AMD A9-9420 vs Apple A9X

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD A9-9420 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A9X
AMD A9-9420 Apple A9X

CPU comparison

AMD A9-9420 or Apple A9X - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The AMD A9-9420 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.60 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The AMD A9-9420 was released in Q2/2017.

The Apple A9X has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.26 GHz. The CPU supports up to 4 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple A9X was released in Q3/2015.
AMD A (112) Family Apple A series (22)
AMD A9-9000 (4) CPU group Apple A9/A9X (2)
4 Generation 9
Stoney Ridge (Excavator) Architecture A9
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A8X
-- Successor Apple A10X Fusion

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD A9-9420 has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the AMD A9-9420 is 3.00 GHz (3.60 GHz) while the Apple A9X has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A9X is at 2.26 GHz.

AMD A9-9420 Characteristic Apple A9X
2 Cores 2
2 Threads 2
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.00 GHz Frequency 2.26 GHz
3.60 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) --
3.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) --

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

AMD A9-9420 Characteristic Apple A9X
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The AMD A9-9420 or Apple A9X 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.

AMD Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge) GPU Apple A9X
0.85 GHz GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
7 GPU Generation 6
28 nm Technology 16 nm
3 Max. displays 1
3 Compute units 48
192 Shader 384
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
12 DirectX Version --

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.

AMD Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge) GPU Apple A9X
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The AMD A9-9420 can use up to 8 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 17.1 GB/s. The Apple A9X supports up to 4 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 51.2 GB/s.

AMD A9-9420 Characteristic Apple A9X
DDR4-2133 Memory LPDDR4-3200
8 GB Max. Memory 4 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
17.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 3.00 MB
2.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version --
8 PCIe lanes --
7.9 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the AMD A9-9420 is 15 W, while the Apple A9X has a TDP of 8 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

AMD A9-9420 Characteristic Apple A9X
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 8 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
25 W TDP up --
10 W TDP down --
90 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The AMD A9-9420 is manufactured in 28 nm and has 2.00 MB cache. The Apple A9X is manufactured in 16 nm and has a 7.00 MB cache.

AMD A9-9420 Characteristic Apple A9X
28 nm Technology 16 nm
Unknown Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, FMA3, FMA4 ISA extensions --
FP4 Socket --
AMD-V Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Operating systems iOS
Q2/2017 Release date Q3/2015
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
AMD A9-9420 (76%)
Apple A9X (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD A9-9420 (81%)
Apple A9X (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.60 GHz
497 (76%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
652 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.00 GHz
805 (67%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1198 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
AMD Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge) @ 0.85 GHz
325 (65%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
Apple A9X @ 0.65 GHz
499 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.00 GHz
2348 (94%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
2501 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.60 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
763 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1251 (100%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
272103 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.00 GHz
328 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.60 GHz
81 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD A9-9420 AMD A9-9420
2C 2T @ 3.00 GHz
134 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

AMD A9-9420 Apple A9X
Unknown Apple iPad Pro (1. Gen)

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