Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: Which is better

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: Performance has been one o the areas where Apple iPhones appear to be better than android phones. And this is mostly because, over the past three years, Apple has been powering the iPhones with the best chipset in the market the latest of which is the Apple A16 Bionic. Well, Qualcomm just introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and phones that’ll feature this chipset might be as powerful as the iPhones that feature the A16 Bionic chipset.

In the chipset market, it’s not always easy to compete with Apple because of the superb integration its chip has with the iPhones. But, Qualcomm is trying to bridge the gap with this new Snapdragon chipset. So, in this Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Dimensity 9200 specs comparison, I’ll be comparing the features of both chipsets and sharing with you just how powerful the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset is compared to the A16 Bionic chip.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic

Specs	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2	Apple A16 Bionic
Process	4nm	4nm
Performance Core	1x 3.2GHz-Cortex-X3	2x 3.46GHz-Everest
Prime Cores	2x 2.8GHz-Cortex-A715 2x 2.8GHz-Cortex-A710
Efficiency Cores	3x 2.0GHz- Cortex-A510	4x 2.02GHz-Sawtooth
GPU	Adreno 740	Apple GPU (5 core graphics)
ISP	Qualcomm Spectra	Photonic Engine
5G MODEM	X70 5G Modem	X65 MODEM

Process Technology & Power Management

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Apple A16 Bionic are 5G chipsets that are built on the second generation of TSMC’s 4nm process technology. The power management on the Snapdragon chipset has improved compared to its last generation but it’s still not as good as that of the A16 Bionic chipset.

The Apple chipset has Hexa-core (6 CPU cores) and four of those are dedicated to managing power. On the other hand, the Snapdragon chipset has Octa-core (8 CPU cores) and three of those are dedicated to managing power. So you can understand why the A16 Bionic chipset has better power management than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.

But there is another area where the Snapdragon chipset makes up for this lapse and I’ll explain that in the CPU section below. But for now, just understand that if you’re playing games on phones powered by both chipsets, the Apple iPhones will perform consistently for a longer time.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: CPU

Apple A16 Bionic chip cores — *Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Apple A16 Bionic*

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 features an octa-core CPU and the Apple A16 Bionic chipset features a Hexa-core CPU. The CPU cores and architecture on both chipsets are different.

The Apple A16 Bionic has two performance cores (2x Everest) with a CPU speed of 3.46GHz and four efficiency cores (4x Sawtooth) with a CPU speed of 2.02GHz. In comparison, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has one performance core (1x Cortex-X3) with a CPU speed of 3.2GHz, four prime cores (2x Cortex-A715 & 2x Cortex-A710) with a CPU speed of 2.8GHz, and three efficiency cores (3x Cortex-A510) with a CPU speed of 2.0GHz.

The Apple chipset has two performance cores that have faster frequency and its four efficiency cores are also better. Although the efficiency cores of the Snapdragon chipset are not as good as that of the Apple chipset, its performance core and prime cores make up for that lapse. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has one performance core and four prime cores and this results in faster performance of the chipset.

So, when we ran benchmark tests on phones that are powered by both chipsets, the performance is pretty close. On Geekbench v5, the Appl 16 Bionic has better Multi-core and Single-core scores but on AnTuTu, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has a better score. See details of benchmark tests below.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: Geekbench and AnTuTu scores

Geekbench	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2	Apple A16 Bionic
Multi-core	4712	5455
Single-core	1486	1887
AnTuTu	1293416	978152

Scores may vary depending on the device used and other factors

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: GPU & AI

The GPU inside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Apple A16 Bionic is Adreno 740 and Apple GPU (5 core graphics) respectively. GPUs in both chipsets are very powerful and can render graphics fast. When it comes to playing graphics-intensive games, phones powered by both chipsets will be awesome without any issues. However, the Snapdragon chipset features Real-Time Ray Tracing and other new features that improve the gaming experience on phones by the chipset.

As per AI, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has the Qualcomm Hexagon Processor AI engine and the Apple A16 Bionic has the Neural AI engine. The AI engines on both chipsets are very powerful and support lots of impressive features like Live Translation, improving gaming performance, and assisting the ISP to produce better photos and videos.

The more impressive thing about the AI capabilities on these chipsets is that the AI engine integrates well with the CPU, GPU, and ISP. This allows for better performance of the CPU, GPU, and ISP and improves the overall performance of the chipsets. When taking photos, the AI engines on these chipsets enhance the quality and improve the processing time.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: ISP

The Image Signal Processing (ISP) on the Apple A16 Bionic is the Photonic Engine while that of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is the Qualcomm Spectra. The ISP on both chipsets have similar features like support for recording videos in RAW format and supporting Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, 8K video recording, etc. But, the Photonic Engine of the A16 Bionic chipset only supports up to 48MP sensor while the Qualcomm Spectra supports up to 200MP sensor.

The ISP on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 can also capture and stream HDR videos using multiple cameras at once which the ISP on the A16 Bionic can not do. However, the ISP on the A16 Bionic chipset has one of the best video stabilization features you’ll see in a modern-day smartphone known as “Action Mode”.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: Connectivity

There are lots of connectivity options available on both chipsets. Connectivity options on both chipsets include a 5G network, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7, GPS, Ultra Wideband (UWB) support, an online payment system, Sub 6 GHz 5G, mmWave 5G, Radio, etc.

The 5G MODEM in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is Qualcomm’s X70 5G Modem while that of the Dimensty 9200 is the Qualcomm’s X65 5G MODEM. The peak download speed of the 5G MODEM on both chipsets is 10Gbps while the peak upload speed is about 5Gbps.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 vs Apple A16 Bionic: Verdict

The Apple A16 Bionic chipset is still probably the best chipset in a mobile phone even in 2023 but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is not far behind. Qualcomm has bridged the gap between these chipsets because of the new arrangement of its CPU cores, the new GPU features, the new AI features, and the new ISP.

While the Snapdragon chipset might not be as powerful as the Apple chipset, one can argue that it’s more useful than the Apple chipset. The reason for such an argument is that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset has some new features that are not available in the A16 Bionic.

Buy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Phone

vivo iQOO 11	Price
Buy on Giztop	€699.00

Buy Apple A16 Bionic iPhone

iPhone 14 Pro Max	Price
Buy on Amazon(UK)	$1099
Buy on Amazon(EUR)	€1,499