MediaTek Dimensity 9000 vs Apple A18
MediaTek Dimensity 9000
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The MediaTek Dimensity 9000 is a high-end SoC with an integrated 5G modem. It includes one fast Cortex-X2 core with up to 3 GHz, three more A710 cores with up to 2.85 GHz and four power efficiency cores (Cortex-A510) with upto 1.8 GHz. The SoC is manufactured in the new 4nm process at TSMC. All CPU cores can together use 8 MB of level 3 cache and 6 MB of System Level Cache (SLC).
The integrated quad channel memory controller supports LPDDR5X with 7500 Mbps. The integrated GPU is an ARM Mali-G710 MC10 (10 of the 16 possible cores).
The Dimensity 9000 is one of the first chips to be produced in the modern 4nm process at TSMC
Apple A18
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The Apple A18 is a powerful smartphone processor and formal successor to the A16. This new member of the Apple A processor series debuted in September 2024 alongside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus; it features 2 performance cores and 4 efficient cores along with a 35 TOPS NPU and the 5-core A18 GPU.
The chip is normally paired with 8 GB of RAM. It is said to be in large part based on the v9.2A ARM microarchitecture for near-Apple M4 IPC. 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, various satellite navigation systems and NFC are all supported here.
The more expensive A18 Pro SoC has the same 2 P-cores and 4 E-cores running at slightly higher clock speeds; its graphics adapter is on the other hand significantly faster than what the A18 has. Another crucial little detail is that USB 3.x support is either missing, or disabled somehow on the A18 for USB 2.0 speeds only whereas the A18 Pro has no such issue.
Performance
Multi-threaded benchmarks put it in the same ballpark as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the Dimensity 9300. As expected from Apple, the A-series processor delivers breathtaking single-thread performance that just about matches the significantly more power-hungry Apple M3 chip. This suggests the P-cores can almost hit the 4 GHz mark when required.
Graphics
Like any modern graphics adapter, the 5-core A18 GPU is RT-enabled. It delivers benchmark scores that are most comparable to the G715 MP11 and the G615 MP6.
Power consumption
It appears the chip is able to briefly consume up to about 9 W when under high load, with average sustained power consumption figures hovering around 3-4 W.
The pretty modern TSMC N3E manufacturing process makes the A-series chip very power-efficient, as of late 2024.
| Model | MediaTek Dimensity 9000 | Apple A18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Codename | Cortex-X2 / A710 / A510 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series | Mediatek Dimensity 9000 | Apple Apple A-Series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clock | 1800 - 3050 MHz | <=3800 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L3 Cache | 14 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cores / Threads | 8 / 8 1 x 3.1 GHz ARM Cortex-X2 3 x 2.9 GHz ARM Cortex-A710 4 x 1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A510 | 6 / 6 2 x Apple A18 P-Core 4 x 4.0 GHz Apple A18 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology | 4 nm | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | 1x ARM Cortex-X2 (3.05 GHz), 3x A710 (2.85 GHz), 4x ARM Cortex-A510 (1.8 GHz), ARM Mali-G710 MC10, APU 590, Imagiq 790, 5G Modem (3GPP Release-16), LPDDR5X 7500 Mbps | 16-core Neural Engine, USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iGPU | ARM Mali-G710 MP10 | Apple A18 GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | ARM | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announced | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | www.mediatek.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series: Apple A-Series |
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| L2 Cache | 4 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TDP Turbo PL2 | 9 Watt |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks MediaTek Dimensity 9000 → 100% n=10
Average Benchmarks Apple A18 → 166% n=10
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
