Apple A9 vs Apple A11 Bionic

Comparative analysis of Apple A9 and Apple A11 Bionic processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Graphics, Compatibility. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark.

 

Differences

Reasons to consider the Apple A11 Bionic

  • CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 0 month(s) later
  • 4 more cores, run more applications at once: 6 vs 2
  • 4 more threads: 6 vs 2
  • Around 29% higher clock speed: 2.39 GHz vs 1.85 GHz
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 10 nm vs 16 nm
  • 3x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
  • 2.7x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
  • Around 50% higher maximum memory size: 3 GB vs 2 GB
  • Around 12% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1324 vs 1187
  • 2.1x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 4419 vs 2067
Specifications (specs)
Launch date 22 Sep 2017 vs 9 Sep 2015
Number of cores 6 vs 2
Number of threads 6 vs 2
Maximum frequency 2.39 GHz vs 1.85 GHz
Manufacturing process technology 10 nm vs 16 nm
L1 cache 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data (per core) vs 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data (per core)
L2 cache 8 MB (shared) vs 3 MB (shared)
Maximum memory size 3 GB vs 2 GB
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark 1324 vs 1187
PassMark - CPU mark 4419 vs 2067

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Apple A9
CPU 2: Apple A11 Bionic

PassMark - Single thread mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
1187
1324
PassMark - CPU mark
CPU 1
CPU 2
2067
4419
Name Apple A9 Apple A11 Bionic
PassMark - Single thread mark 1187 1324
PassMark - CPU mark 2067 4419

Compare specifications (specs)

Apple A9 Apple A11 Bionic

Essentials

Architecture codename Twister Monsoon/Mistral
Launch date 9 Sep 2015 22 Sep 2017
OS Support iOS 9.0, iOS 15.7.5, iPadOS 16.4.1, tvOS 16.2 iOS 11.0, iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, tvOS 16.2
Place in performance rating 2057 1818
Processor Number APL1021 APL1W72
Vertical segment Mobile

Performance

Base frequency 1.85 GHz 1.19 GHz
L1 cache 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data (per core) 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data (per core)
L2 cache 3 MB (shared) 8 MB (shared)
L3 cache 4 MB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology 16 nm 10 nm
Maximum frequency 1.85 GHz 2.39 GHz
Number of cores 2 6
Number of threads 2 6
Transistor count 2 billion 4.3 billion

Memory

Max memory channels 1 1
Maximum memory bandwidth 25.6 GB/s 34.1 GB/s
Maximum memory size 2 GB 3 GB
Supported memory types LPDDR4-3200 LPDDR4X-4266

Graphics

Execution Units 24 12
Graphics base frequency 650 MHz 1066 MHz
iGPU core count 6 3
Processor graphics Custom PowerVR Series 7XT @ 650MHz

Compatibility

Max number of CPUs in a configuration 1
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 8 Watt