Apple Airpad 2024 Geekbench

In a surprising twist, Apple has chosen to introduce its new M4 chip alongside the latest iPad Pro model. Departing from its predecessors, which varied in GPU core count, the M4 comes in two distinct variants: one featuring a 9-core CPU and the other boasting 10 cores.

Geekbench’s Core ML Neural Engine Inference test has put the 10-core Apple M4 through its paces, revealing an impressive score of 9,234 points. By comparison, its predecessor powered by the M2 chip, the previous-gen iPad Pro, achieved a score of 7,393 in the same benchmark.

Essentially, the Apple M4’s Neural Processing Unit (NPU) demonstrates a notable 24% speed boost over the Apple M2, at least in this particular test. Comparing it to an Apple M3 (which scored 8,331) would be unjust, as the M3 chip was exclusively used in laptops, never in iPads.

The benchmark listing also indicates a slight reduction in clock speed, with the M4’s CPU running at 3.93 GHz, in contrast to the 4.05 GHz of the Apple M3. Moreover, the iPad Pro under scrutiny appears to be operating on an early iteration of iPadOS 18.

While the Apple M4 showcases a commendable improvement in NPU performance, it remains to be seen whether this enhancement extends to the CPU and GPU domains. With the additional CPU cores, a boost in multi-core performance is to be expected, although the slower clock speeds may impact single-core performance. It’s a development worth keeping an eye on.