Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
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Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

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The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, introduced in early 2021, is a leading processor for high-end Android smartphones.

It is manufactured using the 5 nm fabrication process and utilizes the Kryo 680 architecture, typically in an octa-core configuration. This chip features 1 MB of Level 2 cache and 8 MB of Level 3 cache, with a maximum memory bandwidth of 51 GB/s. The integrated Qualcomm Adreno 660 GPU delivers very good graphics performance and enables broad compatibility within the Android ecosystem.

The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU), introduced in late 2021, is Apple's proprietary 5 nm chip for its premium mobile devices.

It is based on the A15 architecture and is a 6-core processor with two high-performance and four efficiency cores. Its 16 MB Level 2 cache and 32 MB Level 3 cache are significantly larger, and the maximum memory bandwidth is 34 GB/s. The integrated Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores) offers superior graphics performance.

In benchmarks, the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) shows significantly higher single-core and multi-core performance, exceeding that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 by over 10 percent, making it more efficient for computationally intensive tasks. Even in gaming scenarios, the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) offers better performance and smoother frame rates thanks to its stronger GPU and larger cache.

Regarding energy efficiency, the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is also leading, resulting in longer battery life, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 can generate more heat under sustained load. Both chips are an integral part of premium mobile devices in their respective ecosystems.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

  • Broad compatibility within the Android ecosystem.
  • Very good performance for mobile applications.
  • High memory bandwidth of 51 GB/s.

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)

  • Superior CPU and graphics performance.
  • Excellent energy efficiency.
  • Very large L2 and L3 cache.

Performance Overview
Average performance across multiple benchmarks

Single-core performance
Rank 1 - 100 %
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Rank 2 - 56 %
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Multi-core performance
Rank 1 - 100 %
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Rank 2 - 62 %
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Geekbench 6 Single-Core

Geekbench 6 Single-Core
Single-core performance

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
2,370
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz
1,174
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core

Geekbench 6 Multi-Core
Multi-core performance

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
5,726
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz
3,151
Geekbench 5, 64bit Single-Core

Geekbench 5, 64bit Single-Core
Single-core performance

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
1,745
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz
1,088
Geekbench 5, 64bit Multi-Core

Geekbench 5, 64bit Multi-Core
Multi-core performance

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
4,777
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz
3,250
iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores)
1,713
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Qualcomm Adreno 660
1,720
AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark
Multi-core performance

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
825,116 pts
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz
816,812 pts
AI performance (NPU)

AI performance (NPU)

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
15.8 TOPS
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz
26.0 TOPS

More benchmarks

At a glance

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
FamilyApple A series (27)Qualcomm Snapdragon (105)
CPU groupApple A15 (2)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 (2)
ArchitectureA15Kryo 680
Technology5 nm5 nm
SegmentSmartphone / TabletSmartphone / Tablet
Socket
PredecessorApple A14 Bionic
SuccessorApple A16 BionicQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
CPU Cores / Threads6 / 68 / 8
Hyperthreading / SMT
Core architecturehybrid (big.LITTLE)hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
Core Cluster 1: 2x Avalanche
3.23 GHz
1x Kryo 680 Prime
2.84 GHz
Core Cluster 2: 4x Blizzard
2.02 GHz
3x Kryo 680 Gold
2.42 GHz
Core Cluster 3: 4x Kryo 680 Silver
1.80 GHz
L2-Cache16.00 MB1.00 MB
L3-Cache32.00 MB8.00 MB
Overclocking

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
GPU nameApple A15 (5 GPU Cores)Qualcomm Adreno 660
GPU frequency1.34 GHz0.84 GHz
CUs / Shader20 / 640 /
Raytracing
Max. displays30
Max. GPU Memory6 GB
Technology5 nm5 nm
Release dateQ3/2021Q1/2021

NPU AI performance

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
AI hardwareApple Neural EngineQualcomm AI engine
AI specifications16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPSHexagon 780 @ 26 TOPS
NPU + CPU + iGPU

Memory & PCIe

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
MemoryLPDDR4X-4266 (34.1 GB/s)
LPDDR5-6400 (51.2 GB/s)
Max. Memory6 GB16 GB
Memory channels14
ECCNoNo
PCIe
PCIe Bandwidth

Thermal Management

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
TDP10 W
TDP (PL2)
TDP up
TDP down
T. junction max.

Technical details

Wischen
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Chip designChipletChiplet
AES-NI
Operating systemsiOSAndroid
Instruction setArmv8-A (64 bit)Armv8-A (64 bit)
ISA extensions
Release dateQ3/2021Q1/2021
Release price
DocumentsTechnical data sheet

Your rating

Here you can rate one or both of the processors. The average rating of Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is 4.2 stars (197 ratings), while Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 has received 3.8 stars (163 ratings).

Click on the stars to rate one or both processors.

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C / 6T · 3.23 GHz
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C / 8T · 2.84 GHz

Most popular CPUs in both categories

Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
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