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Apple A9

Apple A9

The Apple A9 is a high-end dual-core ARM SoC for smartphones. It was announced in Sept. 2015 in the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Technical details were not published, but the CPU part should be about 70% and the GPU 90% faster than the previous Apple A8. Therefore, the performance should be on par with high-end Android SoCs in 2015.

It is based on the third generation of Apples 64 Bit architectures (Cyclone 3?) and uses a "new transistor technology". It is manufactured at Samsung in 14nm (slightly smaller die) and TSMC at 16nm (both FINFET 3D transistors). A performance difference of both versions are not noticable.

Furthermore, the chip now integrates the M9 motion coprocessor and a 4K video de- and encoder (as the iPhones 6s supports 4K video recording). The integrated graphics card should be still based on PowerVR technology.

The power consumption could be lower than the A8 due to the new process technology and the fact that the iPhones now got a smaller battery (due to the haptic engine part).

SeriesApple
CodenameCyclone 3

Series: Cyclone 3

Apple A9X compare2.26 GHz2 / 2 cores Cyclone 3
Apple A9 « 1.8 GHz2 / 2 cores Cyclone 3
Clock Rate1800 MHz
Number of Cores / Threads2 / 2
Manufacturing Technology14/16 nm
FeaturesARMv8 Instruction Set
GPUApple A9 / PowerVR GT7600
64 Bit64 Bit support
ArchitectureARM
Announcement Date09/09/2015

Benchmarks

Linpack Android / IOS - Linpack Single Thread
min: 669     avg: 677     median: 677 (66%)     max: 685 MFLOPS
PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - PerformanceTest Mobile V1 CPU Tests
min: 46285     avg: 48479     median: 48849 (6%)     max: 49934 Points
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

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#5 getting avg benchmarks for device 7085 +0.003s ... 0.047s

#6 got single benchmarks 7085 +0.011s ... 0.058s

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#8 min, max, avg, median took s +0.368s ... 0.426s

#9 return log +0.027s ... 0.453s

Reviews for the Apple A9 processor

Apple iPad (2017) Tablet Review

Apple iPad (2017) Tablet Review

Just recycling? Apple did not even hold a keynote for its latest tablet model. All we got was a press release. We think: That is enough for the Apple iPad (2017...
Apple A9 | Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 | 9.70" | 478 g
Apple iPhone SE Smartphone Review

Apple iPhone SE Smartphone Review

Power dwarf. The less expensive versions of the iPhone have not been a real success so far. This could change with the iPhone SE, because it is very fast, endur...
Apple A9 | Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 | 4.00" | 113 g
Apple iPhone 6S Plus Smartphone Review

Apple iPhone 6S Plus Smartphone Review

Bigger and better. Sounds disrespectful, but it is just a pun. The latest Apple iPhone 6S Plus is all about the touch as part of the new handling concept called...
Apple A9 | Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 | 5.50" | 192 g
Apple iPhone 6S Smartphone Review

Apple iPhone 6S Smartphone Review

The 3D Midas touch. No disrespect intended for the Apple iPhone 6S, but rather to point out the new control concept 3D Touch, which is one of the most importan...
Apple A9 | Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 | 4.70" | 143 g
Apple iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus First Impressions

Apple iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus First Impressions

Touch me harder! This is what the new iPhones are about – the touch. At least in terms of the handling with 3D Touch. The new Apple smartphones are obviously fa...
Apple A9 | Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 | 4.70" | 143 g

Apple iPad (2017): Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600, 9.70", 0.5 kg
  External Review » Apple iPad (2017)

Apple iPhone SE: Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600, 4.00", 0.1 kg
  External Review » Apple iPhone SE

Apple iPhone 6S Plus: Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600, 5.50", 0.2 kg
  External Review » Apple iPhone 6S Plus

Apple iPhone 6S: Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600, 4.70", 0.1 kg
  External Review » Apple iPhone 6S

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» Mobile CPU Comparison
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Surrounding CPUs

+ Mediatek MT8183
   8x 2 GHz
+ Samsung Exynos 7420 Octa
   8x 2.1 GHz
+ Mediatek Helio X25 MTK6797T
   10x 2.5 GHz
+ Nvidia Tegra X1
   8x 2 GHz
» Apple A9
   2x 1.8 GHz
- Intel Atom x7-Z8700
   4x 1.6 GHz - 2.4 GHz
- Samsung Exynos 850
   8x - 2 GHz
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > Notebook Processors > Apple A9 Smartphone SoC
Klaus Hinum (Update: 2015-09-11)