Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 vs Apple M1

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M1
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Apple M1

CPU comparison

Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 or Apple M1 - 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 Microsoft SQ1 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.00 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 8 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 was released in Q3/2019.

The Apple M1 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M1 was released in Q4/2020.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family Apple M series (23)
Qualcomm Snapdragon SQ1/SQ2 (2) CPU group Apple M1 (9)
1 Generation 1
Kryo 495 Architecture M1
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor Apple M2

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.00 GHz. The Apple M1 has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz).

Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Characteristic Apple M1
8 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.00 GHz
4x Kryo 495 Gold
A-Core 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz)
4x Firestorm
1.80 GHz
4x Kryo 495 Silver
B-Core 0.60 GHz (2.06 GHz)
4x Icestorm

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 Microsoft SQ1 Characteristic Apple M1
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 11 TOPS

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.

Qualcomm Adreno 685 GPU Apple M1 (8 Core)
0.25 GHz GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
0.65 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.30 GHz
5 GPU Generation 1
7 nm Technology 5 nm
2 Max. displays 2
8 Compute units 128
1536 Shader 1024
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory 8 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 685 GPU Apple M1 (8 Core)
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 Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
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 Microsoft SQ1 supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory in 8 memory channels. The Apple M1 can connect up to 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Characteristic Apple M1
LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
16 GB Max. Memory 16 GB
8 (Octa Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
34.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 68.2 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 16.00 MB
2.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 has a TDP of 7 W, that of the Apple M1 is 18 W.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Characteristic Apple M1
7 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 18 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up 20 W
-- TDP down 10 W
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 has a 2.00 MB cache, while the Apple M1 cache has a total of 16.00 MB.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Characteristic Apple M1
7 nm Technology 5 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8.5-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
-- Socket --
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
Android, Windows 10 (ARM) Operating systems macOS
Q3/2019 Release date Q4/2020
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple M1 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (169 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
45 (40%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
112 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
200 (39%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
509 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
724 (42%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
1742 (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 Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
2808 (37%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
7650 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
Qualcomm Adreno 685 @ 0.65 GHz
2030 (78%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
Apple M1 (8 Core) @ 1.30 GHz
2610 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
1503 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
7759 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
2369 (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 Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
8576 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
117 (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.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
14463 (100%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
314 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
7,759 CB R23 MC @ 18 W
431 (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).
Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Apple M1
8C 8T @ 0.60 GHz
11 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 Apple M1
Microsoft Surface X Apple iMac 24 (2021)
Apple MacBook Pro 13 (L2020)
Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Apple Mac mini (2020)
Apple iPad Pro 11 (2021)
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021)
Apple iPad Air (2022)

News and articles for the Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 and the Apple M1


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