Geekbench results for the iMac with Retina 5K Display have hit the web and show that when it comes to 64-bit processing, the 4.0 GHz model of the new all-in-one comes out ahead of the lowest-end (3.7 GHz) Mac Pro. Of course, the rest of the Mac Pro family handily beats the iMac in the same category.
The extra power is almost certainly dedicating to keeping things running smoothly on the impressive new 5K display.
Meanwhile, on the mobile side, new benchmarks for the iPad Air 2 have revealed some very interesting data regarding the new A8X system-on-a-chip. According to Geekbench, the new tablet actually feature a triple-core processor (versus dual-core chips in A8 chip inside the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus) and a hefty 2 GB of RAM.
That increase in processor power makes the iPad Air 2 one formidable machine, coming in at about 55% faster than the brand new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The difference is even more impressive when you compare the new tablet to its predecessor, providing a massive 68% jump in multi-core performance.
The Retina iMac and iPad Air 2 are now available for sale.
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That 2GB of RAM is what I needed confirmed. Now I may go ahead and pull the trigger on getting one because I feel more confident that it’ll be future-proofed enough to handle possible split-screen multitasking well.
I posted the link on the other post when you asked if the 2 GB of ram had been confirmed.
Wasn’t sure if they would post it on here after I sent them the tip.
Ahh, I must have missed that. In any case it’s good to know now. At this point I’ll probably just go buy one from an Apple retail store when they get them in stock so I can compare the Silver and Space Gray models in person.
I’m very surprised that the A8X is triple core! I wonder if the extra core is meant for the dual window mode that may be coming in the future.
Also … I wish people would quit making a big deal about comparing multi-core benchmarks for machines with a different # of cores. In real life, very few applications are actually sped up by having multiple cores. There may be a few applications where the iPad Air 2 is 68% faster than the iPad Air (graphics / audio / video processing, maybe some games), but most will just show the single-core speed up (or less).
They like to surprise us. People would’ve been more excited if they announced it last week.
What are they doing with the other core? Odd-numbered cores are usually the result of “binning” chip production and disabling or lowering specs on parts that didn’t meet top specifications.
I wonder if they’ll save a four core release for the rumored larger iPad? Hmm…
Just in case: If it wasn’t obvious when I previously said “What are they doing with the other core” I meant the missing fourth core by “other,” not the third that’s obviously there now.
Is there any reason to believe that there are actually 4 cores? I don’t see why a custom processor like the A8X couldn’t be built with just 3 cores.
Apple is meticulous and tailors hardware and software to match each other from the ground up. My hunch is there are supposed to be only 3 cores by design.
Not that it needs a 4th one anyway.
Judging from the benchmarks above, this Air could probably smoke a G5 PowerMac without breaking a sweat, while you could cook an omelette and make a cup of tea on the G5’s mother of all double heat sinks.
There have already been several pc cpu’s that legitimately have 3 cores. There is no hidden fourth core
I read somewhere you can’t have triple core? Does this mean Apple has found a way or that they’ve made a quad core and disabled one?
I’m not a nerd. Just a regular fan boy who can admit he doesn’t understand everything, but why can’t you have 3 core processors? Is it the same situation as ram and memory where it must be double the previous spec. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc?
With that being said why can’t they just make a processor with 1 core and a duel core on one chip?
You can find old triple core AMD processors.
Mac Pro used to be hexa core.
And I’ve seen Dell and HP pc’s with 3 and 6gb’s of ram, my 2009 white macbook supports 6gb of RAM (despite apple officially stating it can have a maximum of 4)
And yeah, I remember those 3 core AMDs.
Hexacore configurations are normal in Xeon processors (recent mac pros had them) and even on the playstation 3.
Those 3-core AMD chips were failed 4-core chips, binned at 3.
The best part of hearing it has 3 cores and 2 GB of Ramos knowing a ioad iOS specific update is comin soon.
Maybe I can get my wish of iPad specificreleases of iOS every spring. It’s really needs some love.
Finally 2GB of RAM, looking forward to seeing how it will handle multiple Safari tabs now, even the current Air is constantly reloading tabs.
I wonder why Apple didn’t bother to disclose all this info at the keynote.. these benchmark results just tipped the scale for me and I might just pick up an Air 2 after all.. The keynote failed to convice… Triple Core and twice the RAM could have been great marketing bullet-points for Apple seeing that sales of iPads have dropped for a few quarters now..
Apple has never given specs like that, and probably never will.