Apple A5 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A5 CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Apple A5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

CPU comparison

Apple A5 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 - 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 Apple A5 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.00 GHz. Up to 1 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple A5 was released in Q1/2011.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.00 GHz. The CPU supports up to 16 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was released in Q1/2022.
Apple A series (22) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
Apple A5/A5X (2) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 7/8 Gen 1 (3)
5 Generation 1
A5 Architecture Cortex-X2 / -A710 / -A510
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Apple A6 Successor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A5 is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 3.00 GHz.

Apple A5 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
2 Cores 8
2 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz
2x Cortex-A9
A-Core 3.00 GHz
1x Kryo Prime
-- B-Core 2.50 GHz
3x Kryo Gold
-- C-Core 1.80 GHz
4x Kryo Silver

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 A5 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
-- AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
-- AI specifications Hexagon 780 @ 26 TOPS

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) GPU Qualcomm Adreno 730
0.20 GHz GPU frequency 0.82 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation 7
32 nm Technology 4 nm
1 Max. displays 0
4 Compute units --
32 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 8 GB
10 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.

PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) GPU Qualcomm Adreno 730
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A5 supports a maximum of 1 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can connect up to 16 GB of memory in 4 memory channels.

Apple A5 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
LPDDR2-800 Memory LPDDR5-6400
1 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
6.4 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC No
1.00 MB L2 Cache 2.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 6.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Apple A5 has a TDP of --, that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is --.

Apple A5 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A5 has a 1.00 MB cache, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 cache has a total of 8.00 MB.

Apple A5 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
32 nm Technology 4 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv7-A (32 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv9-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
iOS Operating systems Android, Windows 10 (ARM)
Q1/2011 Release date Q1/2022
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple A5 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.9 stars (16 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Apple A5 (40%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Apple A5 (8%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
496 (40%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
1229 (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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
267 (8%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
3490 (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 A5 Apple A5
PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) @ 0.20 GHz
13 (2%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Qualcomm Adreno 730 @ 0.82 GHz
745 (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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
3722 (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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
1322 (100%)

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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
948574 (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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
7023 (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 A5 Apple A5
2C 2T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
26 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A5 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPad 2
Xiaomi 12 Pro

News and articles for the Apple A5 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1


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