Apple A9 vs Apple A8

The Apple A9 and Apple A8 are System-on-a-Chips (SoCs) designed for Apple mobile devices and served as main processors in their respective generations.

The Apple A9 is manufactured using a 16 nm fabrication process and uses the architecture name A9. It features 3 MB of L2 cache and 4 MB of L3 cache. The Apple A8 is based on a 20 nm process, has the architecture name A8, and is equipped with 1 MB of L2 cache and 4 MB of L3 cache.

Both processors integrate a dual-core architecture. Regarding computing performance, the Apple A9 offers significantly higher performance compared to the Apple A8. For both single-core and multi-core tasks, the Apple A9 outperforms the Apple A8 by more than 10 percent. For gaming, the Apple A9 delivers better performance due to its stronger integrated graphics unit (Apple A9) and a maximum memory bandwidth of 26 GB/s.

The integrated graphics of the Apple A8 (Apple A8) achieves 13 GB/s, which results in lower gaming performance. Thanks to the finer 16 nm fabrication process, the Apple A9 is more energy-efficient than the Apple A8 with its 20 nm process, which positively impacts power consumption and heat generation.

These processors are built as integral components in Apple mobile devices and are not sold separately. A direct price-performance evaluation or indication of current market prices is not possible. In summary, the Apple A9 is superior to the Apple A8 in all aspects: higher computing and graphics performance, as well as improved energy efficiency.

For more demanding applications and a more modern user experience, the Apple A9 is the clear recommendation, while the Apple A8 remains sufficient for basic tasks.