iPad iPad Mini 6th Gen slower than iPad Air 4th Gen

[DEMinSoCAL]

Recently picked up a deal on an iPad Air 4th Gen 64GB. Already have an iPad Mini 6th Gen 64GB.

Both setup identical (iPad Air copied from iPad Mini).

Trying to decide whether to sell my Mini and keep the Air or just return the Air and keep my Mini (don't need 2 iPads).

iPad Mini 6 has A15 Bionic and iPad Air 4 has A14 Bionic, yet Geekbench 5 CPU and Compute is consistently faster on the iPad Air 4.

iPad Mini 6: 1516/4002/12091 (Single/Multi/GPU)
iPad Air 4: 1601/4291/12287 (Single/Multi/GPU)

Shouldn't the A15 be significantly faster than the A14? Is there something wrong with the iPad Mini 6?

 

[rui no onna]

iPad Mini 6 has A15 Bionic and iPad Air 4 has A14 Bionic, yet Geekbench 5 CPU and Compute is consistently faster on the iPad Air 4.

iPad Mini 6: 1516/4002/12091 (Single/Multi/GPU)
iPad Air 4: 1601/4291/12287 (Single/Multi/GPU)

Shouldn't the A15 be significantly faster than the A14? Is there something wrong with the iPad Mini 6?

The main improvement with the A15 is power efficiency and GPU. CPU performance is the same. Also, the mini 6 has a gimped version of the A15 unlike the one on the iPhone 13 Pro.

Mind, it's not like you'll notice the less than 10% perf difference.

 

[GMShadow]

The Mini 6 has a unique A15. It has all five GPU cores like the higher end variants, only 4GB of RAM like the lower end ones, and it was downclocked from 3.23GHz to 2.92GHz.

Longevity wise it should be a bit less laggy than the A14 as it ages, but yeah, it's a weird one.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The main improvement with the A15 is power efficiency and GPU. CPU performance is the same. Also, the mini 6 has a gimped version of the A15 unlike the one on the iPhone 13 Pro.

Mind, it's not like you'll notice the less than 10% perf difference.

The Mini 6 has a unique A15. It has all five GPU cores like the higher end variants, only 4GB of RAM like the lower end ones, and it was downclocked from 3.23GHz to 2.92GHz.

Longevity wise it should be a bit less laggy than the A14 as it ages, but yeah, it's a weird one.

So basically the iPad Air 4 is the same performance as the iPad Mini 6? I'm leaning on keeping the Air and selling the Mini then.

 

[rui no onna]

Longevity wise it should be a bit less laggy than the A14 as it ages, but yeah, it's a weird one.

I doubt it. I expect both Air 4 and mini 6 will age much the same.

 

[rui no onna]

So basically the iPad Air 4 is the same performance as the iPad Mini 6? I'm leaning on keeping the Air and selling the Mini then.

Yep. Size is really the primary deciding factor between the two and that's totally based on personal preference.

 

[GMShadow]

The Mini also has a camera flash, which none of the other non-Pro iPads get.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The Mini also has a camera flash, which none of the other non-Pro iPads get.

Yeah, never once taken a pic with an iPad. My iPhone is usually close enough by...

 

[rui no onna]

Yeah, never once taken a pic with an iPad. My iPhone is usually close enough by...

It makes for a handy flashlight when one already has the iPad in hand while the phone is still in pocket/bag.

 

[GMShadow]

^ pretty much that. I've used it a few times as a flashlight.

 

[sunking101]

I doubt it. I expect both Air 4 and mini 6 will age much the same.

The Mini is a current product so Apple will sabotage the Air 4 with an update sooner.

 

[rui no onna]

The Mini is a current product so Apple will sabotage the Air 4 with an update sooner.

iPad 10th gen is A14/4GB sames as Air 4, though.

Also, the performance of A14 and 15 are basically the same and the Air 4 and mini 6 both have 4GB RAM. Unless Apple maliciiously writes code that targets the Air 4 specifically, I expect updates that slow down the Air 4 to also affect the mini 6 similarly.

