The update to iPadOS 16 saw speed improvements in Safari by 35%, thanks to new WebKit technology.
Let’s compare to Chromebooks
iPad (9th generation) (device I use) - A13 Bionic (2019) - 6-core 2.65 GHz - $329/£319 - 240
Acer Chromebook Enterprise 514 - Intel Pentium Gold 7505 - 2-core 2 GHz (3.5 GHz turbo) - $349/£299 - 149
Lenovo IdeaPad Chromebook 5i - Intel Pentium Gold 7505 - 2-core 2 GHz (3.5 GHz turbo) - $299/£229 - 145
Asus Chromebook Flip CX1 - Intel Celeron N4500 - 2-core 1.1 GHz (2.8 GHz turbo) - $399/£349 - 76
Above: iPadOS 16 public beta Below: iPadOS 15
Let’s compare to Chromebooks
iPad (9th generation) (device I use) - A13 Bionic (2019) - 6-core 2.65 GHz - $329/£319 - 240
Acer Chromebook Enterprise 514 - Intel Pentium Gold 7505 - 2-core 2 GHz (3.5 GHz turbo) - $349/£299 - 149
Lenovo IdeaPad Chromebook 5i - Intel Pentium Gold 7505 - 2-core 2 GHz (3.5 GHz turbo) - $299/£229 - 145
Asus Chromebook Flip CX1 - Intel Celeron N4500 - 2-core 1.1 GHz (2.8 GHz turbo) - $399/£349 - 76
Above: iPadOS 16 public beta Below: iPadOS 15