AnandTech iPad Air Review

[cerebus]

Are you high? Out of the 19 benchmarks, the iPad Air only topped 5 out of the 19. Blinkers ftl :erm:

You're not reading it very carefully. It loses to the Surface2 on Sunspider due to IE11's optimisation. It wins all the other CPU benchmarks. On GPU it wins most of the offscreen scores - which are the ones that are screen resolution-independent.
Link:

Apple’s decision to unify silicon across the iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display is an interesting one, but ultimately it doesn’t come with any real tradeoffs for iPad owners. Apple’s own 64-bit Cyclone cores are incredibly powerful, even more so than I originally expected when I reviewed the iPhone 5s. Apple seems to have built a bigger, higher performance CPU architecture than any other ARM player, including ARM itself. The design isn’t perfect, but it’s a completely different caliber performer than anything else it competes against.

 

[mercurial]

You're not reading it very carefully. It loses to the Surface2 on Sunspider due to IE11's optimisation. It wins all the other CPU benchmarks. On GPU it wins most of the offscreen scores - which are the ones that are screen resolution-independent.
Link:

No, it doesn't win in all other benchmarks. I physically counted them :erm:

 

[Maverick Jester]

No, it doesn't win in all other benchmarks. I physically counted them :erm:

Don't forget, most of the benchmarking software used, is not wholly optimised for ARMv8 architecture as yet.

The only silicon that is comparable to the A7 chipset, is Intel's Baytrail. In terms of implementation within mobile devices- nothing comes close to it at present, not even the highly lauded Snapdragon 800.

 

[ngwe23]

Don't forget, most of the benchmarking software used, is not wholly optimised for ARMv8 architecture as yet.

The only silicon that is comparable to the A7 chipset, is Intel's Baytrail. In terms of implementation within mobile devices- nothing comes close to it at present, not even the highly lauded Snapdragon 800.

And here i was thinking that benchmarks do not matter . oooohh I forgot, they only matter when Apple is winning.

This is the best tablet on the market imo. If it wasn't for the D7100 that i have been eyeing I would get this in a heart beat. I was even prepared to stomach Apple's walled garden.

 

[cerebus]

And here i was thinking that benchmarks do not matter . oooohh I forgot, they only matter when Apple is winning.

Benchmarks matter a lot but so does knowing how to interpret them. They can be influenced by a lot of factors like software differences and platform optimizations. You really need to specialize as Anand is, in core architecture to interpret the data properly. And his summary is - well, as I quoted above - that A7 blows away anything else both from a speed and a power consumption standpoint.

 

[chrisc]

The article talks about an rMBP. What is this? (Second paragraph)

 

[ngwe23]

And his summary is - well, as I quoted above - that A7 blows away anything else both from a speed and a power consumption standpoint.

And yet iOS7 stutters even in the best hardware(I agree with this by the way). According to Anand :iOS 7 isn’t always super smooth (particularly when using multitasking gestures to switch between apps)

Anywhere the point I was trying to make is that when apple lags behind other manufactures we are made to believe that specs and benchmarks don't. But then when Apple is crushing other manufactures in the benchmarks (as is the case now), then suddenly benchmarks do matter.

 

[cerebus]

The article talks about an rMBP. What is this? (Second paragraph)

Retina MacBook Pro?

 

[BeVonk!]

As one who's been through the whole tablet mill, having tried many different flavours in both work and private applications, the iPad just stays my #1 tablet solution despite the imposed limitations. An iPad Mini goes everywhere with me, and the Mini will be my first choice going forward.

 

[falcon786]

As one who's been through the whole tablet mill, having tried many different flavours in both work and private applications, the iPad just stays my #1 tablet solution despite the imposed limitations. An iPad Mini goes everywhere with me, and the Mini will be my first choice going forward.

Ill try the new one since the old ones screen res was just too low for me,my eyes couldn't take it!:wtf:

My main uses for a tablet is internet,watching movies and the odd game or two.Unfortunately the ipad makes watching movies a nightmare simply because of that damn itunes.And no jailbreaking is not an option because I don't want to always be on older software or break my head with jailbreaking and using different programs to copy etc....

The galaxy note 10.1 2014 edition is looking good with is high resolution screen unlike the previous one with low res.

 

[diabolus]

When are these launching in SA? Ipad 5 Air / Mini ?

I'm actually more surprised with how the iPad2 is lighter and thinner than the iPad3 and 4 . Weird.

The irony is, i have a Nexus 7, Ipad 2, Galaxy S3 and my iPad 2 is the main device i end up using all the time, even today. I do however think , the iPad 2 is just sliiiightly too large and too heavy, but the Nexus 7 / 7" is too small , so i'm hoping the iPad 5 will be a perfect size combination.

Also the fact that Apple has now opened up all their app services (Games,Music,Movies) in SA , it makes iOS a much more convenient platform to use for me. Android's games collection suck imho, and Google still block us from their Music/Movies store.

