Apple A14 Bionic vs HiSilicon Kirin 960

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Apple A14 Bionic or Apple A14 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 A14 Bionic features 6 processor cores and has the capability to manage 6 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2020 and belongs to the 14 generation of the Apple A series series.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2016 and belongs to the 5 generation of the HiSilicon Kirin series.
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A14 Bionic Name HiSilicon Kirin 960
Apple A series Family HiSilicon Kirin
14 Generation 5
Apple A14 Group HiSilicon Kirin 960
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A14 Bionic has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.0 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 HiSilicon Kirin 960 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.4 GHz.
1.82 GHz B-Core Frequency 1.8 GHz
3.0 GHz A-Core Frequency 2.4 GHz
4x Icestorm Cores B 4x Cortex-A53
2x Firestorm Cores A 4x Cortex-A73
No Overclocking No
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
6 Threads 8
No Hyperthreading No
6 CPU Cores 8
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Apple A14 Bionic has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple A14 Bionic uses the Apple A14, which has 512 texture shaders
and 64 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the HiSilicon Kirin 960 uses the ARM Mali-G71 MP8, which has 256 texture shaders
and 8 execution units.
1.0 GHz GPU frequency 0.9 GHz
Q3/2020 Release date Q2/2016
-- Direct X 11
Apple A14 GPU name ARM Mali-G71 MP8
5 nm Technology 16 nm
-- Max. displays --
512 Shaders 256
8.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 2.0 GB
64 Execution units 8
11 Generation Bifrost 1
-- GPU (Turbo) --
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

16 Neural cores @ 11 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 AVC Decode / Encode
Decode VC-1 No
Decode / Encode VP9 No
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode JPEG Decode / Encode
No AV1 No
 
 

Memory & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 6.0 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.
1 Memory channels 2
6.0 GB Max. Memory 6.0 GB
pci PCIe pci
No AES-NI No
No ECC No
34.1 GB/s Bandwidth --
LPDDR4X-4266 Memory type LPDDR4-1600
 
 

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 7 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.
The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 5 W watts.
-- Tjunction max --
7 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 5 W
 
 

Technical details

The Apple A14 Bionic is manufactured using a 5 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 16.0 MB cache.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The HiSilicon Kirin 960 is manufactured using a 16 nm process.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 4.0 MB cache.
Q3/2020 Release date Q4/2016
-- Part Number --
12.0 MB L2-Cache 0 bytes
None Virtualization None
ISA extensions
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
A14 (Firestorm/Icestorm) Architecture Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53
5 nm Technology 16 nm
Socket
iOS Operating systems Android
-- Release price --
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
16.0 MB L3-Cache 4.0 MB
 
 

Apple A14 Bionic and HiSilicon Kirin 960 in leaderboards