Apple Says Its New iPad Is As Powerful As Xbox One S; Microsoft Responds

During an event today Apple announced a new iPad Pro model, and it apparently is incredibly powerful. Vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus maked the claim at one point that it's as graphically powerful as the Xbox One S. The system boasts a new A12X Bionic chip that Apple claims delivers "2X faster graphics." It has an eight-core CPU and seven core GPU.

"To put it another way, the iPad Pro delivers Xbox One S-class graphics performance in a product that's 94 percent smaller. And there's no AC cord required."

Ternus said the new iPad Pro represents the "biggest change" to the family of devices since it was introduced. He said this new model is the one Apple engineers dreamed about making from the beginning.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer responded to Apple's claim, saying he enjoyed Apple's reference during their presentation. He added that the device, with its new, better graphical capabilities, should make for better cross-play matches between Xbox and iPad for games that support it.

The new iPad Pro is priced at $799 (£769, AU$1,229) for the 11-inch model and $999 (£969, AU$1,529) for the 12.9-inch edition. For lots more on the device and its capabilities, as well as all of Apple's announcement today, go to GameSpot sister site CNET.