The iPad mini 4 was launched last week alongside the iPad Pro. However if you thought that it would come with an A9X chipset, like many would have logically assumed, you might be disappointed. According to the folks at ArsTechnica, they have discovered that the iPad mini 4 will instead come with an overclocked A8 processor.
This is the same processor that was used in last year’s iPhones, and yes, it is not powered by an A8X chipset which is found in the iPad Air 2. We’re not sure why Apple decided to go with the A8 and not the A8X (or the A9X), but presumably they have their reasons. However based on this, it definitely makes the tablet less powerful on paper than the iPad Pro, or even the iPad Air 2.
According to their findings, the iPad mini 4 was clocked closed to 1.5GHz versus the 1.4GHz on the last-gen iPhones. Also based on their Geekbench 3 results, the newer iPad mini 4 was found to be considerably slower than the iPad Air 2. It is however, much faster than its predecessor the iPad mini 2 and 3, and only a hair faster than the iPhone 6.
Is this a big deal? We suppose one of the appeals of the iPad mini series is its portability. If you favor mobility more than power and speed, then we suppose the iPad mini 4 should be more than capable of getting the job done and then some.
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