Apple M1 vs Samsung Exynos 990

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M1 CPU1 vs CPU2 Samsung Exynos 990
Apple M1 Samsung Exynos 990

CPU comparison

Apple M1 or Samsung Exynos 990 - 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 M1 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple M1 was released in Q4/2020.

The Samsung Exynos 990 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.73 GHz. The CPU supports up to 12 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Samsung Exynos 990 was released in Q1/2020.
Apple M series Family Samsung Exynos
Apple M1 CPU group Samsung Exynos 990
1 Generation 4
M1 Architecture Exynos M5/Cortex-A76/-A55
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
Apple M2 Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M1 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M1 is 3.20 GHz while the Samsung Exynos 990 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Samsung Exynos 990 is at 2.06 GHz.

8 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.20 GHz
4x Firestorm
A-Core 2.73 GHz
2x Exynos M5
2.06 GHz
4x Icestorm
B-Core 2.50 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
-- C-Core 2.00 GHz
4x Cortex-A55

Internal Graphics

The Apple M1 or Samsung Exynos 990 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 M1 (8 Core) GPU ARM Mali-G77 MP11
1.30 GHz GPU frequency 0.80 GHz
GPU (Turbo)
1 GPU Generation Vallhall 1
5 nm Technology 7 nm
2 Max. displays 1
128 Execution units 11
1024 Shader 176
8 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 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.

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

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M1 can use up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 68.2 GB/s. The Samsung Exynos 990 supports up to 12 GB of memory in 4 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to --.

LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR5-2750
16 GB Max. Memory 12 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
68.2 GB/s Bandwidth --
No ECC No
16.00 MB L2 Cache 1.50 MB
L3 Cache 2.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version
PCIe lanes

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple M1 is 15 W, while the Samsung Exynos 990 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
20 W TDP up --
10 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple M1 is manufactured in 5 nm and has 16.00 MB cache. The Samsung Exynos 990 is manufactured in 7 nm and has a 16.00 MB cache.

5 nm Technology 7 nm
Chiplet Chip design Unknown
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation ISA extensions
-- Socket --
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
macOS Operating systems Android
Q4/2020 Release date Q1/2020
-- Release price --
show more data show more data



Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.

Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
1503 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Show all Cinebench R23 (Single-Core) results



Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.

Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
7759 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Show all Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core) results



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 M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
2369 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
1144 (48%)
Show all Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) results



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 M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
8576 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
2645 (31%)
Show all Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) results



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 M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
1742 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
923 (53%)
Show all Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core) results



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 M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
7650 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
2779 (36%)
Show all Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core) results



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 M1 Apple M1
Apple M1 (8 Core) @ 1.30 GHz
2610 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
ARM Mali-G77 MP11 @ 0.80 GHz
1126 (43%)
Show all iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS) results



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 M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
510697 (100%)
Show all AnTuTu 8 Benchmark results



Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.

Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
117 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Show all Blender 3.1 Benchmark results



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 M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
14463 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Show all Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark results



Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.

Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
314 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Show all Blender 2.81 (bmw27) results



V-Ray CPU-Render Benchmark

V-Ray is a 3D rendering software from the manufacturer Chaos for designers and artists. Unlike many other render engines, V-Ray is capable of so-called hybrid rendering, in which the CPU and GPU work together at the same time.

However, the CPU benchmark we used (CPU Render Mode) only uses the system's processor. The working memory used plays a major role in the V-Ray benchmark. For our benchmarks we use the fastest RAM standard approved by the manufacturer (without overclocking).

Due to the high compatibility of V-Ray (including Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, SketchUp, Unreal Engine and Blender), it is a frequently used software. With V-Ray, for example, photorealistic images can be rendered that laypeople cannot distinguish from normal photos.

Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
4935 (100%)
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
0 (0%)
Show all V-Ray CPU-Render Benchmark results



Devices using this processor

Apple M1 Samsung Exynos 990
Apple iMac 24 (2021)
Apple MacBook Pro 13 (L2020)
Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Apple Mac mini (2020)
Apple iPad Pro 11 (2021)
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021)
Apple iPad Air (2022)
Samsung Galaxy S20
Samsung Galaxy S20+
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

News and articles for the Apple M1 and the Samsung Exynos 990


Leaderboards

In our leaderboards, we have clearly compiled the best processors for specific categories for you. The leaderboards are always up to date and are regularly updated by us. The best processors are selected according to popularity and speed in benchmarks as well as the price-performance ratio.


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