The new generation iPad Pro goes on sale equipped with Apple's M4 processor. The performance of the device shows a huge leap over previous models in single-core and multi-core operations. Specifically, according to the leaked Geekbench scores, the iPad Pro M4 surpasses the MacBook Air models with M3 chips by approximately 20%, scoring 3700 in the single-core and 14500 in the multi-core.
This performance offered by the M4 processor meets the strong performance promises made by Apple. Single-core performance has increased by 20% compared to all models with M3 processors and by 40% compared to M2. This means an increase of at least 42% in both single-core and multi-core performance compared to the previous iPad Pro model with an M2 processor.
Better performance comes at a slightly lower price with M4 iPad Pro
What's more, the iPad Pro's multi-core performance is competitive with models featuring the higher-priced M3 Pro Mac chip. However, the iPad offers similar multi-core and faster single-core performance at a lower starting price of 45,999 TL. This provides a significant cost advantage for users.
Apple states that it built the M4 chip on the second generation 3 nanometer process. This process uses TSMC's N3E fabrication technology and offers higher production efficiency. The N3E process benefits both Apple and end users by enabling the production of more efficient chips.
The superior computing performance of the M4 processor is achieved by these processing improvements and architectural changes to the CPU cores. Apple states that the new generation cores improve branch prediction and offer larger execution engines in both performance and high efficiency cores. There are also ML accelerators developed for machine learning tasks.
The M4's Neural Network Engine is also significantly improved compared to the M3. Apple claims the new engine can handle 38 trillion operations per second, more than twice the capacity of the M3.
Although there is no clear data on GPU performance yet, it is expected to be comparable to the M3 or a slight increase thanks to the improved efficiency provided by the 3nm process. Developments in the thermal design of the new iPad Pro will also support this performance.
All in all, the M4 processor represents a major advance for Apple Silicon, especially in terms of raw CPU power. We can't wait to see what innovations will be brought by higher-end models such as the M4 Pro and M4 Max, which are expected to be released towards the end of the year. However, software and application limitations that do not fully reflect the power of the iPad still pose an obstacle to showing the true potential of the device.