The base iPad is finally being left behind
I can tell you the entire story of the 11th-generation iPad by explaining the results of one benchmarking test. Itâs called Geekbench, and itâs a cross-platform tool that simulates a bunch of real-world activities to give each device a score that roughly approximates how powerful it is. Itâs not perfect (no benchmark is), but it can be revealing. In this case, it shows off an iPad that is very good at the things iPads have always been good at, but it may be about to hit its limit â and definitely isnât ready for whatâs to come.
When you run a Geekbench CPU test on a device like the iPad, it tests both single-core and multicore performance. Most modern devices have multiple cores: the iPadâs A16 chip has five CPU cores and four GPU cores; the current iPad Pro has nine and 10, respectively; and you can spec the latest Mac Studio all the way up to 28 CPU cores and 60 GPU cores. Not all cores are created the same, and we could talk about this forever, but letâs not.
All you need to know is that a single-core process only does one thing at a time and is typically used for simple everyday computing tasks, like running your email app or refreshing your Spotify homepag …