Apple has supercharged its non-Pro tablet lineup by bringing the M4 to the iPad Air, but don’t assume that the chipset will perform similarly to the silicon found in the more expensive iPad Pro. In fact, the differences are quite pronounced, and according to the latest single-core and multi-core benchmark comparison, the M4 iPad Air can lose more than 20 percent performance because Apple decided to equip it with a binned SoC.
Unsurprisingly, the M4 iPad Air’s 8-core CPU shows less of a performance difference with the 9-core M4 iPad Pro
Before Apple’s newest slates go up for pre-order, Geekbench 6 has recorded some single-threaded and multi-threaded benchmarks. The M4 powering the iPad Air sports three performance and five efficiency cores, totaling eight, whereas the M4 iPad Pro ships with either a 9-core or 10-core CPU.
Based on the latest comparison, there’s a 22.8 percent multi-core difference between the iPad Air and the top-end iPad Pro. However, the 9-core M4 has a smaller performance disparity with the iPad Air, which isn’t surprising to see. Also, the single-core scores displayed the smallest differences across all three tablets, with the results listed below.
M4 iPad Air (8-core CPU)
- Single-core score - 3,714
- Multi-core score - 12,296
M4 iPad Pro (9-core CPU)
- Single-core score - 3,765 (1.4 percent faster than M4 iPad Air)
- Multi-core score - 13,408 (9 percent faster than M4 iPad Air)
M4 iPad Pro (10-core CPU)
- Single-core score - 3,846 (3.6 percent faster than M4 iPad Air)
- Multi-core score - 15,100 (22.8 percent faster than M4 iPad Air)
To be fair, the M4 continues to be an exceptionally powerful chipset, and the fact that Apple managed to add it to an iPad Air and slap on a $599 price tag means that you’re getting a turbocharged product for a lot less money. As for the binned aspect, it isn’t the first time the technology giant has followed this approach, as even its latest low-cost offering, the iPhone 17e, which was announced a couple of days ago, sports a less capable A19.
News Source: Geekbench
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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