Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ vs Apple A12 Bionic

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A12 Bionic
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Apple A12 Bionic

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ and the Apple A12 Bionic and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ 8 core processor released in Q3/2020 with the Apple A12 Bionic which has 6 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2018.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family Apple A series (22)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865/870 (3) CPU group Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3)
7 Generation 12
Kryo 585 Architecture A12
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A11 Bionic
-- Successor Apple A13 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.10 GHz. The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Apple A12 Bionic clocks with 2.49 GHz, has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
8 Cores 6
8 Threads 6
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.10 GHz
1x Kryo 585 Prime
A-Core 2.49 GHz
2x Vortex
2.42 GHz
3x Kryo 585 Gold
B-Core 1.59 GHz
4x Tempest
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 A12 Bionic
Qualcomm AI engine AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
Hexagon 698 @ 15 TOPS AI specifications 8 Neural cores @ 5 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.

Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU Apple A12
0.25 GHz GPU frequency 1.13 GHz
0.67 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
6 GPU Generation 9
7 nm Technology 7 nm
1 Max. displays 1
2 Compute units 16
512 Shader 256
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 A12
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 / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 16 GB of memory in a maximum of 4 memory channels is supported by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+, while the Apple A12 Bionic supports a maximum of 4 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 34.1 GB/s enabled.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
LPDDR5-5500, LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
16 GB Max. Memory 4 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
44.0 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 34.1 GB/s
No ECC No
2.00 MB L2 Cache 8.00 MB
3.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ has a TDP of 10 W. The TDP of the Apple A12 Bionic is 6 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
10 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 6 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ has 5.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 7 nm. The cache of Apple A12 Bionic is at 8.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 7 nm.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
7 nm Technology 7 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
Q3/2020 Release date Q3/2018
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 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 @ 3.10 GHz
985 (88%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1116 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
8C 8T @ 3.10 GHz
3275 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2731 (83%)

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 @ 3.10 GHz
1248 (97%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1286 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
8C 8T @ 3.10 GHz
3129 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2353 (75%)

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 @ 0.67 GHz
1418 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
Apple A12 @ 1.13 GHz
576 (41%)

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 @ 3.10 GHz
616032 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
425605 (69%)

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 @ 3.10 GHz
15 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (33%)

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 @ 3.10 GHz
716498 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
8C 8T @ 3.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
4846 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Apple A12 Bionic
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 T870
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 T875
ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold
Apple iPhone XR
Apple iPhone XS
Apple iPhone XS Max
Apple iPad mini (5. Gen)
Apple iPad Air (3. Gen)

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