iPad 2 Owes Speed Boost Mainly to iOS 4.3

The first speed test carried out on the iPad 2 showed that the new software update - iOS 4.3 - rather than the hardware can be credited with helping boost performance the most. the iPad 2 by running the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark on the tablet and found it to be significantly faster than the its predecessor by up to four times. However, further tests showed that much of the performance boost was due to the iOS 4.3 platform; indeed, swapping iOS 4.2 for the latest one improved performance on the original iPad by around 150 per cent. This means that the hardware itself only contributed to boosting performance by 50 per cent or so.



It therefore means that, if you don't mind carrying a slightly bulkier iPad, don't care much about gaming or the new Smartcover or the onboard cameras, then you might do yourself a favour and buy the current iPad and just upgrade it to iOS 4.3 in a few days; you will have saved yourself around £100 in the process. iOS 4.3 also spells bad news for the rest of the competition like the Galaxy Tab or the Google Nexus S; the forthcoming upgrade which brings a new Javascript Engine called Nitro, will give a new lease of life to both the iPhone 4 and the 3GS.