iPad 2’s GPU is Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX 543MP2. “Architecturally the 543MP2 has more than twice the compute horsepower of the SGX 535 used in Apple’s A4,” Anand Lal Shimpi reports for AnandTech. As always we turn to GLBenchmark 2.0, a benchmark crafted by a bunch of developers who either have or had experience doing development work for some of the big dev houses in the industry.”
MacDailyNews Note: AnandTech confirmed to MacDailyNews that both the original iPad and the iPad 2 that they benchmarked were running iOS 4.3.
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Xoom is extremely well-named. Soon the only way to see a Xoom will be to dig one up.
Good news for those who have been afflicted with a Motorola Xoom via Verizon Wireless: You may return or exchange your Motorola Xoom purchased from Verizon Wireless within 14 days of purchase. Not-so-good news: A restocking fee of $70 applies to any return or exchange of a Motorola Xoom (excluding Hawaii).
Verizon Wireless offers more info about how to return your Xoom so you can go get the iPad you really wanted here.
[Attribution: Electronista. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Joe Architect” for the heads up.]
“Xoom is extremely well-named. Soon the only way to see a Xoom will be to dig one up.”
BWAHAHAHA! Excellent pun guys.
I don’t get the pun.
Xoom is pronounced Zoom…
eXoom.. as in… exhume (pronounced exzoom) as in unearth, dig up..
Looks impressive. However, smells fishy too. I don’t doubt the iPad could be faster, but I’ve seen other tests where the Nvidia Tegra 2 spanks the A5. So I don’t think this test is entirely accurate.
There are most likely processes that directly access the GPU APIs where the Nvidia would do well. I’d like to see those results. In the meantime, for general processing, the A5 is clearly kicking Xoom butt.
the A5 is not a CPU it’s a SoC.. CPU, GPU, Memory and interfaces between all that suff..
it’s the opposite of what you say.. the A5 has a dual, dual core GPU (i.e. 4 cores) where as the tegra only has a dual core GPU (only 2 cores).. the A5 is 3-4 times better in terms of GPU performance than the tegra 2.. general CPU performance is about equal..
so for gaming performance, the choice is clear.. the iPad is really the only choice in town..
care to cite these so-called tests.
-written on a Xoom at BJ’s (it’s a joke)
Gotta link for that test?
Anandtech isn’t exactly known for their support of Apple.
Anandtech is as impartial an observer as you’ll find.
Ok, guys, here’s the link to the testing that shows the Nvidia besting Apple’s A5 on 2 of 3 tests… the reality is that the chips have very similar processing power… that’s why I have been suspicious of Anandtech’s testing. The numbers just don’t seem to be ‘real’. I could be wrong, but there seems to be something hokey with their numbers. Also, there’s lots of tests and data out there no the Nividia Tegra2. It’s a damn fine chip with probably the best graphics performance of any mobile chip out there.
I am in no way saying that benchmarks = real world performance. I like the iPad 2 and think it’s nice and fast. But it’s also worth pointing this stuff out. And by the way, Gingerbread is quite fast and fluid on the XOOM, even though the XOOM has its problems. Reviews have been critical as we know, but what they do highlight is how fast and fluid Gingerbread is. I think over time Gingerbread will get better and run better. But I just don’t think Anandtech’s scoring is accurate.
Here’s the other benchmark tests:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381767,00.asp
Right. PCMag impartial like anandtech. It’s like Thurrott being impartial. lol
I think you are confusing CPU with GPU benchmarks,
I think you are confusing CPU with GPU bench marks.
Perhaps Xoops would have been a better name…
Nice. I almost had my hands on an iPad 2 but it was only Verizon and I needed the AT&T version, Fail, if they only shipped more.
When Motorola was only showing video on the Xoom at CES I thought something was fishy. If the OS was ready they would have let people play with it. If it wasn’t ready to show at CES, then no way it would be ready 2 months later. It’s been weeks and they still haven’t released a fix to get the SD card working. Can we say beta.
I would love to compare the iPad 2 with my existing iPad 1 except that after waiting several hours at my local Apple Store (Temecula) on both Friday and Saturday, I have been unable to actually purchase a 64GB AT&T iPad 2, either black or white.
Maybe I’ll get lucky after waiting for several hours tomorrow.
