Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 vs Apple M1

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 – 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 850 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q3/2018 and belongs to the 5 generation of the Qualcomm Snapdragon series.
The Apple M1 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2020 and belongs to the 1 generation of the Apple M series series.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845/850 Group Apple M1
5 Generation 1
Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 Name Apple M1
Mobile Segment Mobile
Qualcomm Snapdragon Family Apple M series
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.95 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 M1 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.2 GHz.
1.8 GHz B-Core Frequency 2.06 GHz
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
4x Kryo 385 Gold Cores A 4x Firestorm
8 CPU Cores 8
No Overclocking No
No Hyperthreading No
2.95 GHz A-Core Frequency 3.2 GHz
4x Kryo 385 Silver Cores B 4x Icestorm
8 Threads 8
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 uses the Qualcomm Adreno 630, which has 256 texture shaders
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Apple M1 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple M1 uses the Apple M1 (8 Core), which has 1024 texture shaders
and 128 execution units.
-- GPU (Turbo) --
10 nm Technology 5 nm
11 Direct X --
8.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 8.0 GB
-- Execution units 128
Q1/2018 Release date Q4/2020
Qualcomm Adreno 630 GPU name Apple M1 (8 Core)
256 Shaders 1024
0.7 GHz GPU frequency 1.3 GHz
4 Generation 1
-- Max. displays --
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

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

Memory & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 16.0 GB distributed across 2 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 68.2 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
LPDDR4X-1866 Memory type LPDDR4X-4266
-- Bandwidth 68.2 GB/s
No AES-NI Yes
No ECC No
pci PCIe pci
8.0 GB Max. Memory 16.0 GB
4 Memory channels 2
 
 

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 15 W watts.
None TDP up 20 W
None TDP down 10 W
None TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- Tjunction max --
 
 

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 is manufactured using a 10 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 M1 is manufactured using a 5 nm process.
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
10 nm Technology 5 nm
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
SDM850 Part Number APL 1102
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Q3/2018 Release date Q4/2020
-- Release price --
0 bytes L2-Cache 16.0 MB
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
0 bytes L3-Cache 0 bytes
Socket
Android Operating systems macOS
Kryo 385 Architecture M1