Apple A8 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 730

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A8 CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
Apple A8 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730

CPU comparison

Apple A8 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 - 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 A8 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.50 GHz. Up to 1 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The Apple A8 was released in Q3/2014.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 8 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 was released in Q2/2019.
Apple A series (22) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
Apple A8/A8X (2) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 (3)
8 Generation 2
A8 Architecture Kryo 470 Gold/475 Silver
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A7 Predecessor --
Apple A9 Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A8 is a 2 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.50 GHz. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.20 GHz.

Apple A8 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
2 Cores 8
2 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.50 GHz
2x Typhoon
A-Core 2.20 GHz
2x Kryo 470 Gold
-- B-Core 1.80 GHz
6x Kryo 470 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 A8 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
-- AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
-- AI specifications Hexagon 688 @ 3.6 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.

Apple A8 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 618
0.53 GHz GPU frequency 0.70 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
5 GPU Generation 6
20 nm Technology 14 nm
1 Max. displays 2
16 Compute units --
128 Shader 128
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 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 A8 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 618
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode
No Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A8 supports a maximum of 1 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 can connect up to 8 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Apple A8 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
LPDDR3-1600 Memory LPDDR4X-3733
1 GB Max. Memory 8 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
12.8 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 14.9 GB/s
No ECC No
1.00 MB L2 Cache --
4.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Apple A8 has a TDP of 5 W, that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 is --.

Apple A8 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A8 has a 5.00 MB cache, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 cache has a total of 0.00 MB.

Apple A8 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
20 nm Technology 8 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
iOS Operating systems Android
Q3/2014 Release date Q2/2019
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple A8 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.3 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 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 A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
324 (62%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
526 (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 A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
607 (37%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
1652 (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 A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
412 (58%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
706 (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 A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
588 (38%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
1559 (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 A8 Apple A8
Apple A8 @ 0.53 GHz
136 (38%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
Qualcomm Adreno 618 @ 0.70 GHz
358 (100%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
282405 (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 A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
1532 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)

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 A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
3.6 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A8 Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Apple iPad Mini 4
Apple TV HD
Apple HomePod
Apple iPod touch (6. Gen)
Samsung Galaxy A71
Samsung Galaxy A80
Xiaomi Mi 9T
Xiaomi Redmi K20

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