Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 vs Apple A9

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A9
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Apple A9

CPU comparison

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 or Apple A9 - 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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.84 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 was released in Q4/2019.

The Apple A9 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.85 GHz. The CPU supports up to 2 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple A9 was released in Q3/2015.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family Apple A series (22)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865/870 (3) CPU group Apple A9/A9X (2)
7 Generation 9
Kryo 585 Architecture A9
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A8
-- Successor Apple A10 Fusion

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is 2.84 GHz while the Apple A9 has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A9 is at 1.85 GHz.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Characteristic Apple A9
8 Cores 2
8 Threads 2
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.84 GHz
1x Kryo 585 Prime
A-Core 1.85 GHz
2x Twister
2.42 GHz
3x Kryo 585 Gold
B-Core --
1.80 GHz
4x Kryo 585 Silver
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.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Characteristic Apple A9
Qualcomm AI engine AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 or Apple A9 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.

Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU Apple A9
0.25 GHz GPU frequency 0.65 GHz
0.59 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
6 GPU Generation 6
7 nm Technology 16 nm
1 Max. displays 1
2 Compute units 24
512 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
12.0 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.

Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU Apple A9
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 can use up to 16 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 44.0 GB/s. The Apple A9 supports up to 2 GB of memory in 1 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 25.6 GB/s.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Characteristic Apple A9
LPDDR5-5500, LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR4-3200
16 GB Max. Memory 2 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
44.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
1.75 MB L2 Cache 3.00 MB
4.00 MB L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is 10 W, while the Apple A9 has a TDP of 5 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Characteristic Apple A9
10 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 5 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is manufactured in 7 nm and has 5.75 MB cache. The Apple A9 is manufactured in 16 nm and has a 7.00 MB cache.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Characteristic Apple A9
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
Q4/2019 Release date Q3/2015
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.9 stars (7 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple A9 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:


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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
845 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
558 (66%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
3295 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
1024 (31%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
1176 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
632 (54%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
3244 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
921 (28%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Qualcomm Adreno 650 @ 0.59 GHz
1250 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
Apple A9 @ 0.65 GHz
250 (20%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
598103 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
172160 (29%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
5846 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
2053 (35%)

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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
668494 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
0 (0%)

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).
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
15 (100%)
Apple A9 Apple A9
2C 2T @ 1.85 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Apple A9
OnePlus 8
OnePlus 8 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S20 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
Apple iPhone 6s
Apple iPhone SE (1. Gen)

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