Apple A16 Bionic vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Apple A16 Bionic or Apple A16 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 A16 Bionic features 6 processor cores and has the capability to manage 6 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2022 and belongs to the 16 generation of the Apple A series series.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2022 and belongs to the 2 generation of the Qualcomm Snapdragon series.
Apple A16 Group Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
16 Generation 2
Apple A16 Bionic Name Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A series Family Qualcomm Snapdragon
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A16 Bionic has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.46 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 8 Gen 2 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.2 GHz.
2.02 GHz B-Core Frequency 2.8 GHz
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
2x Everest Cores A 1x Cortex-X3
6 CPU Cores 8
No Overclocking No
None None 3x Cortex-A510
None None 2.0 GHz
No Hyperthreading No
3.46 GHz A-Core Frequency 3.2 GHz
4x Sawtooth Cores B 4x Cortex-A715/A710
6 Threads 8
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Apple A16 Bionic has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple A16 Bionic uses the Apple A16 (5 GPU Cores), which has 1280 texture shaders
and 160 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
-- GPU (Turbo) --
4 nm Technology 4 nm
-- Direct X 12.1
8.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 12.0 GB
160 Execution units --
Q3/2022 Release date Q4/2022
Apple A16 (5 GPU Cores) GPU name Qualcomm Adreno 740
1280 Shaders --
0.7 GHz GPU frequency 0.68 GHz
13 Generation 8
-- Max. displays --
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

16 Neural cores @ 17 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 h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode / Encode
Decode VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode JPEG Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode AVC Decode
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 51.2 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
LPDDR5-6400 Memory type LPDDR5X-4200
51.2 GB/s Bandwidth --
No AES-NI No
No ECC No
pci PCIe pci
6.0 GB Max. Memory 16.0 GB
1 Memory channels 4
 
 

Thermal Management

The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 8.5 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.
8.5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) None
-- Tjunction max --
 
 

Technical details

The Apple A16 Bionic is manufactured using a 4 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 24.0 MB cache.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is manufactured using a 4 nm process.
None Virtualization None
4 nm Technology 4 nm
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv9-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions
-- Part Number SM8550-AB
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Q3/2022 Release date Q4/2022
-- Release price --
20.0 MB L2-Cache 0 bytes
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
24.0 MB L3-Cache 0 bytes
Socket
iOS Operating systems Android, Windows 10/11 (ARM)
A16 Architecture Cortex-X3 / -A715 / -A510