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New iPads performance?
Hi!
So I'm currently using the 6th gen iPad 9.7" for musicproduction along with some hardware. I really love this setup and I have no plans of moving to a computer.
But with all the new iPads that are coming out right now i'm definitely considering an update.
These are my current options:
iPad Pro 12.9" 2020
iPad Air 2020
Used iPad Pro 12.9" 2018
What I wish to get out of a new iPad:
Better performance in AUM (more plugins with less DSP-load)
Bigger screen (less scrolling in apps)
Better performance in general, in all musicapps.
Higher pixeldensity
So I really want to hear your experience with upgrading to one of these iPads? Can you actually notice a difference in for example AUMs performance compared to an older iPad?
My 9.7" iPad has the A10 Fusion chip and both the A12z(ipad pro) and A14(ipad air) is alot faster on paper but how does that really show in real life use?
Thanks in advance!
Comments
I have all the iPad Pro 12.9 since the First way back in 2015. Since the 2018 model I don’t see any performance upgrade that are worth the money. If you care about the money buy 2018, if the money is not a problem go for the 2020 but sincerely you will not notice the boost that you would expect from it.
With the iPad Air 2020 at 599$, I don't see many reason to buy something else. Right now, the iPad Air is the fastest (on single core) iPad on earth for less money than the Pro. I really like my iPad Air 2020
Faster than my iPad Mini 5
Yeah, the only downside is the storage,
$599 for 6 gbs, personally for me it’s definitely not enough storage for serious audio production, and even the next storage option at 256 gbs can get filled up if you’re an appoholic like some of us, lol. Don’t get me wrong, if you only install what you really need and use 256 gbs can go a long way, I used an Air 2 with 128 gbs for years but I usually ended up with 5 gigs of free space.
Is the Ipad 8 of this year a noticeable upgrade vs the 2018 by the way? Has anyone compared for music production/synth/aum etc?
Not just to save money but to keep the headphone jack for mobile production, I like the standard ipads vs the air and pro for that reason at least. If only there was a high end pro model with a high end hp jack option lol
@donvito
2020 iPad has A12 chip so it's performance for audio apps is basically same like 2019 Air3/mini5 and basically almost same like 2018 pro model .. so yeah, it's significant improvememt when compared to 2018 iPad with A10
I like this comparison:
https://browser.geekbench.com/ios-benchmarks
exactly - there is clearly visible that for audio apps, there is almost no difference in performance of latest PRO (A12Z), larest Air, MINI and iPad 8th gen - they all have almost same single core performance...
Would love to see a comparison of current and older models in a real world case, i.e. multiple instances of an auv3 synth in AUM, until dsp is at max. Also how much does 6 vs 4 Gb RAM matter? I rarely encounter problems with memory usage but some apps like NOISE or bismarck (with large soundfonts) definitely complain less on my 10.5 iPad Pro than on my iPad 2018, and not because of single core performance...
1585 vs 1110 is a significant difference to me , it is a 42% of more performance.
Multi-core performance does have an impact for audio apps. Even if the main audio is handles in a single thread. Many audio apps are multi-threaded in ways that benefit from multiple cores. And starting with iOS 14, developers can start writing audio codes that is multithreaded.
Which one ? None of currently available AU plugins. None of currently available DAWs. Maybe miRack (according to what dev said, but did't saw performance comparision lets say A12 vs A12X - in theory there should be twice as much performance )
Anyway for workflow used by most users here (some host - DAW or AUM + AU plugins) there is near to zero usage of multicore performance...
I would be happy to be wrong. There is nothing easier that to try it - to compare same setup (same plugins in same host, with same buffer size) let's say on A12 cpu (i can check it with my mini5 and A12x cpu or A12Z cpu (pro models)
This has all been gone over before, so I'm not getting into it again. But there are two important things to consider when looking at multi-core and iOS. The first is that yes, having multiple cores (and threads) help all applications, even those that are not directly using them, perform better. Even the efficiency cores help with this. In playing with the new M1 Mac, one of the things that is really obvious is that most of the background bookkeeping type tasks are running on the little cores. This frees up the power cores to do the real work, including the real-time audio threads.
As far as the second consideration goes, just look at this link, https://developer.apple.com/documentation/audiotoolbox/workgroup_management/understanding_audio_workgroups
i know about audioworkgroups api (i was first one who posted about this great improvement after WWDC here ;-)) - but it would be suprising if any current DAWs or plugins are using it... maybe in future, 2-3 years from now
sorry for skepticism, but i'm observing iOS apps evolution since 2010, and i'm more and more skeptic about future timeframe of large scale adoption of audio workgroups api sooner than 2022-23...
as i said, it's nothing easier than make some real-world sceniario and test it... just propose host/plugins... then make project which will need, for example, 80% of CPU on iPad with A12 cpu, and then try same project on A12x, A12z or even A13 and A14 CPU
i think we can find people with devices with all of those CPU
my proposal is:
i will try it on my Mini5, then somebody with latest PRO model will test it there, etc. etc.
