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The new iPad |OT|

T

th3dude

Member
I imagine it should run a tad cooler. I don't think it will be much of a difference, but the smaller chip should allow it to stay a bit cooler.
 
B

brotkasten

Member
I wonder if I should wait for new back covers or just get one for the third gen model. The placement is about the same and the connector should still fit.

I want a thin black back cover with a soft touch material. Any recommendations?
 
D

dwebo

Member
chipworks has a bit about the new a6x:
http://www.chipworks.com/blog/recentteardowns/2012/11/01/inside-the-apple-ipad-4-a6x-to-be-revealed/

a5x left said:
nChox.jpg
VBNnX.jpg
Click to expand...
The A6X Processor – a new beast on the block!
This is not just an A6 with a couple minor tweaks. The A6 is 94mm2 while the A6X is 123mm2 – a full 30% larger.So where did that extra area go? Well, firstly, it did not go to the CPU core. The A6X uses the identical CPU to the A6. Same size, same layout. This is not surprising given that the prior CPU used custom layout techniques, and therefore it would be a huge amount of work to redesign so soon. Much of the extra area has gone to the GPU cores which are up from 3 to 4. More notable is that each of these GPU cores is much larger.On the A6X each GPU core is 8.7mm2 while the A6 GPU cores are only 5.4mm2. The overall area occupied by the A6X GPU cores is more than double that of the A6!


So we see that of the 29 mm2 of new area on the A6X, a full 18.6 mm2 is the result of the increased quantity of graphics processing. Impressive!

Additionally, if you look closely at the GPU cores (which our high magnification scopes allow us to do), we can see they are actually split into sub-cores themselves. Each GPU core is sub-divided into 9 sub-cores (2 sets of 4 identical sub-cores plus a central core). This could be done to allow for more efficient parallel processing, or to allow for a higher maximum clock rate. In either case, these GPUs should result in some blazing graphics on your iPad.

Other items of note:

It looks like the A6X has double the SDRAM interface width of the A6 (again likely to allow for greater graphics processing power).
Other than the CPU, it appears all the other digital cores have new layouts. This chip is not just a minor tweak from the A6, a lot of work has gone into this.
Apple has reduced the number of core PLLs needed from 9 on the A6 to 8 on the A6X. However they have moved them close to the middle of the chip which may allow for better control over clock skew across the chip.
Many of the analog and interface cores have been reused from the A6, however there are also some new interface blocks.


For those interested in a visual representation of the size difference, here are two scale images that compare the two die at polysilicon. We will add a similar comparison on the process technology once the cross-sectional images get out of the lab. The floorplan evidence would suggest that there is not likely a change in process technology.
Click to expand...
 
M

malyce

Member
The GPU in this thing is indeed a monster. It seems Apple packed 4 SGX554 cores into the A6X to get ~2x the performance of the A5X/A6.
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
malyce said:
The GPU in this thing is indeed a monster. It seems Apple packed 4 SGX554 cores into the A6X to get ~2x the performance of the A5X/A6.
Click to expand...
Is the A6 on pair with the A5X, graphically speaking? Could a vanilla A6 drive an iPad retina display?

Just wondering about next year's iPad mini.
 
D

dwebo

Member
had some free time so I called apple regarding the target gift card. the first lady I talked to was rather militant about not being able to do anything about it, but when I said fine let me cancel the order, she transferred me to another guy who immediately offered to send me the free smart cover others have been getting

so yeah, definitely recommend doing this if you ordered from apple
 
K

Ken Masters

Banned
dwebo said:
had some free time so I called apple regarding the target gift card. the first lady I talked to was rather militant about not being able to do anything about it, but when I said fine let me cancel the order, she transferred me to another guy who immediately offered to send me the free smart cover others have been getting

so yeah, definitely recommend doing this if you ordered from apple
Click to expand...

Best buy matched the $40 gift card offer, at first they were telling me target was only doing it for the iPad 3 and I told them it was discontinued so I made them call target to confirm.
 
B

brotkasten

Member
My new iPad was supposed to arrive on Nov 8 and now I saw that they already shipped it, even with express delivery. That would usually be a good thing, except that I'm not at work on Monday. Ugh, Apple! Why do you have to be better than expected!

#firstworldproblems
 
M

malyce

Member
jts said:
Is the A6 on pair with the A5X, graphically speaking? Could a vanilla A6 drive an iPad retina display?

Just wondering about next year's iPad mini.
Click to expand...

I "could" but memory bandwith is what separates the A5X from the A6 considering the amount of pixels the A5X has to push, so think along the lines of a revised A6X if apple does go with a retina display for the next iPad mini.
 
P

PalaceBrother

Member
I've been playing movies on it for a couple of hours now and haven't noticed the heat the way I did with the iPad 3. Haven't put it through a good gaming session yet to see how that affects it.

I also picked up a smart case. Kind of a pain getting it into the case but the build quality is better than the POS I had on my old iPad.

Are there any 3rd party lightning connectors available yet?
 
