Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 – 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 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.
The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) features 6 processor cores and has the capability to manage 6 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2021 and belongs to the 15 generation of the Apple A series series.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Group Apple A15
2 Generation 15
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Name Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Mobile Segment Mobile
Qualcomm Snapdragon Family Apple A series
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

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.
The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.
The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.23 GHz.
Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
2.8 GHz B-Core Frequency 2.02 GHz
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
1x Cortex-X3 Cores A 2x Avalanche
8 CPU Cores 6
3x Cortex-A510 Cores C None
No Overclocking No
2.0 GHz C-Core Frequency None
No Hyperthreading No
3.2 GHz A-Core Frequency 3.23 GHz
4x Cortex-A715/A710 Cores B 4x Blizzard
8 Threads 6
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) uses the Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores), which has 1280 texture shaders
and 160 execution units.
-- GPU (Turbo) --
4 nm Technology 5 nm
12.1 Direct X --
12.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 8.0 GB
-- Execution units 160
Q4/2022 Release date Q3/2021
Qualcomm Adreno 740 GPU name Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores)
-- Shaders 1280
0.68 GHz GPU frequency 0.6 GHz
8 Generation 12
-- Max. displays --
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
 
 

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 34.1 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
LPDDR5X-4200 Memory type LPDDR4X-4266
-- Bandwidth 34.1 GB/s
No AES-NI No
No ECC No
pci PCIe pci
16.0 GB Max. Memory 6.0 GB
4 Memory channels 1
 
 

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 8.5 W watts.
None TDP (PL1 / PBP) 8.5 W
-- Tjunction max --
 
 

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is manufactured using a 4 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 A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is manufactured using a 5 nm process.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 32.0 MB cache.
None Virtualization None
4 nm Technology 5 nm
ARMv9-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions
SM8550-AB Part Number --
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Q4/2022 Release date Q3/2021
-- Release price --
0 bytes L2-Cache 16.0 MB
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
0 bytes L3-Cache 32.0 MB
Socket
Android, Windows 10/11 (ARM) Operating systems iOS
Cortex-X3 / -A715 / -A510 Architecture A15