Apple A16 Bionic vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A16 Bionic CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Apple A16 Bionic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple A16 Bionic and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Apple A16 Bionic 6 core processor released in Q3/2022 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2022.
Apple A series (22) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
Apple A16 (1) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (2)
16 Generation 2
A16 Architecture Cortex-X3 / -A715 / -A510
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Predecessor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Apple A17 Pro Successor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A16 Bionic is a 6 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.46 GHz. The processor can compute 6 threads at the same time. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 clocks with 3.36 GHz, has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
6 Cores 8
6 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.46 GHz
2x Everest
A-Core 3.36 GHz
1x Cortex-X3
2.02 GHz
4x Sawtooth
B-Core 2.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A715/A710
-- C-Core 2.00 GHz
3x Cortex-A510

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.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
16 Neural cores @ 17 TOPS AI specifications Hexagon 780 @ 26 TOPS

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

Apple A16 (5 GPU Cores) GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
1.34 GHz GPU frequency 0.68 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
13 GPU Generation 8
4 nm Technology 4 nm
3 Max. displays 2
20 Compute units --
640 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
6 GB Max. GPU Memory 6 GB
-- DirectX Version 12.1

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.

Apple A16 (5 GPU Cores) GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 6 GB of memory in a maximum of 1 memory channels is supported by the Apple A16 Bionic, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 supports a maximum of 24 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 67.0 GB/s enabled.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
LPDDR5-6400 Memory LPDDR5X-8400
6 GB Max. Memory 24 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
51.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 67.0 GB/s
No ECC No
20.00 MB L2 Cache --
24.00 MB L3 Cache 8.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Apple A16 Bionic has a TDP of 7.25 W. The TDP of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is --. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
7.25 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A16 Bionic has 44.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 4 nm. The cache of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is at 8.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 4 nm.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
4 nm Technology 4 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8.6-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv9-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
iOS Operating systems Android, Windows 10/11 (ARM)
Q3/2022 Release date Q4/2022
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple A16 Bionic to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (14 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.3 stars (26 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks

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.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
1890 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
1502 (79%)

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.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
5465 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
5089 (93%)

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.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
2531 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
1985 (78%)

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.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
6299 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
5315 (84%)

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.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
Apple A16 (5 GPU Cores) @ 1.34 GHz
1789 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Qualcomm Adreno 740 @ 0.68 GHz
1740 (97%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
947502 (74%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
1281650 (100%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

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. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
17 (65%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
26 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A16 Bionic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Unknown

News and articles for the Apple A16 Bionic and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2


Comparison of the two processors

The Apple A16 Bionic is used in the Apple iPhone 14 Pro and Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. The processor relies on two large P-cores (codename Everest) and four efficient E-cores (codename Sawtooth). This combination of large and small CPU cores is common in smartphones and saves energy.

The clock frequency of the P-cores of the Apple A16 Bionic is up to 3.46 GHz, the four E-cores clock significantly slower at up to 2.02 GHz, but as written are also much more energy efficient.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also relies on such a core structure, but it consists of 8 CPU cores. In addition to the P and E cores, there is also a Prime core with even more performance. Specifically, it is the Cortex-X3 with 3.36 GHz. This is complemented by four P-cores (Cortex-A715) with up to 2.8 GHz and another three Cortex-A510 CPU cores with up to 2.0 GHz.

Both processors have their own AI computing units. The Apple A16 Bionic has 17 TOPS, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with its Hexagon 780 NPU even has 26 TOPS. Special applications tailored to the AI computing units can be significantly accelerated.

The iGPU of the Apple A16 Bionics has 640 shaders and 5 GPU cores. Actually all smartphone games can be played smoothly. This also applies to the Qualcomm Adreno 740 GPU, which is installed in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

The Apple A16 Bionic can be combined with up to 6 GB of LPDDR5-6400 memory and achieves a maximum memory bandwidth of a very good 51.2 GB/s. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 supports significantly more memory with up to 24 GB, and supports up to LPDDR5X-8400 memory which has a maximum memory bandwidth of 67 GB/s.

Both processors are manufactured using a modern 4 nm manufacturing process at TSMC and are therefore energy efficient.

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