Apple A9 vs HiSilicon Kirin 970

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A9 CPU1 vs CPU2 HiSilicon Kirin 970
Apple A9 HiSilicon Kirin 970

CPU comparison

Apple A9 or HiSilicon Kirin 970 - 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 HiSilicon Kirin 970 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz. The CPU supports up to 8 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 970 was released in Q3/2017.
Apple A series (22) Family HiSilicon Kirin (29)
Apple A9/A9X (2) CPU group HiSilicon Kirin 970 (1)
9 Generation 6
A9 Architecture Cortex-A73 / Cortex-A53
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A8 Predecessor --
Apple A10 Fusion Successor --

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 HiSilicon Kirin 970 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the HiSilicon Kirin 970 is at 2.40 GHz.

Apple A9 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 970
2 Cores 8
2 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.85 GHz
2x Twister
A-Core 2.40 GHz
4x Cortex-A73
-- B-Core 1.84 GHz
4x Cortex-A53

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Apple A9 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 970
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Apple A9 or HiSilicon Kirin 970 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 ARM Mali-G72 MP12
0.65 GHz GPU frequency 0.75 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
6 GPU Generation Bifrost 2
16 nm Technology 16 nm
1 Max. displays 1
24 Compute units 12
192 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

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 ARM Mali-G72 MP12
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode / Encode
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 HiSilicon Kirin 970 supports up to 8 GB of memory in 4 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to --.

Apple A9 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 970
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR4X-2133
2 GB Max. Memory 8 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth --
No ECC No
3.00 MB L2 Cache --
4.00 MB L3 Cache 2.00 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 HiSilicon Kirin 970 has a TDP of 9 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple A9 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 970
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 9 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 HiSilicon Kirin 970 is manufactured in 10 nm and has a 2.00 MB cache.

Apple A9 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 970
16 nm Technology 10 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
Q3/2015 Release date Q3/2017
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple A9 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.2 stars (5 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the HiSilicon Kirin 970 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (5 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Apple A9 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 (63%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Apple A9 (70%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 (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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
558 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
349 (63%)

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 (70%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
1455 (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 A9 Apple A9
Apple A9 @ 0.65 GHz
250 (76%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
ARM Mali-G72 MP12 @ 0.75 GHz
330 (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 A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
632 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

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%)
HiSilicon Kirin 970 HiSilicon Kirin 970
8C 8T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A9 HiSilicon Kirin 970
Apple iPhone 6s
Apple iPhone SE (1. Gen)
Huawei Honor 10
Huawei Note 10
Huawei Play
Huawei Honor View 10
Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Huawei P20
Huawei Nova 3
Huawei Nova 4

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