Nintendo Switch vs Apple A17 Pro

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Nintendo Switch CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A17 Pro
Nintendo Switch Apple A17 Pro

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Nintendo Switch and the Apple A17 Pro and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Nintendo Switch 8 core processor released in Q1/2017 with the Apple A17 Pro which has 6 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2023.
NVIDIA Tegra (2) Family Apple A series (22)
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (2) CPU group Apple A17 (1)
2 Generation 17
Cortex-A57/-A53 Architecture A17
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A16 Bionic
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Nintendo Switch is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz). The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Apple A17 Pro clocks with 3.78 GHz, has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple A17 Pro
8 Cores 6
8 Threads 6
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A57
A-Core 3.78 GHz
1.00 GHz (1.75 GHz)
4x Cortex-A53
B-Core 2.11 GHz

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.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple A17 Pro
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Apple A17 Pro (6 GPU Cores)
0.30 GHz GPU frequency 1.40 GHz
0.77 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
1 GPU Generation --
20 nm Technology 3 nm
1 Max. displays 3
2 Compute units 24
256 Shader 768
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 6 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.

NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) GPU Apple A17 Pro (6 GPU Cores)
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 4 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Nintendo Switch, while the Apple A17 Pro supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s enabled.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple A17 Pro
LPDDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5-6400
4 GB Max. Memory 8 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 51.2 GB/s
No ECC No
2.50 MB L2 Cache 20.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 24.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Nintendo Switch has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP of the Apple A17 Pro is 11 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple A17 Pro
5 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 11 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
5 W TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Nintendo Switch has 2.50 MB cache and is manufactured in 20 nm. The cache of Apple A17 Pro is at 44.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 3 nm.

Nintendo Switch Characteristic Apple A17 Pro
20 nm Technology 3 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8.6-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Operating systems iOS
Q1/2017 Release date Q3/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Nintendo Switch to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 2.4 stars (7 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple A17 Pro to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.9 stars (64 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (9%)
Apple A17 Pro (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Nintendo Switch (9%)
Apple A17 Pro (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
270 (9%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
2952 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
702 (9%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
7462 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Tegra X1 (Maxwell) @ 0.77 GHz
393 (18%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
Apple A17 Pro (6 GPU Cores) @ 1.40 GHz
2147 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.75 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
2140 (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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
5868 (100%)

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.
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
1108570 (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).
Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch
8C 8T @ 1.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
35 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Nintendo Switch Apple A17 Pro
Nintendo Switch Apple iPhone 15 Pro
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

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