Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

The Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT GPU is an integrated graphics card in the Apple A9X SoC which can be found in the 2015 Apple iPad Pro. At the End of 2015 it is one of the fastest GPU in ARM based tablets (next to the Nvidia Tegra X1).

According to Chipworks, the GPU offers 12 shader clusters (384 ALUs) and therefore twice as many as the A9 (6 clusters, 192 ALUs) in the iPhone 6S. Currently there is no marketing name for the 12 shader version and it seems to be a custom variant for Apple. It is manufactured in 14/16 nm (3D transistors) at TSMC and Samsung (according to rumors).

The performance of the GPU is very good and in GFXBench the results are even better than a current GeForce 940M laptop graphics card. However, the direct comparisons of different platforms should only give a rough indication on the speed. Thanks to the Metal API, the iPad is able to use the graphics hardware very efficiently.

Benchmarks

3DMark - Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score 1280x720 offscreen

min: 50084     avg: 50604     median: 50604 (11%)     max: 51124 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			50084
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			51124

PowerVR SGX531 -99%

...

Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 -15%

Intel HD Graphics 510 -14%

Intel HD Graphics (Haswell) -14%

Intel HD Graphics 4000 -12%

AMD Radeon R5 M320 -10%

AMD Radeon HD 8350G -8%

ARM Mali-G72 MP18 -6%

AMD Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge) -3%

AMD Radeon R7 (Bristol Ridge) -2%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo) 3%

Qualcomm Adreno 540 6%

AMD Radeon HD 8450G 9%

Intel HD Graphics 5300 10%

NVIDIA Tegra X1 Maxwell GPU 11%

AMD Radeon R5 (Bristol Ridge) 15%

Intel HD Graphics 5500 15%

NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M 16%

Intel HD Graphics 515 16%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 SLI (Laptop) 777%

0%

100%

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 1920x1080 +

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 - T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 1920x1080

min: 117.1     avg: 140.2     median: 140.2 (8%)     max: 163.2 fps

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			117.1
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			163.2

PowerVR SGX531 -100%

...

NVIDIA GeForce 930MX -11%

AMD Radeon R7 M270 -11%

NVIDIA GeForce 940M -9%

AMD Radeon R7 512 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) -9%

AMD Radeon R7 M260X -8%

NVIDIA Quadro M500M -8%

Intel UHD Graphics 620 -4%

Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 -2%

Intel HD Graphics 630 0%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 1%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 2%

ARM Mali-G72 MP18 4%

Qualcomm Adreno 630 7%

Apple A11 Bionic GPU 20%

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 22%

NVIDIA Quadro M520 27%

Intel Iris Graphics 540 31%

NVIDIA GeForce MX130 33%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q 874%

0%

100%

T-Rex HD Onscreen C24Z16 +

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7 - T-Rex HD Onscreen C24Z16

min: 59.3     avg: 59.4     median: 59.4 (13%)     max: 59.4 fps

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			59.3
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			59.4

PowerVR SGX531 -98%

...

Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 -2%

Apple A10 Fusion GPU / PowerVR -1%

AMD Radeon R7 M275DX -1%

AMD Radeon R6 M340DX -1%

Apple A10X Fusion GPU / PowerVR -1%

AMD Radeon HD 7660D -1%

Intel HD Graphics 4400 -1%

ARM Mali-G71 MP20 -1%

AMD Radeon HD 8650G -1%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

AMD Radeon R9 M370X 0%

AMD Radeon Pro 560 0%

ARM Mali-G72 MP12 0%

AMD Radeon R7 M360 1%

AMD Radeon Pro 455 1%

NVIDIA GeForce 945M 1%

AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo) 1%

AMD Radeon R9 Fury 1%

AMD Radeon R8 M365DX 1%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Notebook) 671%

0%

100%

GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Offscreen OGL off screen

min: 51     avg: 65.6     median: 65.6 (12%)     max: 80.1 fps

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			51
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			80.1

NVIDIA GeForce Tegra 4

...

