The Apple A9 dual-core microprocessor from the already distant 2015 is, first of all, interesting because it was developed on two different technical processes - 14 and 16 nanometers. And secondly, it was used not only in the iPhone, but also in the iPad.
A9 performance and architecture
- The A9 microprocessor runs on a 64-bit third-generation Cyclone architecture.
- Equipped with a powerful exchange bus with 128-bit RAM.
- If we are talking about the iPhone 6S and 6S plus generations, then they use the then advanced LPDDR4 RAM of 2 gigabytes.
- The A9 is equipped with quite a large amount of L2 and L3 cache (3 and 8 MB respectively) and a significant frequency for mobile processors of 1.8 GHz. This allows it and smartphones equipped with it to remain relevant in terms of performance in most tasks, despite only 2 physical microprocessor cores. And coupled with a very “competent” and well-developed architecture, the A9 outperformed its 4 and even 8-core competitors in performance.
A9 at one time more than adequately competed with solutions based on mobile processors from the "mastodons" AMD and Intel, even in terms of the characteristics of the crystal itself, and not only coupled with Apple's proprietary quality and design.
The processor has its own integrated graphics core, using 192 unified graphics processors (for example, older models had only 128). This gives more than enough graphics power for a mobile phone, allowing you to play most mobile games up to the 2017-2018 release.
Photo: Specifications Apple A9 Devices with A9 "on board"
Apple iPad (2017)
An excellent iPad, the first to have, in addition to the usual one, also a budget version not from the “mini” series. The budget version was obtained by reducing the memory to 32 gigabytes of permanent memory (128 GB in the full set).
Everything you need for an affordable, easy-to-use desktop tablet:
- Large, 9.7-inch screen.
- WiFi support.
- 32 or 128 gigabytes of memory.
- Support for mobile networks.
Of the minuses, one can single out only:
- the presence of an air gap between the protective glass and the screen;
- lack of support for the Apple Pencil, reserved specifically for the pro series.
iPhone 6S and 6S Plus
The main difference between the S-ki and the sixth iPhone, in addition to the new A9 processor, is support for 3D Touch technology, licked from its own technology for Macbooks Force Touch, which allows the screen to:
- not only recognize gestures and touches;
- detect and respond to pressure on the screen.
From classic changes:
- significant camera improvement;
- increase in battery life, despite the fact that the battery capacity has been reduced.
Apparently, the reduction in the process technology has benefited.
In turn, the iPhone 9 Plus is truly the first monstrous-sized smartphone that was designed for people who are ready to overpay a little, but use the smartphone also as a kind of tablet, made an impression.
iPhone SE
Despite the fact that the SE’s ideological predecessor, the iPhone 5C, did not bring the company the profit that Apple expected, it was decided to resurrect the idea of a compact, with a screen diagonal of only 4 inches and a budget iPhone in a new incarnation.
Ars Technica has extensively tested the latest iPad Pro tablet and concluded that the Apple A9X processor used in it is comparable in performance to some fifth and sixth generation Intel Core i5 chips.
Recall that the iPad Pro, which went on sale this week, has become the largest Apple tablet: its screen size is 12.9 inches (2732 × 2048 pixels). The device is equipped with a 64-bit A9X processor and an M9 motion co-processor. It is reported that the A9X includes only two computing cores with a frequency of 2.25 GHz. For comparison: the configuration of the A8X processor from the iPad Air 2 provides for the presence of three cores. And yet, the performance of the A9X is on top.
Apple itself claims that the A9X delivers a 22x improvement in overall performance compared to the chip in the original iPad. The speed increase of the graphics subsystem reaches 360 times.
Ars Technica presents the results of testing the iPad Pro tablet in the Geekbench benchmark in comparison with other Apple gadgets, as well as in comparison with devices endowed with Intel chips. Testing was conducted in single-core and multi-core configurations.
So, according to the results of Geekbench, the A9X bypasses all Apple chips without exception, including the tri-core A8X solution. And this applies to both single-core and multi-core configurations. Moreover, in terms of performance, the processor is quite comparable to Intel Core i5 U-series products related to the Broadwell and Skylake generations.
Not only can the processor have a different size in different batches of the iPhone 6s, but these chips also differ in energy efficiency.
More recently, it became known that the manufacturer installs in and - from and, and regardless of the smartphone model. Now it turned out that these chips work differently.
