Apple A4 chip up to 60% faster than Snapdragon
updated 10:15 am EDT, Mon April 5, 2010
iPad processor blows away Nexus One
The A4 processor in the iPad is far faster than the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running the Nexus One, according to early benchmarks. Although both run at 1GHz, Apple's chip is usually at least 9 percent faster loading most websites; it's up to 60 percent faster with very visually intensive websites. The AnandTech tests noted some unusual spikes, but even discarding these is an average of 10 percent faster.
It's unclear how much of the performance difference comes from software, as the iPad and Nexus One use different web browsers and different JavaScript engines. However, both use modern WebKit engines. The tests also show it being much faster than the iPhone 3GS, which is much more likely to be directly comparable; in most cases, pages loaded in just over half the time on the tablet.
The design is believed to still be based on the ARM Cortex-A8 architecture and has the chief advantages of a larger enclosure and battery that let it run at the higher speeds. However, it's not known how much if at all Apple will need to scale down the clock speed to accommodate it in the next iPhone, as no one has checked the power consumption of the A4 independently of its other components.
Apple will face stiffer competition after a 1.3GHz Snapdragon appears, but it's unlikely to ship in finished phones until late this year.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2009
Useless Comparison
Why compare a phone to a non-phone tablet device? Were all of the phone features shut down to conserve resources? Yet another useless comparison.