M4 iPad Air Performance Revealed in Early Benchmarks
▼ Summary
– Early Geekbench benchmark results for the unreleased M4 iPad Air show single-core scores between 3,438 and 3,714 and multi-core scores between 12,296 and 12,885.
– Compared to the M3 iPad Air, these scores suggest performance gains of 13-22% in single-core and 5-10% in multi-core CPU performance.
– The M4 chip in the iPad Air has an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU, a different configuration than the more powerful 10-core CPU/GPU version in the M4 iPad Pro.
– When compared to the M4 iPad Pro, the iPad Air’s chip appears to be roughly on par to 7% slower in single-core and 7-11% slower in multi-core performance.
– These early benchmark results should be viewed cautiously, as more definitive real-world performance data will emerge after the device’s release on March 11.
Early benchmark scores for the upcoming M4 iPad Air have surfaced online, providing a first glimpse at its potential performance gains. These preliminary results, which appear on the Geekbench database, indicate notable improvements over the previous generation, though they also highlight some key differences in the chip configuration compared to the more powerful iPad Pro model.
The data points to two separate test runs for a device identified as the 13-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad Air. The first recorded a single-core score of 3,438 and a multi-core result of 12,885. The second test showed a higher single-core performance of 3,714, with a multi-core score of 12,296. When compared to the published scores for the 13-inch M3 iPad Air, which average 3,048 for single-core and 11,667 for multi-core tasks, these new figures suggest a performance uplift. The single-core improvement ranges from approximately 13% to 22%, while multi-core gains appear to be between 5% and 10%.
A significant detail emerging from these benchmarks is the specific configuration of the M4 chip inside the iPad Air. Unlike the version powering the iPad Pro, which can be configured with a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, the iPad Air’s processor is listed with an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU. This difference in core count naturally influences the performance comparison between the two iPad lines. Benchmark results for the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro show single-core scores around 3,704 and multi-core results near 13,805. This places the iPad Air’s M4 chip performance as roughly on par to 7% slower in single-core tasks, and about 7% to 11% slower in multi-core workloads when measured against the Pro variant.
It is important to approach these early numbers with some caution. Pre-release benchmark data can sometimes be inconsistent and may not fully represent the final, retail performance that users will experience. A more complete and reliable assessment will be possible once the devices officially launch and undergo thorough testing by reviewers. These hands-on evaluations will reveal how the performance translates into everyday applications and creative workflows.
For those interested in examining the raw benchmark data, the specific test results are publicly available on the Geekbench website under the listed identifiers.
(Source: 9to5Mac)
