Apple A18 vs Huawei Kirin 990 5G
68.4CPU33.3
50.6GPU—
67.5Benchmarks48.6
72AIspec-based—
82.1Efficiencyspec-based20
5 spec wins — Apple A181 spec wins — Huawei Kirin 990 5G
InnoReviews verdict
Apple A18 wins this mobile chipset face-off, 66.2 to 34.9, pulling ahead mainly in CPU (+35) and benchmarks (+19). Huawei Kirin 990 5G still makes sense if its price or standout specs fit your needs better.
Which would you pick?
Key differences
Reasons to pick the Apple A18
- Stronger CPU score: 68 vs 33
- Stronger benchmarks score: 68 vs 49
- 218% higher Geekbench 6 (single): 3,250 vs 1,023
- 135% higher Geekbench 6 (multi): 8,050 vs 3,419
- 57% lower process: 3 nm vs 7 nm
Reasons to pick the Huawei Kirin 990 5G
- 33% higher cores: 8 vs 6
General
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | 2024 | 2019 |
| Process | 3 nm+57% | 7 nm |
| TDP (typical) | 7 W | — |
| Architecture | Armv9 | ARM (Cortex-A76 and Cortex-A55 cores) |
CPU
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| Cores | 6 | 8+33% |
| Core configuration | 2x4.04 GHz performance + 4x2.2 GHz efficiency | 2x2.86 GHz Cortex-A76 + 2x2.36 GHz Cortex-A76 + 4x1.95 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| Max clock | 4.04 GHz+41% | 2.86 GHz |
GPU
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | Apple GPU (5-core) | Arm Mali-G76 MP16 |
AI
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| NPU | Neural Engine (16-core) | HUAWEI Da Vinci NPU (2x Ascend Lite + 1x Ascend Tiny) |
| AI performance | 35 TOPS | — |
Memory
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| Memory type | LPDDR5X-6400 | LPDDR4X |
| Max bandwidth | 60 GB/s | — |
Connectivity
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| Modem | Snapdragon X70 5G (external) | Integrated 5G modem (SA/NSA) |
| Max download | — | 2.3 Gbps |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | — |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | — |
Media
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| Max display | Super Retina XDR | — |
| Video capture | 4K@120fps | — |
Benchmarks
| Spec | Apple A18 | Huawei Kirin 990 5G |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTuDifferent AnTuTu versions — not compared | 1,650,000 | 778,713Bottom 27% |
| AnTuTu 11 (CPU) | — | 267,234Bottom 22% |
| AnTuTu 11 (GPU) | — | 130,102Bottom 34% |
| AnTuTu 11 (Memory) | — | 188,134Bottom 50% |
| AnTuTu 11 (UX) | — | 193,243Bottom 15% |
| Geekbench 6 (single) | 3,250+218%Top 6% | 1,023Top 50% |
| Geekbench 6 (multi) | 8,050+135%Top 11% | 3,419Top 38% |
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme | 3,950Top 22% | — |
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