Just how pretty are iPad 2's graphics? The Infinity Blade test shows

March 13, 2011 6:00 AM
Dean Takahashi

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs promised that the iPad 2′s processor is twice as fast as the original iPad’s and that its graphics performance is nine times better.

Now that the results are coming in, it’s clear that the performance is good but varies widely by application. One of the most demanding apps on the original iPad is Epic Games’ Infinity Blade sword-fighting game (pictured above). Tests show that the revised version of Infinity Blade for the iPad 2 has far more graphics detail than the earlier version, according to AnandTech, a tech gadget site run by uber geek Anand Lal Shimpi.

In any given scene, there is far more graphical detail, lighting, and shadows on the iPad 2 version. Jagged lines that appeared in the earlier version no longer appear in the iPad 2 version. That could be enough to make graphics aficionados fall in love with the iPad 2, but it might be a subtle difference for less picky users. AnandTech’s older and newer images are shown at the bottom of this story, so you can see the subtle improvements for yourself.

Other benchmark tests also show that the iPad 2 pretty much blows away the Motorola Xoom. That’s important to people who want to be able to buy a tablet computer that lasts for a while and can run demanding apps.

AnandTech said that the A5 processor in the iPad 2 is 50 percent faster than the original iPad’s A4 processor in browsing the web. In other synthetic tests (meaning theoretical benchmarks as opposed to real application benchmarks), AnandTech was able to surpass Apple’s claim of 2x faster CPU (central processing unit) performance.

The A5 includes a PowerVR SGX 543MP2 graphics core from Imagination Technologies. Based on a review of the architecture, the graphics core has more than twice the compute horsepower of the PowerVR SGX 535 used in Apple’s A4 chip. On top of that, there are four times as many pipelines, or processing paths. And as the chart on the right shows, the A5′s texture filtering performance is better as well, about three times better than the original iPad and significantly faster than the Motorola Xoom.

Based on the GLBenchmark 2.0 test, AnandTech found five to seven times faster performance on the iPad 2 compared to the iPad on a number of other graphics tests. On one test dubbed Egypt, the Apple chip in the iPad 2 is 3.7 times faster than the Nvidia Tegra 2 in the Xoom.

Another tech site, Iosnoops, says the actual clock speed of the A5 isn’t 1 gigahertz as with the A4. Rather, both cores run at about 890 megahertz, although the speed varies based on the app running.

Check out the graphics in the original iPad version of Infinity Blade below, and in the iPad 2 version below that. You’ll notice, for instance, there are better lighting effects on the warrior’s shield in the foreground.

http://twitter.com/#!/TheJulior Julio Rodriguez

When Apple decides to improve the resolution on the iPad's screen, they will run into a bit of a challenge. After a 9x improvement for the second generation, they will be in a position where gaming performance at the native resolution will be really hard to improve if there are several times more pixels to be pushed. It will require a chip many times more powerful just to stay at the same levels.
http://twitter.com/netolaneta E Dgz

…So? Dont´t live fearing the future, my friend, enjoy the present.Besides, don´t think you´re smarter or more visionaire than theenginners that plan Apple´s future launches. Ok?
http://twitter.com/vipulbhandari vipul bhandari

What is ignored here is difference in Xoom and Ipad resolution. Try running a game at low resolution on ur computer, it will perform better. Run the same game at high resolution, now see the difference. Sometimes i feel tech media is a Apple slut.
Stocklone

Again. Thank you Apple for releasing the iPad 2. Hopefully, this will force Android tablets to be more price competitive.
LavaLight

The first stage of grief is denial.A 30% increase in pixels in the Xoom doesn't explain why iPad 2 is as much as 4X faster in graphics.Secondly, we can take your argument and flip it on its head. If Motorola knew the Xoom was going to perform so poorly at 1280×800 pixels, why did they choose that resolution?Ocam's Razor says Moto tripped over their own spec whoring and chose to emphasize the wrong spec, i.e. choosing more pixels that ended up crippling graphics performance vs. simply matching iPad resolution but offering a much smoother experience. They chose something that only *appeared* to be a better spec without weighing the tradeoffs.In the end, the 1280×800 screen results in a simply poor UI experience for the Xoom. Too bad Moto spent a year engineering a tablet to be competitive with iPad 1 instead of preparing for iPad 2.
LavaLight

Considering iPad 2 appears to be 3 to 7 times faster in the graphic department across the board versus iPad 1, that shouldn't be too hard. All iPad 3 has to do is go to a quad-core GPU instead of the dual core in iPad 2, and Apple will easily be drive a 2048×1536 display with great performance.
Yacko

But somebody has to make that display and I don't think there is a factory on earth that can do so cost effectively. Current screens, the full assembly with the visual and touch layer are currently experiencing low yields and that has constrained the supply. Does this mean half, less than half? I don't know, but it indicates that current manufacturing tech is not all there, and ramping up to a higher res screen in the near future may well be impossible.
http://twitter.com/#!/TheJulior Julio Rodriguez

Ultra mobile graphics technology has been advancing rapidly in a game of catch up with desktop graphics, that rate will not be sustained indefinitely. All I am saying is that it is likely they will have to make a choice between improving performance vs resolution. I am eager to see what marketing black magic they deploy to distract people from that. Also, battery technology is not advancing as rapidly as everyone would like, and high power GPUs suck a huge amount of power.
http://twitter.com/#!/TheJulior Julio Rodriguez

Yes, my motivation to comment on this was driven entirely out of fear, not an interest in discussing the future of one of the most important mobile devices of our time. Also, my knowledge of GPU technology, thermal handling, and the technological problems surrounding these is completely voided by the “magic” that flows from Steve's fingertips and powers everything that comes from Cupertino.
JSr06

Nice performance. Pretty disappointing for Tegra2. I thought they can keep up. Doesn't matter, Sony's NGP is about twice as fast as the ipad2 (Quad core and 543MP4). While that's nice for the ipad2, real mobile gaming is coming this fall.
http://www.intynews.com/2012/04/24/squeeze-the-most-juice-out-of-your-iphone-battery/ Squeeze the Most Juice Out of Your iPhone Battery | InTyNews

[...] the CPU (e.g. a music app like BeatMaker 2) will drain the most power. Graphics-heavy apps such as Infinity Blade will still use considerable battery even though the GPU processes the graphics more [...]
http://www.androiddevelopersltd.com/blog/2012/04/squeeze-the-most-juice-out-of-your-iphone-battery/ Squeeze the Most Juice Out of Your iPhone Battery | Android Developers

[...] the CPU (e.g. a music app like BeatMaker 2) will drain the most power. Graphics-heavy apps such as Infinity Blade will still use considerable battery even though the GPU processes the graphics more [...]
http://blog.puntomatica.co.uk/squeeze-the-most-juice-out-of-your-iphone-or-ipad-battery Squeeze the Most Juice Out of Your iPhone or iPad Battery | Computer Tips and Ideas

[...] CPU (e.g. a music app like BeatMaker 2) will drain the most power. Graphics-heavy apps such as Infinity Blade will still use considerable battery even though the GPU processes the graphics more [...]