Geekbench

Early CPU scores suggest modest gains for iPhone 7’s A10 chip vs. iPad Pro’s A9X

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

Early Geekbench 3 benchmark of the Apple-designed A10 system-on-a-chip—which will be the next iPhone and iPad's engine—was posted Thursday by Dutch blog TechTastic.nl. Purported scores suggest the device may not be much speedier than the iPhone 6s and iPad Pro. The upcoming chip scored a tad more than last year’s A9 powering the iPhone 6s series and a little bit faster than the A9X in the iPad Pro.

On the other hand, the benchmarked A10 is almost certainly a prototype unit so final scores should be higher than is currently the case.

New MacBooks offer 90 percent faster SSD write speeds, Skylake CPU up to 20 percent faster

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 6, 2016

Apple today announced a second-generation twelve-inch MacBook which brings speed increases across the board thanks to the use of Intel's latest Skylake chip platform, PCIe-based flash storage and a speedier 1,866MHz RAM.

The Verge took the new machines briefly for a spin. Having put the new MacBook through its paces in Primate Labs' $0.99 Geekbench 3 benchmarking app to measure the performance of the new Intel CPU and using the free Blackmagic Disk Speed Test app for benchmarking disk I/O operations, the publication was able to determine just how performant the updated flash storage and Intel's new Skylake CPU are.

9.7-inch iPad Pro and iPhone SE confirmed to have 2GB of RAM

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

With Apple's announcement of the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro on Monday at the 'Let us loop you in' event, there has been a ton of excitement over the amount of power built into these smaller packages.

Following the event, iDB shared the tech specs of the iPhone SE and the tech specs of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but one of the things Apple never shares and prefers to keep to itself are the RAM specs for its devices. New information on Tuesday reveals both devices come with 2GB of RAM.

Benchmarks put iPad Pro’s A9X chip roughly on par with Intel’s 2013 Core i5

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2015

The powerful Apple-designed 'A9X' system-on-a-chip—the engine that drives the iPad Pro—outperforms its predecessor inside the iPad Air 2 by a large margin while offering approximately the same performance as Intel's Core i5 processor for notebooks from 2013.

In terms of graphics, the iPad Pro still manages to outperform the fluidness of the iPad Air 2 despite having more pixels on a bigger screen. That's the gist of a series of synthetic benchmarks that ArsTechnica ran as part of its massive review of the iPad Pro in order to determine just how speedy Apple's new tablet is.

iPad mini 4 performance: faster than last year’s model but slower than the iPad Air 2

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

I think we all pretty much expected the iPad mini 4 to be a little slower than Apple's still top of the line iPad Air 2, and some new benchmarks from Ars Technica back up that expectation. The iPad mini 4, which received little fanfare during last Wednesday's iPhone 6s event, ships with a new A8 processor and 2GB of RAM.

With its new specs in tow, the iPad mini 4 can benefit from one of the major changes in tomorrow's iOS 9 release—side-by-side multitasking. True, the iPad mini 4 may still come in second place when compared to its larger sibling, but this refresh is a marked improvement over its predecessors.

iOS 9’s Low Power mode throttles down CPU performance to preserve iPhone’s battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

With iOS 9, Apple has brought out a brand new Low Power mode which kicks in when you're nearly out of juice. It was designed to help extend your iPhone's battery life, providing up to three hours of additional time before charging.

After using Geekbench's iPhone application to measure an iPhone 6's processor performance in Low Power, MacRumors was able to determine that this mode reduces processor performance by about forty percent. As a result, an iPhone 6 in Low Power mode would be roughly on par with an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5 in terms of sheer CPU performance.

The iPad Air 2 is much faster than the iPhone 6 and the original iPad Air

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 21, 2014

No big shocker at first glance. Of course the iPad Air 2, a device that's just now landing into the hands of rabid fans, is faster than the year-old device that it's intended to replace. Yes, the iPad Air 2 is faster, but it's the way that it's faster that is truly noteworthy.

The A8X processor that's nestled deep within the confines of the iPad Air 2's new slim and trim body is, for the first time in the history of iOS devices, a 1.5Ghz triple-core processor. The iPad Air 2 also features a healthy 2GB of RAM. Coincidentally, the 2GB of RAM is also a first for any iOS device.