At the very least, I know the employees are completely clueless as to the ongoing shipment statuses, and will be of absolutely no help whatsoever. Well, as long as I want any answer to any question other than, “Maybe.”
BTW, local Best Buys/Wal-Marts/Targets/AT&T stores have been just as clueless and just as short on supply.
At a meeting today a friend showed me his niffy new iPad 2. He is a guy who uses a Windows laptop and an HTC Android phone. He is ‘in love with’ his iPad 2, the first Apple thingy he has ever purchased. He is already filling it up with apps! What I saw was flawlessly elegant, clearly faster and more responsive than iPad 1 on iOS 4.2. I am now lusting in my heart for one myself! 8)
Halo effect! Next he will want a Macbook Pro. 🙂
Best Buy has the same 14 day return policy but does not charge the $70 restocking fee.
The Xoom was designed to compete with the iPad 1. It falls short even in this task, what more when put up against the iPad 2. The Xoom is nothing more than a pathetic hack of the iPad 1. As some commentators have said, the Xoom looks like it was built in a Soviet prison camp.
On the subject of Android as its primary OS, the best that can be said of this is comparing iOS Shakespeare with a thousand monkeys randomly thrashing the keyboard of a typewriter and coming out with the absolute junk that is Honeycomb.
What Google fails to understand is that buyers paying $800 for craptastic hardware are not happy campers being treated as beta testers of junk software.
Google doesn’t care.
I love how the Fandroids on Engadget are going insane with argument like how Xoom was handicapped because it had to display more pixels. Like 30% more pixels can expalin why Xoom is up to 4X slower than iPad 2 in graphics.
What’s even funnier is how so many of them think Honeycomb’s mess of a UI – one that is covered in blinky widgets and dozens of scattered items like the desk of a chain smoking film noir private investigator – is actually something consumers will find appealing.
Making a tablet more like Windows 95 is not a winning proposition.
Which just means that Google will now have to spend another year thoroughly revamping Honeycomb, by which time we will be getting our hands on iPad 3 running iOS 5.
As one reviewer of Honeycomb put it: “Developed by the geeks, for the geeks, and of the geeks.” Oooh, look, blinky widgets.
Blinky lights and EVERYTHING else is black.
Xune 🙂
Zume
Zima
Zunk!
Zima: best enjoyed spilled.
Do they still make that crap?
Only in Japan.
“Thanks for the Xoom tablet, Grandma! Heh. Um, could you possibly please also give me $70, just to make my birthday complete? I love you!”
What’s really genius about Apple’s iPad 2 strategy was how they totally underplayed the specs. “It’s not about the specs.” And first initial reviews were all like, “Incremental and evolutionary improvements.”
Then they release a device that in-depth analysis reveals to be a generational leap over the competition.
Suddenly, the tens of millions of dollars Motorola invested in the Xoom product development, along with the millions they have spent on marketing is DOWN THE DRAIN.
Which mean Motorola probably doesn’t have much cash left for Xoom 2 development since they very clearly bet the house on Xoom 1 and their business model no doubt depended on the imaginary cash flow to fund Xoom 2.
Same thing for Samsung, which probably has to write off several hundred million dollars for unsold Galaxy Tabs right now. Even if Sammy is being coy about how much it shipped vs. sold, they know the truth. Galaxy Tab 2 no doubt will have much less marketing dollars devoted to it, with much less production, and now this revelation about the iPad 2 graphics prowess will force Samsung to sell Galaxy Tab at close to zero margin, meaning Galaxy Tab 3 development is going to seriously suffer down the line.
Apple just streamrolled the competition at the starting gates with this GPU ninja move (after having done a leisurely lap with iPad 1) and it’s pretty much clear sailing until 2012 when we can look forward to iPad 3 with a Retina Display.
impressions of droid lovers defence of Xoom, they go something like these:
— excuse for app-lack : “with the xoom you don’t have to waste you time playing with thousands of apps”
— excuse for not ready features like non functioning sd card, LTE: “this shows that motorola is pushing the envelope unlike Apple”
— frequent crashes: “I’ll rather restart my xoom several times a session than use an iPad” (actual comment)
–expense of the xoom, lack of wifi version currently : “As everyone eventually will want 3G Motorola is doing everyone a favour and stopping people from buying a wifi only device which they will regret”.