D

dwebo

Member
a few brief observations:

- battery did indeed come already charged >90%. hope none of this first batch languish in a back room somewhere, as you're not supposed to store batteries for long periods at that high of a charge level
- there's some sort of adaptive contrast now? streaming a video for a bit and then backing out to the homescreen or a menu will leave everything really overblown for a few seconds. pretty sure this didn't happen on the 3, and definitely doesn't happen on the 2 I still have lying around. very weird
- wifi is indeed twice as fast. my router tells me it basically gets as good a connection as my 2011 macbook air when I put them next to each other (up to 150Mbps), and transferring a file over wifi goes twice as fast as the 2 (40Mbps vs 20Mbps)
- app store still hitches occasionally, goddamn apple fix this shit
- I've somehow gone a year and a half without realizing you can stick more than 4 apps in the bottom space on the ipads, which is embarrassing
 
G

giga

Member
malyce said:
I "could" but memory bandwith is what separates the A5X from the A6 considering the amount of pixels the A5X has to push, so think along the lines of a revised A6X if apple does go with a retina display for the next iPad mini.
Click to expand...
Well, is a 128-bit memory interface really needed when the A6 matches (and exceeds in some cases) the A5X in GPU performance? I think they're content with the mini having last year's SoC in it since it's a lower margin item.
 
T

th3dude

Member
Izick said:
How is browsing Gaf on it? How is watching videos on it? How fucking rad is it?
Click to expand...

Very awesome.

Havent really put it through many paces yet. But browsing is snappy as hell and apps load immediately.

Taking a while to get back into iOS after being on android for so long.
 
K

Ken Masters

Banned
dwebo said:
man, charging is still slow as balls. those 2 extra watts, they do nothing
Click to expand...
Haven't had a need to charge yet but apple said it would be faster but now how much faster

And no review commented on charging time besides "it's faster", which I assume they're just saying because apple said so
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
giga said:
Well, is a 128-bit memory interface really needed when the A6 matches (and exceeds in some cases) the A5X in GPU performance? I think they're content with the mini having last year's SoC in it since it's a lower margin item.
Click to expand...
Well the A6X will also be last year's by the time they release the next iPad mini. I was thinking more in terms of TDP which is vital in such a small and light device, and I guess that's better on the A6 than on any of Apple's quad-GPU SoCs.
 
O

Outtrigger888

Member
Been playing around with the ipad 4 since 5 this afternoon and downloaded 8 gigs in apps and my daughter played 2 hours of minecraft, battery is still at 50%, it started at 91%. So the battery is still just as good as the 3's.

The one thing ive noticed is that the touch screen doesnt feel as smooth as the 3's. My finger feels like its dragging a lot more. Almost like theres somthing on the screen. Maybe im paranoid.
 
O

Owzers

Member
tested out my refurbished ipad 3 and so far i don't really notice the retina screen being all that great compared to my hp touchpad, tested out comixology on both with one being the cmx-hd format and the other not.....will look at it more later. Also was a little disappointed that it started off with only 13gb available space (it must have been the ipad 2 that i read started off with 14gb perhaps) and the upgrade to ios6 is another 790MBs :X

I have 9 more days to fiddle around with it to decide if i'm keeping it or its getting returned.
 
R

Rafa=FedKilla

Banned
sillymonkey321 said:
tested out my refurbished ipad 3 and so far i don't really notice the retina screen being all that great compared to my hp touchpad, tested out comixology on both with one being the cmx-hd format and the other not.....will look at it more later. Also was a little disappointed that it started off with only 13gb available space (it must have been the ipad 2 that i read started off with 14gb perhaps) and the upgrade to ios6 is another 790MBs :X

I have 9 more days to fiddle around with it to decide if i'm keeping it or its getting returned.
Click to expand...
I am upgrading to refurb as well. Needed that 64 gigs and better screen. Hope my videos look nice.
 
S

sfedai0

Banned
sillymonkey321 said:
tested out my refurbished ipad 3 and so far i don't really notice the retina screen being all that great compared to my hp touchpad, tested out comixology on both with one being the cmx-hd format and the other not.....will look at it more later. Also was a little disappointed that it started off with only 13gb available space (it must have been the ipad 2 that i read started off with 14gb perhaps) and the upgrade to ios6 is another 790MBs :X

I have 9 more days to fiddle around with it to decide if i'm keeping it or its getting returned.
Click to expand...

WUT? You seriously cant tell the difference?? I cant even bear to look at even the icons on my TP. If there is a single reason to get the iPad, its the resolution.
 
A

Addnan

Member
my iPads are tracking on UPS now. They have separate tracking codes. Hmm, thought they would just bundle it all together.

Now I get to have fun refreshing two tracking pages. wooo.
 
S

Spiderjericho

Member
Does anyone know if Apple exclusively uses FedEx? My iPad 3 and 4 plus iPhone 4S came courtesy of them. Unlike UPS who will leave the package at my leasing office, I always have to drive 30 minutes to sign.

I tried going to the local Target to see if I could take advantage of the deal this week. They only got in one White 16GB. I wanted the black 32GB.

The apps do feel a bit snappier. Haven't tried out charging yet. I was a bit upset comics glass didn't retain the comics I had stored, whereas Good Reader did.
 
O

Owzers

Member
sfedai0 said:
WUT? You seriously cant tell the difference?? I cant even bear to look at even the icons on my TP. If there is a single reason to get the iPad, its the resolution.
Click to expand...

i think i'm bad at telling the resolution of stuff, i remember not having my xbox 360 switched to hdtv on the component cable for the first few days when i got it and not knowing. I'm going to try comparing websites with the two side by side now.
 
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