iPad Pro iPad Pro M4 10-core (16GB) much faster than 9-core (8GB) for SD

[ag99uk]

For most use cases any of the new iPads have more than enough power. I however enjoy playing around with generative AI in its various forms. I generally use my MacBook Pro, but I have Draw Things on my iPad pro that used Stable Diffusion to generate AI image when I don't have my MacBook with me. On the M2 iPad Pro it can be quite slow. With the release of the M4 processor in the iPad I thought this might be a significant boost over the M2, so ordered 9-core and 10-core versions to see the difference. I will return the one I don't choose.
I thought people might be interested in the results of my testing to show the difference between the M4 variants and the M2 iPad Pro. I have included my MacBook for comparison.

SD Model: Juggernaut XL v9, single image:size 1024 x 1024

11" iPad Pro M2 - 6m 30s
11" Pad Pro M4 9-core (8GB) - 4m 20s (33% faster than M2)
11" iPad Pro M4 10-core (16GB) - 2m 55s (35% faster than 9-core)
14" MacBook Pro M3max (36GB) - 59s

SD Model: SDXL Turbo, Four images:size 512 x 512 each

11" iPad Pro M2 - 54s
11" Pad Pro M4 9-core (8GB) - 40s (26% faster than M2)
11" iPad Pro M4 10-core (16GB) - 27s (33% faster than 9-core)
14" MacBook Pro M3max (36GB) - 9s

 

[Shirasaki]

To be fair, the 16GB of RAM certainly helps here, as that one extra core would unlikely boost the performance by such a huge margin given there is no architectural difference between those 2 variants of M4. Sadly Apple doesn’t offer 10-Core model with only 8GB of RAM otherwise we will have a much better picture of the difference.

With that being said, it’s still amazing to see the higher end iPad winning the race of AI generation, although M3 Max with 36GB of RAM still reign supreme (on price tag too).

 

[Randomii]

Was the M2 8gb or 16gb?

 

[ag99uk]

8Gb

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I've been meaning to see how it compares to the RTX card in my desktop, will probably do that this weekend and post the results here.

Draw Things is a nice app, if not a little confusing. Was surprised I could get images generated in under a minute.

 

[Rafterman]

Kind of dumb how Apple keeps creating these subtle differences. It's fine about storage amounts and whether you get nano or not. But like last year's MiniLED only on 12.9 and not 11, or having 9 or 10 cores or 8 or 16GB RAM should be standard on all units. Stop with the nickel and diming.

 

[klasma]

It's fine about storage amounts and whether you get nano or not. But like last year's MiniLED only on 12.9 and not 11, or having 9 or 10 cores or 8 or 16GB RAM should be standard on all units.

The core binning makes sense, because you get much fewer 10-cores out of the manufacturing process than 9-cores, so price is adjusted to make the demand match. Storage, which is dirt cheap, and nano-texture which is $100 extra anyway, on the other hand, is just price gauging. I’d be interested in both, but not at that price.