Apple A9X vs Apple A11 Bionic

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A9X CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A11 Bionic
Apple A9X Apple A11 Bionic

CPU comparison

Apple A9X or Apple A11 Bionic - 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 A9X has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.26 GHz. Up to 4 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple A9X was released in Q3/2015.

The Apple A11 Bionic has 6 cores with 6 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.39 GHz. The CPU supports up to 3 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple A11 Bionic was released in Q3/2017.
Apple A series (22) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple A9/A9X (2) CPU group Apple A11 (1)
9 Generation 11
A9 Architecture A11
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A8X Predecessor Apple A10 Fusion
Apple A10X Fusion Successor Apple A12 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A9X has 2 CPU cores and can calculate 2 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple A9X is 2.26 GHz while the Apple A11 Bionic has 6 CPU cores and 6 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A11 Bionic is at 2.39 GHz.

Apple A9X Characteristic Apple A11 Bionic
2 Cores 6
2 Threads 6
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.26 GHz
2x Twister
A-Core 2.39 GHz
2x Monsoon
-- B-Core 1.19 GHz
4x Mistral

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 A9X Characteristic Apple A11 Bionic
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 2 Neural cores @ 0.6 TOPS

Internal Graphics

The Apple A9X or Apple A11 Bionic 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 A9X GPU Apple A11
0.65 GHz GPU frequency 1.07 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
6 GPU Generation 8
16 nm Technology 10 nm
1 Max. displays 1
48 Compute units 12
384 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 3 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 A9X GPU Apple A11
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A9X can use up to 4 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 51.2 GB/s. The Apple A11 Bionic supports up to 3 GB of memory in 1 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 34.1 GB/s.

Apple A9X Characteristic Apple A11 Bionic
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
4 GB Max. Memory 3 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
51.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 34.1 GB/s
No ECC No
3.00 MB L2 Cache 8.00 MB
4.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple A9X is 8 W, while the Apple A11 Bionic has a TDP of 8 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple A9X Characteristic Apple A11 Bionic
8 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 8 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A9X is manufactured in 16 nm and has 7.00 MB cache. The Apple A11 Bionic is manufactured in 10 nm and has a 8.00 MB cache.

Apple A9X Characteristic Apple A11 Bionic
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 iOS
Q3/2015 Release date Q3/2017
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
652 (70%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
932 (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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1198 (47%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
2569 (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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
763 (70%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
1093 (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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1251 (63%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
1997 (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 A9X Apple A9X
Apple A9X @ 0.65 GHz
499 (100%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
Apple A11 @ 1.07 GHz
409 (82%)

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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
272103 (92%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
295465 (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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
2501 (57%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
4360 (100%)

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 A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A11 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.39 GHz
0.6 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A9X Apple A11 Bionic
Apple iPad Pro (1. Gen) Apple iPhone 8
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
Apple iPhone X

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