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InnoReviews

Apple A12 Bionic vs Huawei Kirin 980

WINNER
A
34.3Inno Score
VS
H
30.3Inno Score
30.5CPU24.8
30.2GPU—
46.6Benchmarks33.7
20AI—
41.8Efficiency37
4 spec wins — Apple A12 Bionic2 spec wins — Huawei Kirin 980

InnoReviews verdict

Apple A12 Bionic wins this mobile chipset face-off, 34.3 to 30.3, pulling ahead mainly in benchmarks (+13) and CPU (+6). Huawei Kirin 980 still makes sense if its price or standout specs fit your needs better.

Which would you pick?

Key differences

Reasons to pick the Apple A12 Bionic

  • Stronger CPU score: 31 vs 25
  • Stronger benchmarks score: 47 vs 34
  • Stronger efficiency score: 42 vs 37
  • 100% higher Geekbench 6 (single): 1,100 vs 550
  • 67% higher AnTuTu 10: 720,000 vs 430,000

Reasons to pick the Huawei Kirin 980

  • 33% higher cores: 8 vs 6

General

General comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
Announced20182018
Process7 nm7 nm
TDP (typical)6 W+25%8 W
ArchitectureArmv8.3Armv8.2

CPU

CPU comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
Cores68+33%
Core configuration2x2.49 GHz Vortex + 4x1.52 GHz Tempest2x2.6 GHz Cortex-A76 + 2x1.92 GHz Cortex-A76 + 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55
Max clock2.49 GHz2.6 GHz+4%

GPU

GPU comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
GPUApple GPU (4-core)Arm Mali-G76 MP10

AI

AI comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
NPUNeural Engine (8-core)Dual NPU (Da Vinci predecessor)
AI performance5 TOPS—

Memory

Memory comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
Memory typeLPDDR4X-2133LPDDR4X-2133
Max bandwidth34.1 GB/s34.1 GB/s

Connectivity

Connectivity comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
ModemIntel XMM 7560 LTE (external)Integrated LTE Cat-21
Wi-FiWi-Fi 5Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth5.05.0

Media

Media comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
Max displayRetina XDRFHD+ @ 60Hz
Video capture4K@60fps4K@30fps

Benchmarks

Benchmarks comparison: Apple A12 Bionic versus Huawei Kirin 980
SpecApple A12 BionicHuawei Kirin 980
AnTuTu 10720,000+67%Top 46%430,000Top 68%
Geekbench 6 (single)1,100+100%Top 42%550Top 78%
Geekbench 6 (multi)2,800+40%Top 49%2,000Top 68%
3DMark Wild Life Extreme1,450Top 66%—

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