A new analysis by AnandTech of the A8X’s GPU used in Apple’s new iPad Air 2 has revealed some surprising details regarding the new chip’s design and performance. While AnandTech initially thought that that GPU was based on Imagination’s PowerVR GX6650 – a 6-cluster GPU that currently represents the largest of Imagination’s GPU designs – additional investigation reveals that the GPU design has likely been customized by Apple for even higher performance, resulting in a GPU design that AnandTech has dubbed the GX6850. GFXBench measures the iPad Air 2’s performance at double the fill rate found on the A8-equipped Phone 6 Plus, and notes that Apple tends to have a preference for larger bus widths and lower clock speeds for the sake of energy efficiency, suggesting that Apple chose to build a custom eight-cluster design with this in mind. An unreleased die shot of the A8X confirmed to Anandtech that the new GPU design is essentially just two of the A8’s four-cluster GX6450s stacked together. Interestingly, the analysis notes that the iPad Air 2 is “overweight” in terms of GPU performance compared to the iPhone 6 Plus, providing roughly 30 percent better performance per pixel.
AnandTech analysis reveals iPad Air 2 A8X GPU design likely customized by Apple
Jesse Hollington
Jesse Hollington was a Senior Editor at iLounge. He's written about Apple technology for nearly a decade and had been covering the industry since the early days of iLounge. In his role at iLounge, he provided daily news coverage, wrote and edited features and reviews, and was responsible for the overall quality of the site's content.