Apple launched its new M4 processor and new iPad Pro last week, with the powerful new Arm-based M4 processor destroying the Geekebench 6 world record when the M4-powered iPad Pro was cooled with liquid nitrogen (LN2 cooling).
2Apple M4-powered iPad Pro LN2 cooled, hitting 4001 points in Geekbench 6 (source: Geekbench)
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The new M4-powered iPad Pro was tweaked by reviewer Geekerwan and his team, and while the M4’s performance cores already clock at a hefty 4.40GHz, the overclock using LN2 only pushed the performance cores on the M4 chip to 4.41GHz (an additional 10MHz), which was enough to break the 4000 points milestone in Geekbench 6, creating a new world record.
I don’t know if using exotic LN2 cooling to chill down the M4-powered iPad Pro was required enjoy a 10MHz frequency bump, as Apple is probably keeping things tight — in both hardware and software — keeping that 4.40GHz frequency on the performance cores as high as it can. Normally we see LN2 cooling on a CPU or GPU, as they’re thermally limited from operating at higher frequencies… but it seems the M4 is hitting its limits thermally, and Apple probably has stops in place to keep the 4.40GHz (or so, 10MHz is such a tiny increase on 4400MHz).
Still, we should see some impressive things out of the upcoming Apple M4 series chips including the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips that we’ll see in the near future. I wonder how they’ll perform in both stock form, and then with some exotic LN2 cooling thrown into the mix… some new world records in the making, that’s for sure.