iPad Tech Specs: Cortex A8, 256MB Ram, PowerVR SGX 535 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPad Tech Specs: Cortex A8, 256MB Ram, PowerVR SGX 535

154319 powervr2 200

With the iPad now in the hands on developers and consumers. we finally get a peek into the internal hardware and performance of the device.

Early benchmarks from the device show that the iPad is about twice as fast as the iPhone 3GS when running native applications. The speed up appears to be entirely focused within Apple's A4 processor, as it appears the iPad shares the same PowerVR SGX 535 GPU and same 256MB RAM found in the iPhone 3GS. Early hardware teardown reports had claimed 512MB of RAM but these have later been corrected. 256MB of RAM also corresponds to the available RAM the system reports to apps.

According to IO Registry Tree dumps, it's also apparent that the Apple's A4 processor is based on a single core Cortex A8 design rather than the new Cortex A9. In fact, running at 1GHz, the A4 sounds similar to the Samsung Hummingbird ARM processor. Readers may remember that Intrinsity is the company behind that processor. Intrinsity is believed to have been recently acquired by Apple.

Popular Stories

Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...
General Apps Reddit Feature

Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

Monday May 11, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
Social network Reddit recently began blocking mobile visitors to its website while pushing them to download the official Reddit app, and it's fair to say that the move is not going down well with users. If you visit reddit.com on your iPhone today, you may see a new popup that can't be dismissed, asking you to "get the app to keep using Reddit." A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica...