HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G vs Apple A9X

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A9X
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Apple A9X

CPU comparison

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G 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 HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.86 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G was released in Q3/2019.

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.
HiSilicon Kirin (29) Family Apple A series (22)
HiSilicon Kirin 990 (3) CPU group Apple A9/A9X (2)
8 Generation 9
Cortex-A76 / Cortex-A55 Architecture A9
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A8X
-- Successor Apple A10X Fusion

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.86 GHz. The Apple A9X has 2 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.26 GHz.

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Characteristic Apple A9X
8 Cores 2
8 Threads 2
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.86 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
A-Core 2.26 GHz
2x Twister
2.36 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
B-Core --
1.95 GHz
4x Cortex-A55
C-Core --

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.

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Characteristic Apple A9X
HUAWEI HiAI 2.0 AI hardware --
Da Vinci Architecture. 1x Ascend Lite + 1x Ascend Tiny AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

ARM Mali-G76 MP16 GPU Apple A9X
0.60 GHz GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
Bifrost 3 GPU Generation 6
7 nm Technology 16 nm
2 Max. displays 1
16 Compute units 48
256 Shader 384
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
12 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.

ARM Mali-G76 MP16 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 / Encode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode / Encode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Apple A9X can connect up to 4 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Characteristic Apple A9X
LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR4-3200
8 GB Max. Memory 4 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
-- Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 3.00 MB
2.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G has a TDP of 6 W, that of the Apple A9X is 8 W.

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Characteristic Apple A9X
6 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 8 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G has a 2.00 MB cache, while the Apple A9X cache has a total of 7.00 MB.

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Characteristic Apple A9X
7 nm Technology 16 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
Android Operating systems iOS
Q3/2019 Release date Q3/2015
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.5 stars (2 ratings). Rate now:
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
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G (100%)
Apple A9X (82%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G (100%)
Apple A9X (41%)

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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
757 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
652 (86%)

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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
2855 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1198 (42%)

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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
996 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
763 (77%)

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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
3244 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
1251 (39%)

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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
ARM Mali-G76 MP16 @ 0.60 GHz
737 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
Apple A9X @ 0.65 GHz
499 (68%)

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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
463729 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
272103 (59%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
545690 (100%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 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.
HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G
8C 8T @ 2.86 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A9X Apple A9X
2C 2T @ 2.26 GHz
2501 (100%)

Devices using this processor

HiSilicon Kirin 990 5G Apple A9X
Unknown Apple iPad Pro (1. Gen)

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