Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 vs Apple M1

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CPU comparison with benchmarks

-VS-

CPU lineage

Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 – which processor offers superior performance? In this comparison, we examine disparities and assess which of these two CPUs outperforms the other. We delve into technical specifications and benchmark outcomes.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q1/2021 and belongs to the 6 generation of the Qualcomm Snapdragon series.
The Apple M1 features 8 processor cores and has the capability to manage 8 threads concurrently.
It was released in Q4/2020 and belongs to the 1 generation of the Apple M series series.
Mobile Segment Mobile
Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 Name Apple M1
Qualcomm Snapdragon Family Apple M series
6 Generation 1
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855/860 Group Apple M1
 
 

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 2.96 GHz.
The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.
The Apple M1 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.
The clock frequency of the A-Core is 3.2 GHz.
Processors with hybrid (big.LITTLE) architecture strike a balance between performance and power efficiency, making them ideal for mobile devices.
4x Kryo 485 Silver Cores C None
1.8 GHz C-Core Frequency None
2.42 GHz B-Core Frequency 2.06 GHz
2.96 GHz A-Core Frequency 3.2 GHz
3x Kryo 485 Gold Cores B 4x Icestorm
1x Kryo 485 Prime Cores A 4x Firestorm
No Overclocking No
hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
8 Threads 8
No Hyperthreading No
8 CPU Cores 8
 
 

Internal Graphics

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 uses the Qualcomm Adreno 640, which has 384 texture shaders
and 4 execution units.
The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.
The Apple M1 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short.
Specifically, the Apple M1 uses the Apple M1 (8 Core), which has 1024 texture shaders
and 128 execution units.
0.25 GHz GPU frequency 1.3 GHz
Q1/2019 Release date Q4/2020
12.0 Direct X --
Qualcomm Adreno 640 GPU name Apple M1 (8 Core)
7 nm Technology 5 nm
-- Max. displays --
384 Shaders 1024
4.0 GB Max. GPU Memory 8.0 GB
4 Execution units 128
5 Generation 1
0.68 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
 
 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 11 TOPS
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
 
 

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.
No AVC Decode
No VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode VP8 Decode
Decode / Encode h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No JPEG Decode / Encode
No AV1 No
 
 

Memory & PCIe

The processor supports a maximum memory capacity of 16.0 GB distributed across 2 memory channels. It offers a peak memory bandwidth of 68.2 GB/s. Both the type and quantity of memory can have a substantial impact on the overall system performance.
4 Memory channels 2
16.0 GB Max. Memory 16.0 GB
pci PCIe pci
No AES-NI Yes
No ECC No
-- Bandwidth 68.2 GB/s
LPDDR4X-2133 Memory type LPDDR4X-4266
 
 

Thermal Management

TDP indicates the cooling solution needed to effectively manage the processor's heat. It generally provides an approximate indication of the actual power consumption of the CPU itself.
The processor has a thermal design power (TDP) of 15 W watts.
None TDP up 20 W
-- Tjunction max --
None TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
None TDP down 10 W
 
 

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 is manufactured using a 7 nm process.
A smaller manufacturing process indicates a more contemporary and energy-efficient CPU.
In total, this processor boasts a generous 3.0 MB cache.
A substantial cache can significantly enhance the processor's performance, particularly in scenarios like gaming.
The Apple M1 is manufactured using a 5 nm process.
Q1/2021 Release date Q4/2020
SM8150-AC Part Number APL 1102
2.0 MB L2-Cache 16.0 MB
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Kryo 485 Architecture M1
7 nm Technology 5 nm
Socket
Android Operating systems macOS
-- Release price --
Technical data sheet Documents Technical data sheet
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
3.0 MB L3-Cache 0 bytes