Product Listing

Apple iPad 2 - More like 1.5

By Aloysius Low - 30 Mar 2011
Launch SRP: S$1108

Performance and Battery Life

Performance and Battery Life

How the iPads Stack Up
Specifications / Tablet Apple iPad Apple iPad 2
Processor Apple A4 (1.0GHz) Apple Dual-Core A5 (1.0GHz)
Memory 256MB 512MB
Storage 16/32/64GB 16/32/64GB
Video & Display

1024 x 768 pixels,

PowerVR SGX

1024 x 768 pixels,

PowerVR SGX543MP2

Using Geekbench 2, we found that the iPad 2 is significantly faster than the iPad, and this comes as no surprise. Having additional RAM also means that when apps get minimized, they don't get forced to close (if they support the iOS multi-tasking API), which also means your apps feel snappier and load much faster.

Games with support for the iPad 2's newer graphics chip, the PowerVR SGX543MP2, show a much improved performance boost. Infinity Blade for example, runs with better environments, lighting and anti-aliasing. It also loaded much faster, 11 seconds compared to the 21 seconds it took for the original iPad to finish loading before the play button showed up. Games like Real Racing 2 HD also feature enhanced graphics effects, and also allow the iPad 2 to output the game to a 1080p screen.

Infinity Blade on the iPad 1. Click for a larger picture.

Infinity Blade on the iPad 2. Note the better textures, lighting and AA. Click for larger picture.

If you really must have numbers for graphics processing, feel free to pop over to AnandTech, they have access to a developer version of GLBenchmark 2.0, which gives you a better idea on the numbers. Suffice to say, the performance from the new graphics chip is pretty good, but unless your game supports it, chances are you won't see the pretty graphics in action.

As far as battery performance goes, many other reviews have mentioned that the battery life is about equal to the original iPad, and we found this to be pretty accurate in our own testing. The iPad 2 may be slimmer, but battery performance is still top notch. One charge is more than enough to last a full day, comparable to that of the original iPad. We don't have enough time with our borrowed iPad 2 to do a proper battery test, we'll update with results once we get the unit back again for more testing. Stay tuned for more updates next week.

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