One of the best parts of the brand new, redesigned iPad mini is the fact it features an A15 Bionic processor. That’s the newest chip from Apple, and it’s also what’s present in the iPhone 13 lineup, too. However, if you were thinking the speeds would be the same across devices, it turns out that isn’t the case.
According to Geekbench benchmarking scores reported today by MacRumors, the A15 Bionic processor inside the iPad mini (6th generation) is actually downclocked when compared to the A15 Bionic processor found in the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
According to the original report, the A15 Bionic in the iPhone 13 lineup is clocked at 3.2GHz. Meanwhile, the iPad mini 6 is clocked at 2.9GHz. Not a ridiculous drop in performance by any means, but it’s certainly an interesting decision on Apple’s part.
All things as they are, there appears to be up to 8 percent performance difference between the iPhone 13 and the iPad mini 6. Single-core and multi-core scores for the new iPad mini came up as 1,595 and 4,540, respectively. Compare that to the iPhone 13 Pro which showed single- and multi-core scores of 1,730 and 4,660, respectively.
Per the original report:
MacRumors ran the benchmarks by Geekbench founder John Poole, who said the results appear to be legitimate, including the 2.9GHz clock speed.
The question is why, but we’re probably not going to get an answer to that question anytime soon, if ever. However, the reality is that even with the downclocked processor, the new iPad mini will likely be a powerhouse in its own right, especially for everyday tasks. Especially if you’re upgrading from the iPad mini 5.
But, something to be aware of, at least. Did you already order your iPad mini 6?