HiSilicon Kirin 659 vs Apple A10 Fusion

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

HiSilicon Kirin 659 or HiSilicon Kirin 659 – 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 HiSilicon Kirin 659 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q2/2016 and belongs to the 4 generation of the HiSilicon Kirin series.
The Apple A10 Fusion features 4 processor cores and has the capability to manage 4 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2016 and belongs to the 10 generation of the Apple A series series.
HiSilicon Kirin 650 Group Apple A10/A10X
4 Generation 10
Mobile Segment Mobile
HiSilicon Kirin 659 Name Apple A10 Fusion
HiSilicon Kirin Family Apple A series
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The HiSilicon Kirin 659 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.36 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 Apple A10 Fusion has 4 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.34 GHz.
8 Threads 4
1.7 GHz B-Core Frequency 1.09 GHz
8 CPU Cores 4
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
4x Cortex-A53 Cores A 2x Hurricane
No Hyperthreading No
2.36 GHz A-Core Frequency 2.34 GHz
No Overclocking No
4x Cortex-A53 Cores B 2x Zephyr
 
 

Internal Graphics

The HiSilicon Kirin 659 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the HiSilicon Kirin 659 uses the ARM Mali-T830 MP2, which has 32 texture shaders
and 2 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Apple A10 Fusion has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple A10 Fusion uses the Apple A10, which has 192 texture shaders
and 24 execution units.
32 Shaders 192
Q4/2015 Release date Q3/2016
28 nm Technology 16 nm
11 Direct X --
0 bytes Max. GPU Memory 4.0 GB
-- Max. displays --
2 Execution units 24
0.9 GHz GPU frequency 0.9 GHz
Midgard 4 Generation 7
-- GPU (Turbo) --
ARM Mali-T830 MP2 GPU name Apple A10
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

-- AI specifications --
-- 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
No VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode JPEG Decode / Encode
No AV1 No
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode
No AVC Decode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
No VP9 Decode
Decode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
 
 

Memory & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 3.0 GB distributed across 1 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 25.6 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
LPDDR3-933 Memory type LPDDR4-3200
No ECC No
0 bytes Max. Memory 3.0 GB
2 Memory channels 1
-- Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
 
 

Thermal Management

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.
None TDP (PL1 / PBP) 5 W
-- Tjunction max --
 
 

Technical details

The HiSilicon Kirin 659 is manufactured using a 16 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 Apple A10 Fusion is manufactured using a 10 nm process.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 4.0 MB cache.
Q2/2016 Release date Q3/2016
None Virtualization None
ISA extensions
16 nm Technology 10 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
-- Release price --
Cortex-A53 / Cortex-A53 Architecture A10
0 bytes L3-Cache 4.0 MB
Android Operating systems iOS
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
-- Part Number --
Socket
0 bytes L2-Cache 3.0 MB