Apple A4 vs Intel Core i5-4278U

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A4 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i5-4278U
Apple A4 Intel Core i5-4278U

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple A4 and the Intel Core i5-4278U and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Apple A4 1 core processor released in Q2/2010 with the Intel Core i5-4278U which has 2 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2014.
Apple A series (22) Family Intel Core i5 (331)
Apple A4 (1) CPU group Intel Core i 4000U (26)
4 Generation 4
A4 Architecture Haswell U
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A4 is a 1 core processor with a clock frequency of 0.80 GHz (1.00 GHz). The processor can compute 1 threads at the same time. The Intel Core i5-4278U clocks with 2.60 GHz (3.10 GHz), has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 4 threads in parallel.

Apple A4 Characteristic Intel Core i5-4278U
1 Cores 2
1 Threads 4
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
0.80 GHz Frequency 2.60 GHz
1.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 3.10 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.

Apple A4 Characteristic Intel Core i5-4278U
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

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.

PowerVR SGX535 GPU Intel Iris Graphics 5100
GPU frequency 0.20 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.10 GHz
-- GPU Generation 7.5
65nm Technology 22 nm
1 Max. displays 3
2 Compute units 40
2 Shader 320
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 16 GB
10.1 DirectX Version 11.1

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.

PowerVR SGX535 GPU Intel Iris Graphics 5100
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

Up to GB of memory in a maximum of 1 memory channels is supported by the Apple A4, while the Intel Core i5-4278U supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s enabled.

Apple A4 Characteristic Intel Core i5-4278U
LPDDR2-800 Memory DDR3-1600
Max. Memory 16 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
-- Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
0.51 MB L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache 3.00 MB
-- PCIe version 2.0
-- PCIe lanes 12
-- PCIe Bandwidth 6.0 GB/s

Thermal Management

The Apple A4 has a TDP of --. The TDP of the Intel Core i5-4278U is 28 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Apple A4 Characteristic Intel Core i5-4278U
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) 28 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Apple A4 has 0.51 MB cache and is manufactured in 45 nm. The cache of Intel Core i5-4278U is at 3.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 22 nm.

Apple A4 Characteristic Intel Core i5-4278U
45 nm Technology 22 nm
Chiplet Chip design Monolithic
Armv7-A (32 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
-- Socket BGA 1168
None Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
No AES-NI Yes
iOS Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q2/2010 Release date Q3/2014
-- Release price --
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Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
647 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 0.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1688 (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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
684 (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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 0.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1478 (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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
889 (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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 0.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
1869 (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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
PowerVR SGX535 @ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
Intel Iris Graphics 5100 @ 1.10 GHz
704 (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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 0.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
2839 (100%)

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.
Apple A4 Apple A4
1C 1T @ 0.80 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i5-4278U Intel Core i5-4278U
2C 4T @ 2.60 GHz
272 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A4 Intel Core i5-4278U
Apple iPhone 4 Unknown

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