“Internally, the mini 4’s specs are similar to those of the iPad Air 2. You get 2GB of RAM, up from the iPad mini 3’s 1GB, and Apple’s A8 dual-core processor, which is the same chip found in the iPhone 6 (not the tri-core A8X chip of the iPad Air 2),” Ben Radding writes for PC Magazine. “This is all to make iOS 9 run more smoothly here than on previous iPad minis.”
“And the iPad mini 4 does run smoothly, for the most part. On the Geekbench processor benchmark test, the mini 4 achieved a single-core score of 1,716 and a multi-core score of 3,116. Impressive, but the iPad Air 2 is more capable with a 1,833 single-core and a 4,596 multi-core score,” Radding writes. “The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0, for comparison, which is powered by an octa-core Exynos processor, scored 1,225 (single-core) and 4,309 (multi-core). The iPad mini 3, which is powered by the same A7 processor as the iPad mini 2, scored 1,356 (single-core) and 2,449 (multi-core) on the Geekbench test. iOS 9 runs quite smoothly, if not just as smooth as on the iPad mini 4.”
“Starting at $399, the mini 4 attempts to warrant its hefty price tag with a high-quality screen, a premium build, and Apple’s unbeatable app selection. And it mostly succeeds,” Radding writes. “That said… f you want a slate that will truly run iOS 9 like butter, you’re better off with the Editors’ Choice iPad Air 2, which has a faster processor for smoother performance, and more screen real estate for split-screen multitasking.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The 7.9-inch iPad mini 4 is simply the best “mini” tablet money can buy.
SEE ALSO:
Ars Technica reviews iPad mini 4: A lighter, faster tablet with a better screen – September 19, 2015