Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: Apple and Qualcomm are among the best chipset makers in the mobile industry. Apple recently released its new A16 Bionic chipset and this is in direct competition with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. Smartphones powered by both chipsets are very powerful but between the A16 Bionic and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip which is better?
In this Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 specs comparison, we’ll be talking about the CPU cores, GPU cores, AI, NPU, and power efficiency of these two chipsets compares to each other. So this comparison is not just about which is more powerful but also which is the more power-efficient chipset.
See Also: Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic: Small but important upgrades
Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1
Process Technology & Power Management
The Apple A16 Bionic and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipsets are built on a 4nm process technology. This means the components of these chipsets are close and these chipsets can send and receive data between components very fast. Even though both chipsets are built on the same 4nm fabrication process, the A16 Bionic is better.
According to Apple, the CPU performance of the A16 Bionic chipset is about 20% better than that of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Apple also said that the power efficiency of the A16 Bionic is also about 10-15% better than the one in the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. This means the A16 Bionic chipset process data faster and manages heat better.
See Also: Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and 4 Gen 1 for mid-range phones
Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: CPU
| Core | A16 Bionic | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| Power Cores | 2x Everest (High-performance) | 1x Cortex-X2 |
| Speed | 3.46 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Efficiency | 4x Sawtooth (Energy-efficient) | 3x Cortex-A710 4x Cortex-A510 |
| ISP | Photonic Engine | Qualcomm Spectra |
| Speed | 2.00GHz | 2.75GHz 2.0GHz |
| 5G MODEM | X65 MODEM | X65 MODEM |
The A16 Bionic features a Hexa-core (6-core CPU) while the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 features an Octa-core CPU (8-core CPU). The A16 Bionic has two power cores (2x Everest) with a speed clocked at 3.46GHz and four efficiency cores (4x Sawtooth) with a speed clocked of 2.00GHz. In contrast, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has one power core (1x Cortex-X2) with a speed clocked at 3.2GHz, three big efficiency cores (3x Cortex-A710) with a speed clocked at 2.75GHz, and four small efficiency cores (4x Cortex-A510) with a speed clocked at 2.00GHz.
The two power cores of the A16 Bionic chipset are faster than the one power core of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Although the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has more CPU cores, the CPU cores of the A16 Bionic are faster and well-optimized for Apple iPhones and this makes them perform faster.
| Geekbench | A16 Bionic | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| Multi-core | 5455 | 4199 |
| Single-core | 1887 | 1316 |
See Also: Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 vs Apple A15 Bionic: Which is Better?
Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: GPU
The Apple A16 Bionic features the Apple GPU (5-core graphics) while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 features the Adreno 730 GPU. The Adreno 730 GPU of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is very powerful when it comes to rendering graphics. But, the Apple GPU (5-core graphics) can perform at its optimum consistently for a long time because of its high level of power efficiency.
The Adreno 730 GPU also consumes more power when it renders graphics (9.7watts compared to 7watts on A16 Bionic). So, activities like playing graphics-intensive games on a phone powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 will drain the battery more compared to the same activity on an Apple iPhone 14 Pro.
See Also: Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 1: Chipset Comparison
Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: ISP
The Image Signal Processing (ISP) on the A16 Bionic is the Photonic Engine while that of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is the Qualcomm Spectra. The ISP on the Qualcomm chipset does more than the one on the Apple chipset. The ISP on the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is a Triple 18-bit ISPs and thus can record videos using three camera sensors at once.
The Qualcomm Spectra can also support up to a 200MP camera sensor while the Photonic Engine currently supports a 48MP camera sensor. Both ISPs allow devices to record videos in RAW format and support Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, etc. The ISP on the Snapdragon chipset has been confirmed to record videos in 8K resolution while the A Bionic chipset is not confirmed (still records videos at 4K resolution).
See Also: Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 to tackle MediaTek chipset
Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: Connectivity
The connectivity options available on both chipsets are very similar. Both chipsets are equipped with the X65 5G MODEM and phones powered by these two chips have peak download speeds of 10Gbps. Other connectivity options available on both chipsets are NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, Ultra Wideband (UWB) support, an online payment system, etc. But only the Apple A16 Bionic chipset has support for the Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving) connectivity feature.
Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: Verdict
So, between the A16 Bionic and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is better? Well, this Apple A16 Bionic vs Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 comparison has shown that the Apple A16 Bionic chipset is faster and more power efficient. But when it comes to cameras and connectivity options, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is better.
This basically means that iPhones powered by the A16 Bionic chipset will be faster and will manage heat better than smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. On the other hand, phones powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset will have more camera features and connectivity options.