— iPad 2 lines of customers, selling out “Toys like iPad will always outsell serious devices”.
— iPad 2 GPU way faster “Xoom has a larger screen” (DW: 25% or so bigger but iPad faster in some tests 400% or more .. )
— malware at the Google App Store: “I will take this as the price of freedom”.
@Davewrite:
I wanted to evaluate every excuse, but realized it is a total waste of time. Whoever is making these comments is either (A) Incoherent (B) An outright TechTard (C) Trolling.
The very worst of these bozoid statements is: “malware at the Google App Store: ‘I will take this as the price of freedom”.
-> Freedom from what? Define ‘freedom’ once your device has been PWNed. Tsk tsk. 😥
The sales of these devices and customer satisfaction data will undoubtedly bear out that all of these excuses are worthless and laughter provoking. We’ve seen it all before with Windows apologists. Have fun with Android kiddies.
Derek Currie:
Shut up.
Here’s the other benchmark tests:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381767,00.asp
Dear anonymous coward ‘adadfasdf’,
You trolled: “Shut up.”
-> Ever the intellectual response to data and opinions one refuses to acknowledge. **applause** Not inspired.
As for your link, I have already read through the PC Magazine article. It was previously linked above. My favorite lines from the article are:
“What does this mean? I have no idea, but I’m working on it, and I could use your suggestions.”
“As in many other things, it looks like Apple is truly blazing its own trail when it comes to mobile processors.”
Therefore, your point adadfasdflmnopxyz?
Or are you just another yawn inducing generic Google troll?
If so, please continue your rant-fest for my amusement.
@ Derek — I’m with you, don’t let the cowards get you down.
@Derek
You go man
PCmag. That says it all when using them as reference for testing Apple products.
Derek:
Once again, shut up.
My posts are objective. “I like the iPad 2… it’s fast… the XOOM has its problems…”
What’s at issue: not really Android vs iOS, etc. What’s the core processing of the Nvidia Tegra 2 and the A5.
YOU HAVE NOT REFUTED ANY DATA THAT SHOWS THE NVIDIA BESTING THE A5 ON THE LINKED TO TEST.
The reality is there are some conflicts on benchmarks right now. Therefore, I am taking this test, and Anands, etc. with a grain of salt. Just because Anandtech didn’t say that they were unsure of what the results meant doesn’t mean they’re confident with their numbers, either.
As for the author saying that Apple is blazing it’s own trail, if you read the comments, you would have seen:
“So from these results where the Tegra 2 outperforms the A5 in two out of three tests you conclude “As in many other things, it looks like Apple is truly blazing its own trail when it comes to mobile processors.” That’s bizarre…but whatever…typically PCMag….might as well rename it AppleMag.”
Author responds:
“Blazing a new trail just means that it’s heading in its own direction.”
LOL, you poor fandroids. I know it must be killing you. It’s not just about A5 vs Tegra 2. It’s about how Honeycomb is basically beta. Jason Kincaid is a Android fanboy and he trashes the OS, not just the Xoom. I know it must hurt knowing you guys have to go yet another year with a sub-par OS. Here you go…… 🙂
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/05/ipad-2-xoom-fight/
@adadfasdf
Shut up.
Then eat my ass.
“YOU HAVE NOT REFUTED ANY DATA THAT SHOWS THE NVIDIA BESTING THE A5 ON THE LINKED TO TEST.”
This might be more interesting if it were the case that customers bought raw Tegras or A5s. They don’t.
They buy a system, including both hardware and software, and what they pay for is the total functionality brought to them by that total system.
This is only one problem that comes with basing your decision on one or even a collection of benchmarks.
Nope, not a fandroid. I’m an iPad user. I don’t think, based on this, that Anandtech’s numbers are correct.
Go corporate astroturf someone else.
ANANDTECH’S NUMBERS DO NOT ADD UP.
ANANDTECH’S NUMBERS DO NOT ADD UP.
ANANDTECH’S NUMBERS DO NOT ADD UP.
The Graphics are at issue, not the CPU
lol.
ADFSFSAD DOESN’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPUS AND GPUS
ADFSFSAD DOESN’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPUS AND GPUS
ADFSFSAD DOESN’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPUS AND GPUS
Look, either you’re confused or you’re trolling. Maybe both.