ARM Mali-G72 MP12 -11%

Apple A10 Fusion GPU / PowerVR -8%

NVIDIA Quadro K620M -8%

NVIDIA GeForce 930M -8%

Intel HD Graphics 530 -8%

AMD Radeon R9 M370X -5%

NVIDIA GeForce 920MX -4%

Intel HD Graphics 510 -1%

Intel UHD Graphics 620 0%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

NVIDIA GeForce 940M 0%

NVIDIA GeForce 930MX 2%

NVIDIA Quadro M500M 4%

AMD Radeon Pro 560 7%

ARM Mali-G72 MP18 12%

NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 12%

Apple A11 Bionic GPU 17%

Qualcomm Adreno 630 20%

Intel Iris Graphics 540 31%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop) 731%

0%

100%

GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Onscreen OGL on screen

min: 33.3     avg: 34.2     median: 34.2 (9%)     max: 35.1 fps

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			33.3
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			35.1

PowerVR SGX544MP2

...

Intel HD Graphics 505 -15%

AMD Radeon R7 M370 -12%

Intel HD Graphics 5000 -12%

Intel HD Graphics 5500 -11%

AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 -9%

AMD Radeon R9 M370X -9%

AMD Radeon R5 (Stoney Ridge) -5%

Intel HD Graphics 405 (Braswell) -4%

AMD Radeon R9 Fury -1%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

AMD Radeon R9 M375 1%

AMD Radeon R6 M255DX 3%

Qualcomm Adreno 530 5%

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 8%

AMD Radeon R7 M260X 8%

ARM Mali-G71 MP20 14%

NVIDIA GeForce 910M 22%

AMD Radeon Pro 560 23%

NVIDIA GeForce 940M 23%

...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q 967%

0%

100%

PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - 2D Graphics Tests

min: 4072     avg: 4263     median: 4263 (23%)     max: 4454 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			4072
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			4454

PowerVR SGX543MP4 -94%

...

ARM Mali-T624 -13%

ARM Mali-T830 MP2 -13%

PowerVR G6400 -12%

ARM Mali-T760 MP2 -9%

ARM Mali-T880 MP2 -7%

Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) -5%

PowerVR G6200 -5%

ARM Mali-T628 MP6 -4%

NVIDIA GeForce Tegra 4 -2%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

Qualcomm Adreno 418 11%

Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600 13%

Qualcomm Adreno 430 16%

ARM Mali-T760 MP8 18%

Apple A10X Fusion GPU / PowerVR 21%

NVIDIA Tegra X1 Maxwell GPU 22%

NVIDIA Tegra K1 Kepler GPU 28%

Qualcomm Adreno 530 29%

Apple A10 Fusion GPU / PowerVR 40%

...

Intel HD Graphics 615 335%

0%

100%

PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - 3D Graphics Tests

min: 1174     avg: 1175     median: 1175 (25%)     max: 1176 Points

+ 2 benchmarks and specifications- 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	CPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Pro 12.9	A9X	4096 MB			1174
Apple iPad Pro 9.7	A9X	2048 MB			1176

Qualcomm Adreno 200 -70%

...

ARM Mali-T720 MP2 -16%

PowerVR G6200 -15%

Qualcomm Adreno 505 -12%

ARM Mali-T624 -9%

ARM Mali-450 MP4 -9%

ARM Mali-T880 MP2 -8%

PowerVR G6400 -7%

PowerVR SGX544MP2 -4%

PowerVR GXA6850 -1%

Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT

ARM Mali-T830 MP2 1%

Apple A10X Fusion GPU / PowerVR 1%

ARM Mali-T628 MP4 3%

ARM Mali-G71 MP2 5%

Intel HD Graphics (Bay Trail) 6%

ARM Mali-T760 MP2 8%

Qualcomm Adreno 330 13%

PowerVR G6430 16%

NVIDIA GeForce Tegra 4 17%

...

ARM Mali-G72 MP18 307%

0%

100%

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Notebook reviews with Apple A9X / PowerVR Series 7XT graphics card

Apple iPad Pro 12.9: Apple A9X, 12.9", 0.7 kg
  Review » Apple iPad Pro Tablet Review

Apple iPad Pro 9.7: Apple A9X, 9.7", 0.4 kg
  Review » Apple iPad Pro 9.7 Tablet Review

Apple iPad Pro 12.9: Apple A9X, 12.9", 0.7 kg
  External Review » Apple iPad Pro

Apple iPad Pro 9.7: Apple A9X, 9.7", 0.4 kg
  External Review » Apple iPad Pro 9.7