Retina iPad mini benchmarks reveal 1.3GHz CPU; 5 times faster than last-gen mini

Apple’s new Retina iPad mini, which went on sale last night, comes with the same 64-bit A7 chip that is seen in the iPad Air and the iPhone 5s. The company, at its event last month, had said that the performance of the new tablet would be significantly greater than its predecessor. That claim has now been validated by a new report from MacRumors.

While comparing the benchmark tests from GeekBench, it was found that the revamped iPad mini scored 1390 on the single-core test and 2512 on the multi-core test, similar to what was reportedly seen on the 5s, which scored 1399 on the single-core test and 2523 on the multi-core one. The original iPad mini, however, scored 261 on the single-core test and 493 on the multi-core test. When compared to its predecessor, the Retina iPad mini shows off incredibly improved performance speeds.

The source, however, notes that the benchmark scores of the new iPad mini are lower than the top-end iPad Air. The latter scored 1466 on the single-core test and 2856 on the multi-core test. This can be attributed to the fact that the top-end tablet is clocked at 1.4GHz, while the Retina-bearing mini is running at 1.3GHz, much like the iPhone 5s.

While it is still unclear why the mini is clocked lower, users are unlikely to notice the small speed differences. The source speculates that Apple could have chosen the lower clock speed in the mini to improve overall battery life or to reduce heat within the smaller chassis.