Apple iPad Mini 4 performance: Better than iPhone 6, 6 Plus
Apple's new iPhones aren't the only iOS devices to get 2 GB
of memory. The iPad Mini 4 has it too, which will help the tablet
support the full split-screen mode found on both the iPad Air 2 and iPad
Pro.
Ars Technica already got its hands on Apple's newest small
slate and immediately started to delve into the hardware. Running the
Geekbench test suite, Ars found that the iPad Mini 4 performance eclipses that of last year's iPhones.
Last
year's iPad Air 2 still beats the iPad Mini 4 on paper, even though
both tablets have the same 2 GB of memory. That's because the Mini 4
uses a dual-core A8 chip running at 1.5 GHz while the Air 2 has a
tri-core A8x processor. Both are still quicker than the 1.4 GHz A8 chip
in Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
That makes the Mini a nice refresh
for 2015, considering last year, the Mini 3 was nothing more than Mini 2
with the addition of a Touch ID sensor.
Last year, Apple essentially skipped the iPad Mini
refresh and this year, it left the iPad Air 2 unchanged. After several
yearly iPad upgrades, it just doesn't make sense for Apple to continue a
12-month cycle for tablets; the devices can work quite well for two or
more years.
Apple's iOS 9 now officially supports a Split View experience on all
tablets with 2 GB of memory; those without it only get the Slide In and
Picture in Picture features.
Although it would be less useful on a smaller screen, it's worth noting that the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus also have enough memory for Split View; something Apple could later add in a limited form with a software update.
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