The iPad Air with M4 isn't going to have identical performance to the iPad Pro, and Geekbench scores have confirmed how that shows up in the spec sheet.
Once Apple finally announces a product to the public, it tends to start making its way out to testers. Then, the tester performs an inevitable Geekbench benchmark, and the results are public.
The iPad 16,11 in Geekbench is undoubtedly one for the iPad Air with M4. It was first discovered by MacRumors and the results aren't surprising.
The single-core score is 3,714, while the multi-core score is 12,296. Compare that to the results for the 11-inch iPad Pro with M4 — single core 3,691 and multi-core 13,663.
There's not much difference, but what is there is exemplary of the difference in available cores. The single-core score being virtually identical isn't a surprise, as it likely tapped into the same M4 core.
Multi-core is only slightly better in the iPad Pro thanks to the higher core count. The M4 in the iPad Air has an 8-core CPU versus the 10-core CPU in the iPad Pro.
Geekbench is a good comparison tool, but not one for exact metrics. The tools provide slightly differing results based on environment, battery health, and other factors, so don't take them too seriously.
Those buying the iPad Air won't miss the additional CPU cores. And even as Apple improves pro app support on the iPad, the apps that utilize the power of M-series processors are few and far between.
The iPad Air with M4 goes up for pre-order on March 4 and ships on March 11. It starts at $599 with 128GB of storage in an 11-inch size.
