The iPad 2,4 Review: 32nm Brings Better Battery Life
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 4, 2012 12:50 AM ESTSignificant Battery Life Improvements
We'll start with the latest iteration of our WiFi web browsing test. With some additional logic to defeat overly aggressive browser caching, this test cycles through dozens of web pages, pausing on each one to simulate reading time before moving onto the next one. Display brightness is kept constant at 200 nits while the test runs. Results are reported in hours of battery life before the tablet dies.
Most web browsing tests end up being significantly display limited, as in the display dominates most of the power draw. That being the case, the fact that we see a 15.8% increase in battery life from the new 32nm HK+MG SoC alone is very significant. Apple is very conservative internally about revising battery life ratings so it's no surprise that we don't see a change in the specs on the iPad 2, especially considering that so many units out there on the market are still older iPad 2,1 models.
The increase in battery life here is almost certainly due to lower leakage at idle and better active power as well. This is a real improvement.
Things get even better when we stress the real power hog on the SoC: Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX 543MP2 GPU. Taking up more area on the die than the dual Cortex A9 cores, the 543MP2 is really stressed during 3D gaming. What better way to measure the impact of the new 32nm SoC on battery life than with one of the most stressful 3D games out for iOS today: Infinity Blade 2.
Here we're looping through the same scene until the battery dies, once again at normalized brightness.
The 3rd generation iPad obviously doesn't do as well as the iPad 2 here, as it not only has a more power hungry GPU but it's also rendering the scene at a higher resolution (and driving a higher resolution panel). What's most impressive however is just how much better the iPad 2,4 does here: a 29% increase in battery life over the original iPad 2,1.
Riptide GP, a less stressful title, shows us similar results:
Finally we have our brand new video playback test. Here we've got a copy of the last Harry Potter movie with the credits stripped out (1:58:00 running time), transcoded to a 720p High Profile H.264 video with a 4Mbps average bit rate, playing back in a loop until the battery dies.
The iPad 2 holds a 19% advantage over the 3rd generation iPad (once again for obvious reasons), however the iPad 2,4 absolutely dominates with an 18% increase in battery life. At 15.7 hours this is an insane amount of battery life from a single charge. Granted end users will see lower numbers if you watch at higher brightness settings (200 nits on our test panel was around 40% brightness), but the advantage from the new iPad should still remain just as significant.
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sonci - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
In the hype of Galaxy S3, immediately an Apple Review!!tytung - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
Anand Please review Galaxy Note. Thank You.gkbeer - Sunday, May 6, 2012 - link
And why aren't they printed on the box? I thought that was a requirement.Takoru - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
I just bought an iPad 2 16GB, black via the Apple Store Germany. I ordered it online.My iPad was manufactured on April the 17th in China. (The white one in this article was manufactured on April the 14th, in China).
Sadly, i got an iPad 2,1 with a 45nm SoC.
It's really sad that not every iPad will get the new 32nm SoC.
If someone knows where I really have the chance to get one, I'ld be happy about a private message here on anandtech.
My iPad 2 is going back then. Also, the black smart cover I ordered has white lines on it.
I thought Apple stand for quality, bleh.
Takoru - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Maybe it's a help that my serial number is starting with "DV". The serial number of the white one in this article is starting with "DM".Takoru - Friday, May 11, 2012 - link
Xerazal posted that his Serial number also started with "DM". So I'm sure now: Every iPad 2 16GB with a serial number starting with "DM", which is manufactured in April is the new iPad 2,4.Sorry for triple posting btw., but I think my comments are useful.
Greezes,
Takoru
Mrmixor - Sunday, May 13, 2012 - link
Absolutely essential, bought a model 2,4 yippie,goober296 - Sunday, May 13, 2012 - link
i purchased a ipad2 16 gig wifi white at the mall of america apple store on 5-12. The serial number started with DM It was identified as a 2.4 using one of the free apps mentioned in the article.Mrmixor - Sunday, May 13, 2012 - link
Went to Target, looked at what they had. They had one wifi only white iPad 2 with an ICloud logo sticker. I asked the salesperson if they are moving them pretty regularly and if they are getting in new iPad 2's every so often. he said weekly!!!! I knew my odds were improving that this one would be a recently received item. Anyway I bought it, also bought Geekbench for .99 in the AppStore. Says I got a 2,4 and man this thing is sooooo light and man I have been surfing for 1 hour and the battery went from 66% to 62%!!! That's what I really like about this iPad 2. I owned the iPad Retina and sold it to a friend in South America, and it's really really nice, but too heavy for me. A noticeable difference. What I would like to know is if this iPad 2,,4 I now own ... Is it lighter than the iPad 2,1 or not. I owned the iPad 2, 1 up till the march release and it seams slightly heavier than this one. The 16% increase in battery life, 399 price and the lightness are all deal makers for me. Local Apple store had nooooo clue what I was searching for, we're not cooperative. TARGET ROCKS. very happy man... Do it show?Mrmixor - Sunday, May 13, 2012 - link
Feels lighter. Runs cooler, battery lasts shockingly longer. Very happy.