The iPad mini was one of the devices presented some days ago and that they gave the surprise in the inauguration of the keynote. With a new design and a remodeling of its interior with the same A15 Bionic chip that the iPhone 13 mount. However, the first benchmarks that are appearing indicate that the processor clock speed iPad mini is reduced and therefore performance is slightly lower than the iPhone 13.
iPhone 13 and iPad mini share A15 Bionic but with different powers
Processors like the A15 Bionic have different elements inside such as the CPU. The CPU is in charge of processing instructions from different programs, applications and services of the operating system. The speed with which these instructions are processed allows giving a more or less true picture of the performance and power of the processor. For example, a CPU clocked at 3,2 GHz will produce 3.200 billion cycles per second.
The first beenchmarks published iPad mini 2021 and iPhone 13 show different performances having the same A15 Bionic chip. The iPad mini gives results of 1595 points with one core and 4540 points with the multicore exam. In the case of the iPhone 13, 1730 points are obtained with a core and in multicore a score of 4660. That means that roughly the iPad mini is between 2 and 8% slightly less powerful than the iPhone 13.
The main reason for this data lies in the clock speed (or frequency) of the A15 Bionic chip as we discussed earlier. The iPhone 13 is clocked at 3,2 GHz while that of the iPad mini is limited to 2,9 GHz. This difference could justify this decrease in processor power.
However, Apple knows the limitations of the A15 Bionic and also knows the use that is given to both the iPhone and the iPad mini. Therefore, we understand that this change comes from Cupertino and although we will never know why underclocking, What is clear is that users will not notice this decrease in performance.