Processors from Samsung and TSMC differ from each other in size and manufacturing process. Naturally, the question arises, in what proportions these chips are used in the new Apple smartphone. It is especially relevant against the backdrop of the latest news. Initially, data appeared that the ratio of processors was approximately 60/40 in favor of TSMC. However, more recent information shows an almost even distribution of the two A9 models between the iPhone 6s.
Further delving into the topic, there is a desire to find out about the difference between the chips - is there a difference or can you basically calm down and not bother yourself too much? It turned out that according to the results of tests for energy efficiency of the processor, the product from Samsung consumes battery power faster than its counterpart from TSMC. Of course, these data come from few sources so far, and it cannot be argued that they are statistically reliable. Nevertheless, such tests attract the attention of an increasing number of users and become the topic of their discussions on specialized forums.
Probably the most revealing results were provided by one of the netizens Reddit, who compared the performance of two iPhone 6s Plus with different A9 processors on board using the Geekbench 3 test [download from the App Store]. According to its results, a smartphone with a TSMC chip lasted two hours longer than an iPhone with Samsung's A9 on board.
iPhone 6s Plus battery life test using Geekbench: TSMC processor on the left and Samsung processor on the right
I ran these tests a couple of times and the results were the same. The difference in work was two hours. I tested both phones using the same processes, with the same amount of memory filled and with the same settings. I also tried to compare their run time on clean iPhones [after resetting all settings and deleting content], the result was the same.
Reddit user on testing iPhone 6s Plus with Geekbench 3
The editors of MacRumors asked John Poole from Primate Labs, test developer, to comment on the results of the analysis. He noted that Samsung and TSMC use different chip manufacturing processes. In the case of Samsung's A9, we are dealing with a 14nm process, while TSMC uses a 16nm process to create the A9 chip. However, the difference in battery life in the described cases still surprised the engineer. After all, these processors still have similar performance indicators. For a more accurate analysis and understanding of the reasons for the differences between the processors from TSMC and Samsung, we will have to test them more carefully and meticulously.
The results of tests conducted using the Chinese site MyDrivers(they are also published on Reddit), characterize the operation of identical smartphones with different processors when launching browsers (JavaScript) and when playing videos. As in the case of Geekbench 3, MyDrivers test results showed that the iPhone 6s with Samsung's A9 chip runs out of battery faster. But the test using the AnTuTu application showed that due to the processor from Samsung, the smartphone also heats up a few degrees more.
TSMC iPhone 6s (left) and Samsung iPhone 6s (right); according to the results of 12 tests, the battery charge of the first is 77% versus the charge of the second is 71%
Based on the results of such tests, we can make a general conclusion that the A9 processors produced by TSMC are still somewhat superior to the similar product from Samsung. However, to officially confirm this, it is necessary to conduct many more different tests that examine the real performance of the chips themselves and the iPhone in which they are used.
In general, commentators on forums, including the MacRumors forum, talk about completely different test results. Although, the information received from them is very interesting. After all, it shows how new smartphones work in real conditions of everyday use.
Those who are interested in knowing what kind of processor is in their iPhone 6s can use the Lirum Device Info Lite app [download from the App Store]. In the tab Model Information this program displays which chip is installed in the device. It could be a Samsung processor N66AP in 6s Plus or N71AP in 6s) or from TSMC ( N66mAP in 6s Plus or N71mAP at 6s). [MacRumors]
Rate.
The AnTuTu benchmark is one of the main products used for synthetic testing of processors, including mobile ones. Recently, the benchmark was updated to version 6.0, which became the reason for another large-scale comparison of the speed of mobile processors, as well as existing flagship devices in general. It is quite expected that Apple products were among the leaders according to the results of testing.
The Apple A9 and A8X processors took the first two lines of the rating, and the gap between the chip installed in the iPhone 6S and all competitors is simply enormous. Apple's most advanced processor, the A9X chip used in the iPad Pro, was not tested. This is quite understandable: it is correct to compare it with "desktop" processors, and not with those used in mobile gadgets.
The results can be seen in this chart:
As for the tested devices, it is not difficult to guess the leadership of the iPhone 6S, with such a gap in terms of the processor. But the second place went to the Nexus 9, and not the iPad Air 2 at all, which uses the A8X chip. The "reference" Android device, by the way, was not present in the top of the previous version of AnTuTu, however, it was able to quite unambiguously get ahead of the Apple tablet. However, the gap from the iPhone 6S is even more significant.
The leaderboard looks like this:
Interestingly, the Chinese Meizu Pro 5 was on the fourth line of the ranking. The top ten also includes Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 and OnePlus X. Chinese smartphones are becoming more and more serious market players.