 

[cerebus]

As one who's been through the whole tablet mill, having tried many different flavours in both work and private applications, the iPad just stays my #1 tablet solution despite the imposed limitations. An iPad Mini goes everywhere with me, and the Mini will be my first choice going forward.

Yea I'm with you on that. I can't say I've tried the whole tablet mill to the extent that you have but enough that I'll stick with the Mini next gen.

I'm actually more surprised with how the iPad2 is lighter and thinner than the iPad3 and 4 . Weird.

Going to retina needed a big bump in battery size.

My main uses for a tablet is internet,watching movies and the odd game or two.Unfortunately the ipad makes watching movies a nightmare simply because of that damn itunes.And no jailbreaking is not an option because I don't want to always be on older software or break my head with jailbreaking and using different programs to copy etc....

I switched from AVPlayerHD to VLC recently and found it to be much nicer overall. Wi-fi content transfer and server streaming is a good alternative to using iTunes directly.

 

[Zyzzyva]

Ill try the new one since the old ones screen res was just too low for me,my eyes couldn't take it!:wtf:

My main uses for a tablet is internet,watching movies and the odd game or two.Unfortunately the ipad makes watching movies a nightmare simply because of that damn itunes. And no jailbreaking is not an option because I don't want to always be on older software or break my head with jailbreaking and using different programs to copy etc....

The galaxy note 10.1 2014 edition is looking good with is high resolution screen unlike the previous one with low res.

http://www.inmethod.com/airvideohd/index.html

 

[bwana]

I switched from AVPlayerHD to VLC recently and found it to be much nicer overall. Wi-fi content transfer and server streaming is a good alternative to using iTunes directly.

For streaming I've been using AirVideo for ages now. WiFi content transfer for VLC is nice enough but tbh I prefer goodreader via usb. Much quicker than wifi and it plays most formats - if it doesn't I can always use AirVideo to convert the format to something it will play.

 

[icyrus]

Benchmarks matter a lot

I disagree completely. They never have a never will. People who make purchasing decisions based on benchmark scores are a vanishingly small number and completely irrelevant in the market.

 

[icyrus]

My main uses for a tablet is internet,watching movies and the odd game or two.Unfortunately the ipad makes watching movies a nightmare simply because of that damn itunes

Really? I found iTunes unmatched at getting content but I do have a US account though.

 

[cerebus]

I disagree completely. They never have a never will. People who make purchasing decisions based on benchmark scores are a vanishingly small number and completely irrelevant in the market.

Yes but what happens with benchmarks is that then the reviewers summarise it and say "fastest device on the market" or "disappointing performance", and that does have relevance in the market. Of course nobody's really going to care about a 100 point Antutu spread but on aggregate I think performance still matters.

 

[abandonallhope]

My only complaints are limited to iOS 7, memory size and pricing. It’s clear that even on the fastest hardware Apple has to offer, iOS 7 isn’t always super smooth (particularly when using multitasking gestures to switch between apps) on an ultra high resolution device.

Worse than iOS6 in that aspect.

Anyway, it's a formidable tablet, and I am finding ever fewer reasons to punch people who ask me what I think about apple products.

Fortunately intel gave us the new atom SoC's, so definitely still windows for me.

 

[falcon786]

I switched from AVPlayerHD to VLC recently and found it to be much nicer overall. Wi-fi content transfer and server streaming is a good alternative to using iTunes directly.

I tried VLC a few months ago and to be honest the rendering was terrible,in fact most free video players on iOS have trouble with 720p or full hd content,the best Ive found to date so far is XBMC player but its on Cydia so you need a jailbreak which means no ios7 love for you if you want the best media player.

For streaming I've been using AirVideo for ages now. WiFi content transfer for VLC is nice enough but tbh I prefer goodreader via usb. Much quicker than wifi and it plays most formats - if it doesn't I can always use AirVideo to convert the format to something it will play.

See thats what I hate,my tablet needs to play any format straight out I hate converting etc....I had a galaxy tab and well that was the worst at paying video with its terrible screen and useless cpu it was a nightmare even though it had android it was even less usable than the ipad3 i had at the time.I really hope the note 10.1 2014 edition is the worthy tablet Ive been waiting for to use for movies.

Really? I found iTunes unmatched at getting content but I do have a US account though.

Yeah more jumping through hoops etc and besides I don't want to be restricted to only Apple content I should able to easily load and play any full hd video of my choice on my tablet in whatever format I may have it in just like i do on my pc.I have an entire HDD of my own content so why would I want to limit myself to only Apple content.

 

[icyrus]

Yeah more jumping through hoops etc and besides I don't want to be restricted to only Apple content I should able to easily load and play any full hd video of my choice on my tablet in whatever format I may have it in just like i do on my pc.I have an entire HDD of my own content so why would I want to limit myself to only Apple content.

H264 is pretty much industry standard at this point. Also, other codecs aren't hardware accelerated.