We have A10 (2018 & 2019) and A10X (2017) iPads in the household and barring RAM-related issues, they're all working just fine.

 

[FeliApple]

iPad 10th gen is A14/4GB sames as Air 4, though.

Also, the performance of A14 and 15 are basically the same and the Air 4 and mini 6 both have 4GB RAM. Unless Apple maliciiously writes code that targets the Air 4 specifically, I expect updates that slow down the Air 4 to also affect the mini 6 similarly.

We have A10 (2018 & 2019) and A10X (2017) iPads in the household and barring RAM-related issues, they're all working just fine.

Agreed, the A9 and A10 perform similarly. Likewise with the A9X and A10/A10X even if the A9X is a little better than the A10 (considering the 9.7-inch iPad Pro or excluding RAM otherwise, because, like we’ve discussed, The 9.7-inch iPad Pro was a little gimped by RAM, being the only iPad Pro to have less than 4GB), and even if the A10X is better than the A9X. Which is why I agree, performance will probably be similar.

Do you know how’s battery life if we compare the 9.7-inch iPad Pro to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro when updated?

 

[rui no onna]

Do you know how’s battery life if we compare the 9.7-inch iPad Pro to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro when updated?

Sorry, battery on my Pro 9.7 and 10.5 were kinda abused.

Even back on iOS 9, the Pro 9.7 was already down to ~8 hours onscreen time. I don't use it much now (low RAM is a major detriment) but I believe battery's still around the same (7-8 hours). The abuse on that mostly happened in the first year before I got myself the 2017 iPad.

The Pro 10.5, I'd get maybe ~6 hours? Battery on that degraded worse. It's been like that since iOS 12, though.

 

[FeliApple]

Sorry, battery on my Pro 9.7 and 10.5 were kinda abused.

Even back on iOS 9, the Pro 9.7 was already down to ~8 hours onscreen time. I don't use it much now (low RAM is a major detriment) but I believe battery's still around the same (7-8 hours). The abuse on that mostly happened in the first year before I got myself the 2017 iPad.

The Pro 10.5, I'd get maybe ~6 hours? Battery on that degraded worse. It's been like that since iOS 12, though.

Thanks! Interesting that you mention iOS 12, that version obliterated my 9.7-inch iPad Pro. iOS 11, according to reports, was the initial poor update. I recall you mentioned iPadOS 13 as being even worse, so, yeah, those three versions were the beginning of the end of flawless performance and battery life, each destabilizing the situation a little further, unfortunately.

 

[rui no onna]

Thanks! Interesting that you mention iOS 12, that version obliterated my 9.7-inch iPad Pro. iOS 11, according to reports, was the initial poor update. I recall you mentioned iPadOS 13 as being even worse, so, yeah, those three versions were the beginning of the end of flawless performance and battery life, each destabilizing the situation a little further, unfortunately.

I find iPadOS 13 much worse performance-wise but as far as battery, for me battery's been the same from 12-16. iOS updates didn't really affect onscreen time for me, just standby time.

I skipped iOS 11 (another memory hog) and went directly from 10 -> 12 (right before iPadOS 13's release).

 

[FeliApple]

I find iPadOS 13 much worse performance-wise but as far as battery, for me battery's been the same from 12-16. iOS updates didn't really affect onscreen time for me, just standby time.

I skipped iOS 11 (another memory hog) and went directly from 10 -> 12 (right before iPadOS 13's release).

Interesting! I’d love to try a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iPadOS 16, just to check battery life. I don’t have access to one, unfortunately. If it is the same as iOS 12 I’d be ecstatic. 10-11 hours of screen-on time with light use, on its seventh! major version? Astonishing! The iPhone 6s could never...

Yeah, iOS 11 was a disaster in every way, I recall that. iOS 12 was a deliberate attempt to stabilize the situation, which kind of succeeded, until, like you said, iPadOS 13 came along...

 

[Rafterman]

Yeah, never once taken a pic with an iPad. My iPhone is usually close enough by...

I've heard people who use their iPads for work will use the camera for docs and such.