See How Much Faster an iPad Pro M3 Would Be: A Benchmark Comparison

It has been about a year since Apple introduced the last iPad Pro and it’s about time for an upgrade. In the last couple of months, we’ve heard several rumors saying that their newest tablet will feature the Apple M3 chipset and an OLED screen.

Well, we’ve seen the M3 inside their latest Mac already which gives us an idea of how an iPad Pro with the M3 chipset might perform. So, let’s imagine that hypothetical M3 iPad Pro and compare a couple of benchmarks with its competitors.

15% Faster Than iPad Pro M2

We still don’t have benchmark data of an M3 chip in an iPad Pro, but we do have benchmark data of an M3 in a Mac from Geekbench. We’ll compare those to Geekbench 6 results from an iPad M2 measured in-house. Although the M3 is on a Mac, the results should be similar.

The M3 chip has a single-core score of 3191 and a multi-core score of 12018, while the Metal score is 46825. As for the iPad Pro M2, we received a single-core score of 2616 and a multi-core score of 10012. The Metal GPU benchmark score was 46276. 

The Geekbench 6 test results show an approximately 20% increase in single- and multi-core scores. The Metal scores show an increase of 11%. We obtained these scores by dividing the M3 results by the M2 chip scores. 

This information closely matches Apple’s claim that the M3 family of chips is 15% faster than the M2 family. Apple also compared the M3 to the M1, claiming a 30% speed increase from the latter. 

Benchmark Comparison with Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 & Google Pixel Tablet

You may wonder how the M3 chip compares to some Android tablets, and we selected the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 and Google Pixel Tablet as our candidates. Like the iPad Pro, we’ll use our Geekbench 6 data for both tablets. 

The Samsung tablet scored 2096 in the single-core test, while the double-core score was 5629. Therefore, the M3 chip has a 50% increase in single-core performance while achieving more than double the speed in multi-core performance. 

The Google Pixel Tablet’s single-core score was 1403, with a multi-core score of 3571. The Apple M3 chip is around 220% faster in single-core tests. As for the multi-core results, they showed a difference of 336%. Therefore, you can expect faster app load times instead of having to suffer through longer loading screens.

As we didn’t perform Metal benchmark tests on our Android tablets, we’ll only use these metrics in our comparison. Metal is only for iOS devices, which makes it impossible to compare the M3 iPad Pro to the Android tablets this way.

What We Know About The iPad Pro M3 So Far

Besides potentially running on the M3 chip, there are several other rumors about the iPad Pro set to release in 2024. Another prominent rumor is that it will have an OLED screen, likely increasing prices. The screen will be the same type as those on iPhone models released since 2017. Therefore, the display will have better colors and increased brightness, perfect for streaming shows and YouTube while also enhancing your gaming experience. 

We know of four codenames: J717, J718, J720 and J721. We aren’t sure what these codenames mean yet, but they may stand for different screen sizes and storage capacities. The rumors continue to list two sizes, one model measuring 11 inches and another measuring 13 inches. We’ll also see an upgraded Magic Keyboard to allow it to be set up more like a laptop. 

There isn’t a concrete date for when Apple will announce or release the M3 iPad Pro yet, but we can expect a 2024 announcement date as there aren’t any Apple events left in 2023. 

Conclusion

Theoretically, an M3 iPad Pro would be at least 20% faster than an M2 iPad Pro, matching Apple’s claim of a 15% CPU speed increase over the M2 chip family. Based on the rumors, we’ll get an iPad Pro worthy of the Apple name next year. We’re excited to test the tablet when it releases, and we hope you’re also looking forward to our review. 

Sources

• MacRumors – Apple Expected to Update Entire iPad Lineup Next Year
• Bloomberg – Apple Bets on Revamped iPad Pro to Reignite Sluggish Tablet Sales
• TechRadar – Apple M3 vs Apple M2
• Geekbench – M3 Chip CPU Benchmark
• Geekbench – M3 Chip GPU Benchmark