Apple A6 vs Intel Core i3-8121U
Last updated:
CPU comparison with benchmarks
|
 |
|
| Apple A6 | Intel Core i3-8121U | |
CPU comparisonApple A6 or Intel Core i3-8121U - 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 A6 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.30 GHz. Up to 1 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple A6 was released in Q3/2012. The Intel Core i3-8121U has 2 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i3-8121U was released in Q2/2018. |
||
| Apple A series (22) | Family | Intel Core i3 (205) |
| Apple A6/A6X (2) | CPU group | Intel Core i 8000U (CL) (1) |
| 6 | Generation | 8 |
| A6 | Architecture | Cannon Lake U |
| Mobile | Segment | Mobile |
| Apple A5 | Predecessor | -- |
| Apple A7 | Successor | -- |
|
|
||
CPU Cores and Base FrequencyThe Apple A6 has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple A6 is 1.30 GHz while the Intel Core i3-8121U has 2 CPU cores and 4 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i3-8121U is at 2.20 GHz (3.20 GHz). |
||
| Apple A6 | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-8121U |
| 2 | Cores | 2 |
| 2 | Threads | 4 |
| normal | Core architecture | normal |
| No | Hyperthreading | Yes |
| No | Overclocking ? | No |
| 1.30 GHz | Frequency | 2.20 GHz |
| -- | Turbo Frequency (1 Core) | 3.20 GHz |
| -- | Turbo Frequency (All Cores) | 2.70 GHz |
Integrated graphics (iGPU)The Apple A6 or Intel Core i3-8121U 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. |
||
| PowerVR SGX543MP3 (3 Cores) | GPU | no iGPU |
| 0.27 GHz | GPU frequency | -- |
| -- | GPU (Turbo) | -- |
| -- | GPU Generation | -- |
| 32 nm | Technology | |
| 1 | Max. displays | |
| 6 | Compute units | -- |
| 48 | Shader | -- |
| No | Hardware Raytracing | No |
| No | Frame Generation | No |
| -- | Max. GPU Memory | -- |
| 10 | DirectX Version | -- |
Hardware codec supportA 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 SGX543MP3 (3 Cores) | GPU | no iGPU |
| No | Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) | No |
| No | Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) | No |
| No | Codec h264 | No |
| No | Codec VP9 | No |
| No | Codec VP8 | No |
| No | Codec AV1 | No |
| No | Codec AVC | No |
| No | Codec VC-1 | No |
| No | Codec JPEG | No |
Memory & PCIeThe Apple A6 can use up to 1 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 8.5 GB/s. The Intel Core i3-8121U supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 38.4 GB/s. |
||
| Apple A6 | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-8121U |
| LPDDR2-1066 | Memory | LPDDR4-2400, DDR4-2400 |
| 1 GB | Max. Memory | 32 GB |
| 2 (Dual Channel) | Memory channels | 2 (Dual Channel) |
| 8.5 GB/s | Max. Bandwidth | 38.4 GB/s |
| No | ECC | No |
| 1.00 MB | L2 Cache | -- |
| -- | L3 Cache | 4.00 MB |
| -- | PCIe version | 3.0 |
| -- | PCIe lanes | 16 |
| -- | PCIe Bandwidth | 15.8 GB/s |
Thermal ManagementThe thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple A6 is --, while the Intel Core i3-8121U has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently. |
||
| Apple A6 | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-8121U |
| -- | TDP (PL1 / PBP) | 15 W |
| -- | TDP (PL2) | -- |
| -- | TDP up | -- |
| -- | TDP down | -- |
| -- | Tjunction max. | 105 °C |
Technical detailsThe Apple A6 is manufactured in 32 nm and has 1.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i3-8121U is manufactured in 10 nm and has a 4.00 MB cache. |
||
| Apple A6 | Characteristic | Intel Core i3-8121U |
| 32 nm | Technology | 10 nm |
| Chiplet | Chip design | Monolithic |
| Armv7-A (32 bit) | Instruction set (ISA) | x86-64 (64 bit) |
| -- | ISA extensions | SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, AVX-512 |
| -- | Socket | BGA 1356 |
| None | Virtualization | VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d |
| No | AES-NI | Yes |
| iOS | Operating systems | Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux |
| Q3/2012 | Release date | Q2/2018 |
| -- | Release price | -- |
| show more data | show more data | |
|
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz buy now on Amazon and save!
2C 4T @ 2.20 GHz (3.20 GHz) buy now on Amazon and save!
|
||
Rate these processors
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 A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz |
||
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 A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz |
||
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 A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz |
||
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 A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz |
||
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 A6
PowerVR SGX543MP3 (3 Cores) @ 0.27 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
@ 0.00 GHz |
||
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 A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz |
||
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.
|
|
Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 3.20 GHz |
||
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 A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz |
||
|
|
Intel Core i3-8121U
2C 4T @ 2.70 GHz |
||
Devices using this processor |
|
| Apple A6 | Intel Core i3-8121U |
| Apple iPhone 5 Apple iPhone 5C |
Unknown |
Popular comparisons containing this CPUs
back to index
