The iPad Pro is equipped with Apple’s latest processor, the M4 chip. The new iPad was responsible for the launch of this family of processors. The previous iPad Pro had the M2 chip, and in fact it’s the same one that the new iPad Air also uses. Indeed, the M3 Chip has remained exclusively intended for Macs since the current iPad range includes the M2 and the M4, hence this particular comparison.
Whether it be If you are considering buying a new iPad and you are hesitating between choosing iPad Air or iPad Pro based on power, or even if you own an iPad Pro M2 and want to know how much performance increases in the new iPad Pro, we are going to dispel your doubts.
The changes between Chip M2 and Chip M4 at the nanolevel
We start this comparison of the iPad’s M2 vs M4 chip with your manufacturing process. And here is the real key to the change between these two processors. Explained in a simple way, Processors are manufactured with different technologies of nanometers.
A nanometer is another measurement, like centimeter and millimeter. What’s happening is that the technology is so developed that it’s measured in nanometers. One nanometer is equal to 0.0000001 cm.
The M2 chip and the M4 chip are manufactured in two different ways. The M2 chip in a five-nanometer process and the M4 chip in a three-nanometer process. What do we gain? By having a smaller process, it allows Apple to place a larger number of transistors (the engines of the chip) in the same space. In this way, the M4 chip it has more transistors than the M2 chip in the same space. It is therefore more powerful and consumes less energy.
|
M2 chip |
5 nanometers |
25 billion transistors |
|---|---|---|
|
M4 chip |
3 nanometers |
28 billion transistors |
Processor differences between the M2 and M4 chips on the iPad
Let’s move on to the highlight of this M2 vs M4 comparison. And we find differences in the number of processor cores. Also keep in mind that not everything is numbersbut hearts are rather more powerful because of the previous process we told you about.
|
Total number of CPU cores |
efficiency cores |
performance cores |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
m2 chip |
8 hearts |
4 hearts |
4 hearts |
|
m4 chip |
9 cores (256 GB and 512 GB models) 10 cores (1TB and 2TB models) |
6 cores (256 GB and 512 GB models) 6 cores (1TB and 2TB models) |
3 cores (256 GB and 512 GB models) 4 cores (1TB and 2TB models) |
As you see, the increase in the number of nuclei is from one to two
Graphics are even more powerful on the M4 chip compared to the M2 chip
The graphics section is one of the most important, and in fact it is becoming more and more so. Not just for power play video games with a console level of detail on iPad, but also by artificial intelligence. There Graphics architecture of the M4 chip This is well above the M2 chip.
Although both have ten cores, the performance is up to four times faster and includes cutting-edge technologies such as ray tracing. Finally, a fact that reflects the power and efficiency of the M4 chip is that it can deliver the same performance as the M2. using only half the energy.
Graphics difference between M2 chip and M4 chip
The M4 chip takes a big step forward in artificial intelligence
Finally, we will analyze how they are prepared for AI the M4 chip and the M2 chip. Both feature a 16-core Neural Engine; However, the M4 chip is incredibly powerful compared to the M2.
|
M2 chip |
16 neural engine cores |
38 trillion operations per second |
|---|---|---|
|
M4 chip |
16 neural engine cores |
15.8 trillion operations per second |
As you can see, there are more than twice as many operations per second. The M4 chip is a real beast in artificial intelligence tasks and machine learning, something essential for the new operating systems that Apple is preparing.
Ok, the M4 chip is more powerful than the M2, but is it worth switching iPads?
Obviously, the M4 chip had to be better than the M2. After all, they are two generations apart, even though we didn’t get the M3 on the iPad. As for whether it’s worth changing your iPad for the new iPad Pro with M4 chip, it depends on what you’re going to use it for:
- If you’re going to play video games or produce graphic editions in applications like Procreate or Adobe, yes, the M4 chip It will offer you previously unthinkable performances.
- If, on the other hand, you want a iPad for workbut your tasks are simpler and are based on text, simple images and mobile games like those of Apple Arcade, the M2 chip This will be more than enough.
Now that you know all the differences between the M4 chip and the M2 chip, you can more easily choose whether you want to change iPad, or which of the two new models to choose: the iPad Pro with M4 chip or the iPad Air with M2 chip.
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