Let's do a bit of experimental science instead of endless debates ;-)
@dendy, it’s a very good idea to carry out real measurements! We should play the same project in CB3 on different devices. Same song, same AU instruments, same latency, same everything and check the dsp meter. The song should be ‘composed’ in a way that keeps the dsp nearly at a constant level.
I can contribute with my Air 3. I’m fine with model D, but almost whatever AU instrument can be chosen for plug-in 😜
I did a test. Just simply added modelD instances one by one in Cubasis 3 and checked the DSP gauge.
Settings: sample rate: 48kHz, Latency: 11.6 ms (I think it’s 512 bits)
iPad model: Air3
DSP load vs number of modelD instances:
1: 14-15%
2: 28-30%
3: 45-48%
4: 58-60%
5: 74-80%
6: 94-98%
Did you try to push it more? (I mean until it starts to crackle like crazy?)
I ask this since the newer CPUs cores need some time to 'activate/speed up' and I pretty sure the Air 3 should be able to run more that 6 instances of Model D.
For example in AUM's the CPU meter can be at 90% and then when you add a few more instances it drops down to 50% when the high efficiency cores get activated on the more modern CPUs like the one in iPad Air 3.
(I mean my ancient Air 2 pushes 4-5 instances before it 'cracks up' using a 512 buffer).
I'm expecting that when I get my next iPad I should at least be able to run 10 instances om Model D without the iPad cracking up.
Cheers!
This is definitely true. DSP load meters in DAW's have always been pretty suspect and now they are even more so. Apple's audio system is very good at running until the system is just exhausted. To figure out how hard you can push one of these machines, you are going to need to load it up until either the audio starts to sputter and die or the UI becomes useless.
I’m holding out on the new pros before I decide on an upgrade
Hopefully spring?
in all cases bellow i used default patch, no notes played (which is ok, Model D eats basically same CPU even if it just sits in orojects and plays nothing when compared to playing some notes)
Nanostudio 2
AUM (rest is same)
Cubasis 3 (rest is same, buffer 11 ms which is equivalent to 512)
Beatmaker 3
now somebody with A12x (Pro 2018), or A12Z (pro 2020)
@dendy, great, thorough test.
In my first test I didn’t hit play, just added the instances and opened one of them.
If I hit play I get the same 85-ish dsp load with 6 instances and crakling with 7.
However my experience is that I rarely have crackling issues with other au synths. So out of curiousity I tried the same excercise with synthmaster one, I made a one bar track with 4 quarter notes, hit play (loop) and started duplicating the track. I reached 30 instances, but DSP is not going above 50%..
@GLacey yeah model D is one of most CPU heavy plugins on iOS, and sadly it is not optimalised (i really don't see reason why plugin should take any CPU in case it is not playing anything).
But also thanks to this, it is great tool for such CPU load tests, because you really don't need many instances of it to totally kill CPU :-)))
11” pro 2020 here, same results as @dendy
Cool, thanks ! So this is consistent with what i said .. 11" pro as A12x which has twice as much high performance cores as A12 (mini5/air3) .. but audio apps performance is same ..
IT would be interesting to try some miRack patch which takes CPU on the edge on A12 ... any tips which miRack modules are really CPU heavy ?
Anyone with Air 4?
Korg Gadget is another example of that.
This is without playing or touching anything:
@R_2
what a shame... this is really big thing, because if all plugins would be properly optimalised to use CPU (or most of their CPU needs) really only when they're doing some job, in general you will be able to load lotmore plugins in project, because not all are playing simultaneously all the time...
This is a very interesting and important thread as many users do consider to buy a new device and need some guidance. I also think that CPU is not the only limiting factor. As comparisons between Intel and M1 Macs showed there was a significant difference in how many plugins you could run in Logic between the 16 GB M1 and the 32 GB Intel machine. So we should definitely also take a look at the RAM. Here a comparison I compiled from wikipedia article and the before mentioned geekbench link
Please note that:
@krassmann thanks for table, very informative !!
So for now looks like iPad Air 4 is far away best model for audio apps (no, size of memory really doesn't matter for our use case, albeit some people thinks it does. nope.)
Yes, I agree.
Sorry I forgot to answer, yes I tried to push over 6 it instances, but it started crackling. I think Model D is so resource hungry that the CPU immediately switches into panic mode when you add the first instance
Anyway I think I saw many times what you're saying in AUM, the CPU is around 50% and it stays 50ish even if I add further (not model
) instruments.