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Apple’s A12 Bionic vs. Snapdragon 845: iOS’ best vs Android’s

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  • 2 min read

With the launch of the iPhone XS and XR, Apple unveiled the latest processor, the A12 Bionic.

The A12 Bionic is a modest 15% faster than the A11 but gives fierce competition to the SnapDragon 845. Apple claims the A12 is 2-3 times faster than the SD845. But, just how valid is this claim?

On the power side of things, the Snapdragon 845 is more power-efficient due to the 10nm design process and the presence of dedicated processing units. It can also charge faster, thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+.

However, due to the advanced manufacturing process used, Apple has managed to fit in an enormous number of transistors on the A12, which translates to unparalleled processing power.

Also read: How does OnePlus 6T compare to iPhone? From an Apple user’s perspective

Also, by shrinking the SoC’s component, A12 can reap faster and better processing power while keeping the temperature down.

The A12 also beats the SD845 in the camera department. The sheer horsepower that the A12 Bionic has can fuel the camera neural networks in a much better way than the SD845. The AI department tells the same story.

However, comparing the two SoCs is still very difficult as they are implemented in different environments, OSs and hardware. Also, Apple has always been very secretive about its hardware which makes the comparison even more difficult.

Here’s a side by side comparison of the two SoCs.

CatagoryApple A12 BionicSnapDragon 845
Design Process7nm10nm
Architecture64-bit64-bit
CPU6-core processor (2x Performance cores + 4x Efficiency cores)8 x Kryo 385 CPU up to 2.8GHz
GPUApple Designed 4-core GPUQualcomm Adreno 630 Visual Processing Subsystem
CameraApple’s ISPQualcomm Spectra 280 ISP
ChargingWireless charging, Normal Charging via USBQualcomm Quick Charge 4+
SecurityNeural Engine for Face IDFace, Fingerprint, Iris, Voice

Also read: Snapdragon 845 vs Kirin 980

Apple A12 Bionic

  • Design Process: 7nm
  • Architecture: 64-bit
  • CPU: 6-core processor (2x Performance cores + 4x Efficiency cores)
  • GPU: Apple Designed 4-core GPU
  • Camera: Apple’s ISP
  • Charging: Wireless charging, Normal Charging via USB
  • Security: Neural Engine for FaceID.

SnapDragon 845

  • Design Process: 10nm
  • Architecture: 64-bit
  • CPU: 8 x Kryo 385 CPU up to 2.8GHz
  • GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 630 Visual Processing Subsystem
  • Camera: Qualcomm Spectra 280 ISP
  • Charging: Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+
  • Security: Face, Fingerprint, Iris, Voice

Also read: Why the iPhone has a Notch and why Pixel 3 XL’s doesn’t make much sense

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah is a Computer Science graduate who writes/edits/shoots/codes all things cybersecurity, gaming, and tech hardware. When he's not, he streams himself racing virtual cars. He's been writing and reporting on tech and cybersecurity with websites like Candid.Technology and MakeUseOf since 2018. You can contact him here: yadullahabidi@pm.me.

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