Is the new 2017 iPad really an upgrade from the iPad Air 2?

[anony_mouse]

Slightly better processor, and cheaper? That's where the upgrade is.

At the expensive of a worse screen. That's where the downgrade is.

 

[mogelijk]

At the expensive of a worse screen. That's where the downgrade is.

Except it isn't actually a "worse" screen. It is a mixed bag as the new screen is brighter, at the same time it lacks the anti-reflective coating and lamination. With the cheaper price, you can use part of the savings to add a screen protector and get the anti-reflective coating.

 

[anony_mouse]

Except it isn't actually a "worse" screen. It is a mixed bag as the new screen is brighter, at the same time it lacks the anti-reflective coating and lamination. With the cheaper price, you can use part of the savings to add a screen protector and get the anti-reflective coating.

An external anti-reflective coating is not nearly as effective as a proper one added during manufacturing.

Even though it's brighter, the screen is quite a lot worse than the Air 2. Check it out in a shop. Personally, it was the decisive factor that stopped me from buying the iPad 5. I will now look to upgrade my laptop instead - the new Asus Ultrabooks are rather nice.

 

[Bruins_CCH_4]

A9 > A8X

Actually according to Geekbench:
For single core performance, yes.
For multi core performance, the A8x >A9 because the former has 3 cores vs 2 cores of the A9.
So for common every day tasks the A9 will be faster but for more advanced processing such as gaming and video editing, the A8x is slightly superior.

 

[mogelijk]

Actually according to Geekbench:
For single core performance, yes.
For multi core performance, the A8x >A9 because the former has 3 cores vs 2 cores of the A9.
So for common every day tasks the A9 will be faster but for more advanced processing such as gaming and video editing, the A8x is slightly superior.

Actually, Geekbench shows that the two are virtually identical in multi-core; for example, this test done by Macworld UK had scores of 4343 and 4340. As you point out, though, with the iPad 2017 having a significant advantage single core, most reviewers report the 5th gen iPad feeling faster in day to day use. Even for advanced processing, the Air 2 is not faster, just that the two tend to perform similarly.

 

[Bruins_CCH_4]

Actually, Geekbench shows that the two are virtually identical in multi-core; for example, this test done by Macworld UK had scores of 4343 and 4340. As you point out, though, with the iPad 2017 having a significant advantage single core, most reviewers report the 5th gen iPad feeling faster in day to day use. Even for advanced processing, the Air 2 is not faster, just that the two tend to perform similarly.

That is interesting you point that out. My reference for the Air 2 multi core score is 4529 from Geekbench 3. I also watched a YouTube comparison of the Air 2 and iPad 5 which demonstrated the real world differences in single core vs multi core performance. Not to say you are wrong, just wanted to back up my point.
Anyway, my mother is Finally upgrading her iPad 2 to the new iPad 5 this weekend which I will be setting up for her. When we bring it home I will compare it's performance to my 2+ year old Air 2 and report back

As a side note I'm still contemplating upgrading my Air 2 LTE to one of the New iPad Pro devices because it doesn't seem right that my mom will have a better performing iPad than me

 

[mogelijk]

That is interesting you point that out. My reference for the Air 2 multi core score is 4529 from Geekbench 3. I also watched a YouTube comparison of the Air 2 and iPad 5 which demonstrated the real world differences in single core vs multi core performance. Not to say you are wrong, just wanted to back up my point.
Anyway, my mother is Finally upgrading her iPad 2 to the new iPad 5 this weekend which I will be setting up for her. When we bring it home I will compare it's performance to my 2+ year old Air 2 and report back

As a side note I'm still contemplating upgrading my Air 2 LTE to one of the New iPad Pro devices because it doesn't seem right that my mom will have a better performing iPad than me

The problem is, everytime you run Geekbench you get slightly different results, it all depends on what iOS is doing in the time in the background. You can try to close out all the apps but you can't completely prevent things from running in the background.

What I recall seeing is scores for both devices being similar -- neither seems to be significantly faster using multi-core scores. Even using 4340 vs 4529, though, it is still only about 4% difference -- not anything you'd notice in normal use.