Benchmarks: The iPad Pro is the fastest iPad ever (for now)

Apple’s super-sized iPad has the performance to match, thanks to its A9X processor.

To gauge the performance of the iPad Pro, we ran several benchmark apps: GeekBench 3 and TabletMark to test overall speed, 3DMark for graphics performance, and several browser-based tests. For reference, we also included results from a $1299 Microsoft Surface Pro 4 with an Intel Core i5-6300U processor, an Intel HD 520 GPU, and 8GB of RAM.

Geekbench and TabletMark results

In the Geekbench 3 64-bit Multi-Core test, the iPad Pro is 27 percent faster than the iPad Air 2 with its A8X processor, and 78 percent faster than the iPad mini 4 with its A8 processor. In the Geekbench 3 64-bit Single-Core test, the iPad Pro’s results are even more impressive, almost doubling the performance of the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 4.

The iPad Pro saw a 24 percent speed improvement in the TabletMark V3 Overall benchmark over the iPad Air 2, and a 29 percent boost over the iPad mini 4.

3DMark results

The iPad Pro has a significant advantage over the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 in 3DMark graphics performance. The Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics test is used to gauge GPU performance. The Ice Storm Unlimited Physics test puts more of an emphasis on the CPU.

Next page: Safari-based JavaScript benchmarks

The iPad Pro’s dominance continues with the JaveScript benchmarks ( JetStream, Octane V2, and Kraken), with performance that nearly doubles that of the iPad Air 2. The iPad Pro blows away the iPad mini 4.