Samsung Exynos 980 vs Apple A7

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Samsung Exynos 980 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A7
Samsung Exynos 980 Apple A7

CPU comparison

Samsung Exynos 980 or Apple A7 - 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 Samsung Exynos 980 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.20 GHz. Up to 12 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The Samsung Exynos 980 was released in Q4/2019.

The Apple A7 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.40 GHz. The CPU supports up to 1 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple A7 was released in Q3/2013.
Samsung Exynos (47) Family Apple A series (22)
Samsung Exynos 980 (1) CPU group Apple A7 (1)
4 Generation 7
Cortex-A77 / Cortex-A55 Architecture A7
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A6
-- Successor Apple A8

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Samsung Exynos 980 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Samsung Exynos 980 is 2.20 GHz while the Apple A7 has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A7 is at 1.40 GHz.

Samsung Exynos 980 Characteristic Apple A7
8 Cores 2
8 Threads 2
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.20 GHz
2x Cortex-A77
A-Core 1.40 GHz
2x Cyclone
1.80 GHz
6x Cortex-A55
B-Core --

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Samsung Exynos 980 Characteristic Apple A7
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Samsung Exynos 980 or Apple A7 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.

ARM Mali-G76 MP5 GPU PowerVR G6430
0.72 GHz GPU frequency 0.45 GHz
0.72 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
Bifrost 3 GPU Generation --
7 nm Technology 28 nm
2 Max. displays 2
5 Compute units 16
80 Shader 128
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory --
12 DirectX Version 10

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 MP5 GPU PowerVR G6430
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC No
Decode / Encode Codec VC-1 No
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Samsung Exynos 980 can use up to 12 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is --. The Apple A7 supports up to 1 GB of memory in 1 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 12.8 GB/s.

Samsung Exynos 980 Characteristic Apple A7
LPDDR4X-1866 Memory LPDDR3-1333
12 GB Max. Memory 1 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
-- Max. Bandwidth 12.8 GB/s
No ECC No
2.00 MB L2 Cache 1.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 4.00 MB
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Samsung Exynos 980 is --, while the Apple A7 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Samsung Exynos 980 Characteristic Apple A7
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Samsung Exynos 980 is manufactured in 8 nm and has 2.00 MB cache. The Apple A7 is manufactured in 28 nm and has a 5.00 MB cache.

Samsung Exynos 980 Characteristic Apple A7
8 nm Technology 28 nm
Unknown 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 Q3/2013
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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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.
Samsung Exynos 980 Samsung Exynos 980
ARM Mali-G76 MP5 @ 0.72 GHz
260 (100%)
Apple A7 Apple A7
PowerVR G6430 @ 0.45 GHz
115 (44%)

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.
Samsung Exynos 980 Samsung Exynos 980
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A7 Apple A7
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
278 (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.
Samsung Exynos 980 Samsung Exynos 980
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A7 Apple A7
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
528 (100%)

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.
Samsung Exynos 980 Samsung Exynos 980
8C 8T @ 2.20 GHz
330665 (100%)
Apple A7 Apple A7
2C 2T @ 1.40 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Samsung Exynos 980 Apple A7
Unknown Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Apple iPad Mini 4
Apple TV HD
Apple HomePod
Apple iPod touch (6. Gen)

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