Wake up and look around you.

It's so funny how Tom's is filled with anti-apples. The mention of an Apple product being superior probably ruins their day.

Right, cause when apple comes out with a device similar to ones that have already come out, its not a "me too" I forgot.

I have an idea, GO BUY SOMETHING ELSE YOU LIKE AND READ ABOUT IT, instead of clicking on an iPad article and then complaining. Do you not have the mental capacity to think like that? Guess not.

We are Apple, resistance is FUTILE

I'm commenting with a n iPad right now mwuahahahaha

I would venture a guess that Apple wanted to use the iPhone OS, which is ARM based, and netbook chips like the Intel Atom is x86