Apple M4 (10-CPU) vs Apple A9X

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M4 (10-CPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A9X
Apple M4 (10-CPU) Apple A9X

CPU comparison

Apple M4 (10-CPU) or Apple A9X - 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 M4 (10-CPU) has 10 cores with 10 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.41 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Apple M4 (10-CPU) was released in Q2/2024.

The Apple A9X has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.26 GHz. The CPU supports up to 4 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple A9X was released in Q3/2015.
Apple M series (25) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple M4 (2) CPU group Apple A9/A9X (2)
4 Generation 9
M4 Architecture A9
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple M3 Predecessor Apple A8X
-- Successor Apple A10X Fusion

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) has 10 CPU cores and can calculate 10 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple M4 (10-CPU) is 0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz) while the Apple A9X has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A9X is at 2.26 GHz.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Apple A9X
10 Cores 2
10 Threads 2
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
0.70 GHz (4.41 GHz)
4x P-Core
A-Core 2.26 GHz
2x Twister
0.74 GHz (2.85 GHz)
6x E-Core
B-Core --

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 M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Apple A9X
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
16 Neural cores @ 38 TOPS AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) or Apple A9X 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 M4 (10 Core) GPU Apple A9X
GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation 6
3 nm Technology 16 nm
2 Max. displays 1
160 Compute units 48
1280 Shader 384
Yes Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
24 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 M4 (10 Core) GPU Apple A9X
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode Codec VP8 Decode
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) can use up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 120.0 GB/s. The Apple A9X supports up to 4 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 51.2 GB/s.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Apple A9X
LPDDR5X-7500 Memory LPDDR4-3200
16 GB Max. Memory 4 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
120.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC No
22.00 MB L2 Cache 3.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 4.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple M4 (10-CPU) is 22 W, while the Apple A9X has a TDP of 8 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Apple A9X
22 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 8 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
15 W TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple M4 (10-CPU) is manufactured in 3 nm and has 22.00 MB cache. The Apple A9X is manufactured in 16 nm and has a 7.00 MB cache.

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Characteristic Apple A9X
3 nm Technology 16 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv9-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation, AVX2, SME ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
macOS, iPadOS Operating systems iOS
Q2/2024 Release date Q3/2015
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

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Here you can rate the Apple A9X to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M4 (10-CPU) (100%)
Apple A9X (23%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M4 (10-CPU) (100%)
Apple A9X (10%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 4.41 GHz
2491 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
652 (26%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
12509 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1198 (10%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 4.41 GHz
3767 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
763 (20%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
14621 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1251 (9%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
Apple M4 (10 Core) @ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
Apple A9X @ 0.65 GHz
499 (100%)

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
272103 (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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
2501 (100%)

AI performance (NPU)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

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 M4 (10-CPU) Apple M4 (10-CPU)
10C 10T @ 0.70 GHz
38 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M4 (10-CPU) Apple A9X
Apple iPad Pro 11 (2024) [1-2 TB] Apple iPad Pro (1. Gen)

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