Apple A5 vs Apple A6X. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• CPU group
  Apple A5/A5X Apple A6/A6X
• Family
  Apple A series Apple A series
• Generation
  5 6
• Predecessor
  - Apple A5X
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Successor
  Apple A6 Apple A8X

Core counts, threads, cache and clock modes describe the CPU configuration. Performance depends on the workload and comparable measured results.

• A-Core
  2x Cortex-A9 2x Swift
• Base Frequency
  1 GHz 1.4 GHz
• Core architecture
  normal normal
• CPU Cores
  2 2
• CPU Threads
  2 2
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• Turbo Frequency (1 Core)
  No turbo No turbo
• Turbo Frequency (2 Cores)
  No turbo No turbo

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• DirectX Version
  10 10
• Execution units
  4 16
• GPU Frequency
  200 MHz 300 MHz
• GPU name
  PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) PowerVR SGX554MP4 (4 Cores)
• GPU Turbo
  No turbo No turbo
• Max. displays
  1 1
• Release date
  Q1/2012 Q3/2012
• Shader
  32 128
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• AV1
  No No
• H.264 / AVC
  No No
• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No No
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No No
• JPEG
  No No
• VC-1
  No No
• VP8
  No No
• VP9
  No No

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple A6X and Apple A5. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• ECC
  No No
• Max. Memory
  1 GB 1 GB
• Memory channels
  2 4
• Memory type
  LPDDR2-800 LPDDR2-1066

• AES-NI
  No No

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Apple A5 and Apple A6X Power specifications describe different manufacturer limits. TDP, base power and maximum turbo power are separate values; they do not establish measured system consumption.

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Apple A5 and Apple A6X, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Architecture
  A5 A6
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv7-A32 (32 bit) ARMv7-A32 (32 bit)
• L2-Cache
  1 MB 1 MB
• Part Number
  APL 0498 APL 0598
• Release date
  Q1/2011 Q3/2012
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Virtualization
  None None