HiSilicon Kirin 920 vs Apple A8. Specifications, performance, tests

Comprehensive background on the processors being compared, detailing their series, generation, and targeted market segment.

• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Family
  HiSilicon Kirin Apple A series
• Generation
  2 8
• CPU group
  HiSilicon Kirin 920 Apple A8/A8X
• Predecessor
  -- Apple A7
• Successor
  -- Apple A9

Essential parameters including the number of cores, threads, base and turbo frequencies, and cache size. These metrics provide insight into the processor’s speed—higher values generally indicate better performance.

• Frequency
  1.30 GHz 1.10 GHz
• CPU Cores
  8 2
• Turbo (1 Core)
  1.70 GHz 1.50 GHz
• CPU Threads
  8 2
• Hyperthreading
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) normal
• A core
  4x Cortex-A15 2x Typhoon
• B core
  4x Cortex-A7 --

The integrated graphics (iGPU) do not influence the CPU performance significantly; they serve as a substitute for a dedicated graphics card in the absence of one or are utilized in mobile devices.

• GPU name
  ARM Mali-T628 MP4 Apple A8
• GPU frequency
  0.60 GHz 0.53 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  0.60 GHz No turbo
• Execution units
  4 4
• Shader
  64 128
• Max. GPU Memory
  -- 4 GB
• Max. displays
  1 1
• Generation
  Midgard 2 5
• DirectX Version
  11
• Technology
  32nm 20 nm
• Release date
  Q4/2012 Q3/2014

This section details the built-in codecs used for encoding and decoding media content, which significantly enhance processing speed and efficiency.

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

Overview of the types and quantities of RAM supported by Apple A8 and HiSilicon Kirin 920. The supported memory frequencies may vary depending on the motherboard configuration.

• Memory type
  LPDDR3-1600 LPDDR3-1600
• Max. Memory
  2 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  2 1

• AES-NI
  No No

Analyze the TDP (Thermal Design Power) requirements of HiSilicon Kirin 920 and Apple A8 to make an informed decision on the appropriate cooling system. Remember that TDP refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  5 W

Information on architecture, interfaces, and additional instructions supported by HiSilicon Kirin 920 and Apple A8, including virtual machine technologies and fabrication processes.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv7-A32 (32 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  None None
• L2-Cache
  -- 1.00 MB
• L3-Cache
  -- 4.00 MB
• Architecture
  Cortex-A15 / Cortex-A7 A8
• Technology
  28 nm 20 nm
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• Release date
  Q3/2014 Q3/2014