Apple A10 Fusion VS Apple A9 — differences in specs

Comparison of video cards Apple A10 Fusion vs Apple A9 in benchmarks and specifications.

Differences Specifications Benchmarks

Differences

Top features of Apple A9

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Higher clock speed

1.85 GHz 1.30 GHz

Around -42% better clock speed

Top features of Apple A10 Fusion

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More number of cores

4 2

2 times more cores

Specifications

Complete list of technical specifications

Apple A9 Apple A10 Fusion

CPU generation and family

Let's find out which one of Apple A9 and Apple A10 Fusion is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

Specification	Value
Name	Apple A9 Apple A10 Fusion
Segment	Mobile Mobile
Family	Apple A series Apple A series
Generation	9 10
CPU group	Apple A9/A9X Apple A10/A10X
Predecessor	Apple A8 Apple A9
Successor	Apple A10 Fusion Apple A11 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

In this block we are going to compare Apple A9 vs Apple A10 Fusion by main technical specifications: number of cores and threads, base and maximum frequencies, process technology and cache size. The higher these specifications are, the more powerful your CPU will be.

Specification	Value
Frequency	1.85 GHz 1.30 GHz
CPU Cores	2 4
Turbo (1 Core)	No turbo 2.34 GHz
CPU Threads	2 4
Hyperthreading	No No
Overclocking	No No
Core architecture	normal hybrid (big.LITTLE)
A core	2x Twister 2x Hurricane
B core	-- 2x Zephyr

Internal Graphics

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple A9 and Apple A10 Fusion along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

Specification	Value
GPU name	Apple A9 Apple A10
GPU frequency	0.65 GHz 0.90 GHz
GPU (Turbo)	No turbo No turbo
Execution units	6 6
Shader	192 192
Max. GPU Memory	4 GB 4 GB
Max. displays	1 1
Generation	6 7
Technology	16 nm 16 nm
Release date	Q3/2015 Q3/2016

Hardware codec support

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple A9 and Apple A10 Fusion. Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

Specification	Value
h265 / HEVC (8 bit)	No Decode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit)	No Decode
h264	Decode Decode / Encode
VP9	No Decode
VP8	Decode Decode
AV1	No No
AVC	Decode Decode
VC-1	Decode Decode
JPEG	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

To choose the best model between Apple A9 and Apple A10 Fusion you need to pay special attention to memory type, clock frequency, multi-channel features, and PCIe version. The higher these numbers are, the better your CPU will be. Keep in mind that the maximum memory and frequency may also depend on the model of the motherboard.

Specification	Value
Memory type	LPDDR4-3200 LPDDR4-3200
Max. Memory	2 GB 3 GB
ECC	No No
Memory channels	1 1

Encryption

AES-NI encryption support for CPUs Apple A9 and Apple A10 Fusion.

Specification	Value
AES-NI	No No

Thermal Management

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple A9 or Apple A10 Fusion? The Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicates the maximum amount of heat that should be dissipated by the chip cooling system. However, the value of TDP gives only a rough indication of the real power consumption of the CPU.

Specification	Value
TDP (PL1)	5 W 5 W

Technical details

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple A9 and Apple A10 Fusion CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

Specification	Value
Instruction set (ISA)	x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
Virtualization	None None
L2-Cache	3.00 MB 4.00 MB
L3-Cache	4.00 MB --
Architecture	A9 A10
Technology	16 nm 10 nm
Socket	N/A N/A
Release date	Q3/2015 Q3/2016