The chips in the latest iPads are as powerful as those in desktop Macs
T he CPU – central processing unit – is the heart of any computing device, providing the speed and power that it needs to perform a variety of tasks. For many years, the iPad was limited in power compared to the various desktop and laptop Macs, as the iPad’s compact design simply couldn’t handle the powerhungry Intel processors used in the Mac range, or the heat generated by those powerful processors either.
All that changed when Apple began to develop its own range of Apple silicon chips, starting with the M1 system-on-a-chip (SoC) used in most of the latest Macs.
Apple also introduced the M1 to the iPad range with the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro in 2021, which meant that the iPad Pro could now provide the same impressive performance as the M1-based MacBook Pro, Mac mini and 24-inch iMac. The iPad Air was also updated recently, gaining its own M1 processor in early 2022. However, the current ninth-gen iPad and sixth-gen iPad mini still have older A-series processors, so it’s worth thinking about your choice of processor when choosing a new iPad.
The ninth-gen iPad is very much the affordable, entry-level option, and is powered by an A13 Bionic chip that is a few years old now. It’s no weakling, as the A13 Bionic is a 6-core processor running at 2.6GHz, along with an 8-core Neural Engine that handles advanced machine learning tasks, such as the Live Text feature introduced with iPadOS 15. That’s more than adequate for routine tasks such as web browsing, watching films and video, or doing some office work with Pages or Numbers.
However, the A13 Bionic lacks the graphical horsepower of newer processors, so it won’t be able to handle the latest 3D games, or high-end graphics or video work.
Different league
There’s a similar Bionic chip in the current sixth-gen iPad mini, although the mini steps up to the more r
