Apple A9 vs Apple A8

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A9 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A8
Apple A9 Apple A8

CPU comparison

Apple A9 or Apple A8 - 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 A9 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.85 GHz. Up to 2 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The Apple A9 was released in Q3/2015.

The Apple A8 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.50 GHz. The CPU supports up to 1 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple A8 was released in Q3/2014.
Apple A series (22) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple A9/A9X (2) CPU group Apple A8/A8X (2)
9 Generation 8
A9 Architecture A8
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A8 Predecessor Apple A7
Apple A10 Fusion Successor Apple A9

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A9 has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple A9 is 1.85 GHz while the Apple A8 has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A8 is at 1.50 GHz.

Apple A9 Characteristic Apple A8
2 Cores 2
2 Threads 2
normal Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.85 GHz Frequency 1.50 GHz
-- Turbo Frequency (1 Core) --
-- 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 A9 Characteristic Apple A8
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Apple A9 or Apple A8 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.

Apple A9 GPU Apple A8
0.65 GHz GPU frequency 0.53 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
6 GPU Generation 5
16 nm Technology 20 nm
1 Max. displays 1
24 Compute units 16
192 Shader 128
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
-- DirectX Version --

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 A9 GPU Apple A8
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode Codec h264 Decode
No Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A9 can use up to 2 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 25.6 GB/s. The Apple A8 supports up to 1 GB of memory in 1 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 12.8 GB/s.

Apple A9 Characteristic Apple A8
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR3-1600
2 GB Max. Memory 1 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 12.8 GB/s
No ECC No
3.00 MB L2 Cache 1.00 MB
4.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple A9 is 5 W, while the Apple A8 has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple A9 Characteristic Apple A8
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 5 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A9 is manufactured in 16 nm and has 7.00 MB cache. The Apple A8 is manufactured in 20 nm and has a 5.00 MB cache.

Apple A9 Characteristic Apple A8
16 nm Technology 20 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 iOS
Q3/2015 Release date Q3/2014
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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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:


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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
558 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
324 (58%)

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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
1024 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
607 (59%)

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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
632 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
412 (65%)

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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
921 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
588 (64%)

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 A9 Apple A9
Apple A9 @ 0.65 GHz
250 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
Apple A8 @ 0.53 GHz
136 (55%)

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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
2053 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
1532 (75%)

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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
172160 (100%)
Apple A8 Apple A8
2C 2T @ 1.50 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A9 Apple A8
Apple iPhone 6s
Apple iPhone SE (1. Gen)
Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Apple iPad Mini 4
Apple TV HD
Apple HomePod
Apple iPod touch (6. Gen)

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