ADFSFSAD KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPUS AND GPUS
ADFSFSAD KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPUS AND GPUS
ADFSFSAD KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPUS AND GPUS
The Stockfish chess program, which calculates possible chess moves; and a little app called BenchIt, whose CPU component just calculates Pi.
Stockfish: iPad 2: 142, XOOM: 207.7 (higher is better)
BenchIt Pi: iPad 2: 953, XOOM: 735 (lower is better)
SUCK IT.
My point is that the XOOM’s CPU beats the A5 on processing power alone based on these benchmarks. The Tegra 2 chip on several benchmarks is touted to be the best mobile GPU going right now. Anyone who believes that Apple’s GPU is several hundred percent better is drinking some serious koolaid. It doesn’t make sense, other than there being some software issues. That means the hardware in the XOOM itself is not so much worse than Apple’s as these numbers would have you believe. Other benchmarks on other devices have frame rates double and triple what you’re seeing here.
It’s likely Gingerbread… software. Let’s not blame the XOOM’s hardware.
The Apple GPU is several hundred percent better and the evidence is poking you in the face, but YOU refuse to see it because of your Android derangement syndrome. Anandtech’s is a very sophisticated testing site. He knows what he is doing. Apple has claimed up to a NINE TIMES improvement in graphics handling and these figures are right in line with that claim… Bearing out other sites’ tests as well. You can obfuscate til you are blue in the face and point to irrelevant CPU benchmarks, but that does not invalidate these benchmarks that blow the Xoom And others out of the water. They will catch up… It’ll just take some time…
So…….it’s the software eh? The “New” Fandroid tired and played go-to line is “Just wait for the next version of Android, it will eat Apple’s lunch” Two words: perpetual beta.
Also, it sounds like it to me you are desperate for the Xoom to succeed……You seem to be spending an awful lot of time on a Pro-Apple site trying to convince us “fans” that we don’t now what we are talking about. No one is listening to you here. Go find some pro-android site and be happier. Like most other Apple haters, you JUST DON’T GET IT. You are yet another tech geek who is getting all wrapped up in tech specs, supposed freedom of Android, etc. and like everyone else, cannot see the forest for the trees.
You are truly an idiot! The Stockfish and PI calculation tests run by PCMagazine are purely CPU intensive tests that do not hit the GPU capabilities of either machine. Your link proves nothing about Anandtech’s tests and GPU benchmarks except your ignorance and your bias. You have been refuted!
You’re an idiot swordmaker… who can’t read past one sentence.
“My point is that the XOOM’s CPU beats the A5 on processing power alone based on these benchmarks. The Tegra 2 chip on several benchmarks is touted to be the best mobile GPU going right now. Anyone who believes that Apple’s GPU is several hundred percent better is drinking some serious koolaid. It doesn’t make sense, other than there being some software issues. That means the hardware in the XOOM itself is not so much worse than Apple’s as these numbers would have you believe. Other benchmarks on other devices have frame rates double and triple what you’re seeing here.
It’s likely Gingerbread… software. Let’s not blame the XOOM’s hardware.”
Now, now boys and girls ….
Independent tests show when thrown in a trout stream, the xoom will hit the bottom 1.2 times faster and provide more weight at rest. This test adds vital confirmation to the argument that xoom performs a function better than the iPad, that being an effective trout line anchor, if only motorola could put some loops on the corners.
Ha, the Xoom Anchor Tab.
Android sucks. The only good thing about it is that it is intended to simulate the iOS. But since it doesn’t even get close, what is the point of it. Ordered by iPad 2 and now patiently awaiting it’s arrival.
ah man… did you really have to say that last sentence in your comment out loud…. haha
The iPad 1 was released in South Africa only on the 27th January 2011!!! UNBELIEVABLE! and I want the iPad 2 so badly! 😀 this sucks hehe
i’m jealous…
Actually, iOS sucks. You’re just a bunch of fanboys. Get out of your little basements nerds…
IPad 1 with iOS 4.3 does run Safari faster for me..
The one time Hawaii doesn’t have to pay something (restocking fee)… and i have no use for it.
I returned my iPad 2 after 4 days…almost worthless…crippled web browsing, horrible viewing angles, worst apple device in quite some time. waste of time and money.