Apple A12 Bionic vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Apple A12 Bionic or Apple A12 Bionic – which processor offers superior performance? In this comparison, we examine disparities and assess which of these two CPUs outperforms the other. We delve into technical specifications and benchmark outcomes.
The Apple A12 Bionic features 6 processor cores and has the capability to manage 6 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2018 and belongs to the 12 generation of the Apple A series series.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2018 and belongs to the 6 generation of the Qualcomm Snapdragon series.
Apple A12/A12X/A12Z Group Qualcomm Snapdragon 855/860
12 Generation 6
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A12 Bionic Name Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Apple A series Family Qualcomm Snapdragon
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A12 Bionic has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.49 GHz.
The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.
Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.84 GHz.
None None 4x Kryo 485 Silver
6 Threads 8
1.59 GHz B-Core Frequency 2.42 GHz
6 CPU Cores 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
2x Vortex Cores A 1x Kryo 485 Prime
No Hyperthreading No
2.49 GHz A-Core Frequency 2.84 GHz
No Overclocking No
4x Tempest Cores B 3x Kryo 485 Gold
None None 1.8 GHz
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Apple A12 Bionic has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple A12 Bionic uses the Apple A12, which has 256 texture shaders
and 32 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 uses the Qualcomm Adreno 640, which has 384 texture shaders
and 4 execution units.
256 Shaders 384
Q3/2018 Release date Q1/2019
7 nm Technology 7 nm
-- Direct X 12.0
4.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 4.0 GB
-- Max. displays --
32 Execution units 4
1.13 GHz GPU frequency 0.25 GHz
9 Generation 5
-- GPU (Turbo) 0.59 GHz
Apple A12 GPU name Qualcomm Adreno 640
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

8 Neural cores @ 5 TOPS AI specifications --
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
 
 

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode VC-1 No
Decode / Encode JPEG No
No AV1 No
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode AVC No
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
 
 

Memory & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 4.0 GB distributed across 1 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 34.1 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 16.0 GB distributed across 4 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 55.3 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
pci PCIe pci
No AES-NI No
LPDDR4X-4266 Memory type LPDDR4X-4266
No ECC No
4.0 GB Max. Memory 16.0 GB
1 Memory channels 4
34.1 GB/s Bandwidth 55.3 GB/s
 
 

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 6 W watts.
TDP indicates the cooling solution needed to effectively manage the processor's heat. It generally provides an approximate indication of the actual power consumption of the CPU itself.
6 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) None
-- Tjunction max --
 
 

Technical details

The Apple A12 Bionic is manufactured using a 7 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is manufactured using a 7 nm process.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 2.0 MB cache.
Q3/2018 Release date Q4/2018
None Virtualization None
ISA extensions
7 nm Technology 7 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
-- Release price --
A12 Architecture Kryo 485
0 bytes L3-Cache 2.0 MB
iOS Operating systems Android
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
-- Part Number SM8150
Socket
8.0 MB L2-Cache 1.8 MB