Needless to say, the iPad Air 2 is a beast on paper, but it's no mere paper tiger. This thing screams, and the first benchmarks posted on MacRumors comparing it to previous iOS devices are proving that point.

Alleged iPhone 6 Geekbench suggests same 1GB of RAM, slightly higher 1.4GHz CPU frequency

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Conveniently timed just ahead of Apple's big reveal at 10a. PT / 1pm ET, an alleged Geekbench benchmark of Apple's unreleased iPhone 6 smartphone surfaced online Tuesday morning. The scores suggest that the Apple-designed A8 chip powering the forthcoming handset still has the same 1GB of RAM as prior iPhones.

However, Apple seems to have increased the A8's clock frequency marginally, going from the 1.3GHz inside the iPhone 5s slightly up to 1.4GHz on the iPhone 6.

Geekbench scores come via the same Weibo user “zzray” who made a video of a nearly-assembled iPhone 6 booting to iOS 8 and running smoothly in spite of its bigger screen with more pixels.

Retina iPad mini’s A7 chip slightly underclocked versus iPad Air

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

In a surprise non-announcement, Apple's iPad mini with Retina display has unexpectedly gone on sale this morning. For the time being, the device is available online for shipping or with in-store pick-up.

What you can't do (yet) is just walk in and purchase one due to supply constraints and ongoing manufacturing woes as Apple is "working hard" to meet demand. Availability issues aside, what's there to get excited about the device?

For The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, the answer is simple: the iPad mini with Retina display is a no-compromise play - thou shall no longer sacrifice clarity for portability as the tablet packs in the same Retina display like its bigger brother, the iPad Air.

In fact, the only difference between the two is the screen size as the new iPad mini runs the same A7 processor that debuted on the iPhone 5s and made its way into the iPad Air. And just how speedy is the Retina iPad mini vs. the iPhone 5s and iPad Air?

Here are the first benchmark scores...

Initial iPad Air benchmarks show 90% performance increase

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

There were two recurring themes in the first round of iPad Air reviews that began hitting the web late last night: the tablet has substantially decreased in size (that includes weight, thickness, etc.), and dramatically increased in speed.

While we will probably have to wait until we go hands-on to really understand the former claim, the latter can be seen in initial benchmark testing. Early GeekBench results show the Air outperforming its predecessor by a huge margin...

iPhone 5s iMovie 1080p rendering twice as fast

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Early Geekbench benchmarks of the iPhone 5s seemingly prove Apple's claim that the new 64-bit A7 chip provides two times greater CPU and GPU performance over its predecessor, the A6 package inside the iPhone 5. Specifically, the iPhone 5s Geekbench score (the new version of the Geekbench app supports 64-bit chips) is close to the early-2010 Mac mini model.

But how do benchmark scores translate into real-world performance in your favorite apps? Blogger Lex McFarley did an interesting head to head test using the iMovie app running on both an iPhone 5s and a previous-generation iPhone 5. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new phone rendered the video in half the time as the iPhone 5...

New Nexus 7 vs iPad mini comparison [Video]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

The new Nexus 7 has touched down in stores, and it's a pretty compelling little device at $229 for the base 16GB Wi-Fi unit. It's much improved over its predecessor in nearly every facet, and will likely become a thorn in Apple's side as time goes on without a significant iPad mini (Retina) refresh.

With that all said, the iPad mini still has a few distinct advantages over Google's latest offering. Its main advantage is readily apparent, as its screen size completely dwarfs the smaller screen of the Nexus 7. Interestingly enough, the bezel on the older iPad mini is still smaller on all four sides when compared to the Nexus 7. Lastly, the iPad mini is still thinner than the Nexus 7. By themselves, all of these advantages may not amount to much in the eyes of consumers, but when compared side by side, they all add up for a pretty intense debate regarding which is superior.

Make no mistake though, in terms of sheer power and screen prowess, this is no competition. After comparing the two, running benchmarks, playing games, etc, it's evident that Apple has a legitimate competitor on its hands when it comes to the low end of the tablet market. Check inside as I compare both the new Nexus 7 and the iPad mini in our hands-on video walkthrough.