Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus

Let's find out which one of Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

• Name
  Apple M1 (7-GPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus
• Family
  Apple M series Qualcomm Snapdragon
• CPU group
  Apple M1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 855/860
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Generation
  1 6
• Successor
  -- Qualcomm Snapdragon 860

In this block we are going to compare Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus by main technical specifications: number of cores and threads, base and maximum frequencies, process technology and cache size. The higher these specifications are, the more powerful your CPU will be.

• CPU Cores / Threads
  8 / 8 8 / 8
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
• A-Core
  4x Firestorm 1x Kryo 485 Prime
• B-Core
  4x Icestorm 3x Kryo 485 Gold
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• A-Core Frequency
  3.20 GHz 2.96 GHz
• B-Core Frequency
  2.06 GHz 2.42 GHz

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

• GPU name
  Apple M1 (7 Core) Qualcomm Adreno 640
• GPU frequency
  1.30 GHz 0.25 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo 0.68 GHz
• Execution units
  112 4
• Shader
  896 384
• Max. GPU Memory
  8 GB 4 GB
• Max. displays
  2 1
• Generation
  1 5
• Direct X
  -- 12.0
• Technology
  5 nm 7 nm
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q1/2019

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus. Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• h264
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VP8
  Decode Decode / Encode
• VP9
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  Decode No
• VC-1
  Decode No
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode No

To choose the best model between Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus you need to pay special attention to memory type, clock frequency, multi-channel features, and PCIe version. The higher these numbers are, the better your CPU will be. Keep in mind that the maximum memory and frequency may also depend on the model of the motherboard.

• Memory type
  LPDDR4X-4266 LPDDR4X-4266
• Max. Memory
  16 GB 16 GB
• Memory channels
  2 (Dual Channel) 4 (Quad Channel)
• Bandwidth
  68.2 GB/s --
• ECC
  No No
• PCIe
  4.0
• AES-NI
  Yes No

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple M1 (7-GPU) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus? The Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicates the maximum amount of heat that should be dissipated by the chip cooling system. However, the value of TDP gives only a rough indication of the real power consumption of the CPU.

• TDP up
  20 W --
• TDP down
  10 W --

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

• Technology
  5 nm 7 nm
• Chip design
  Chiplet Chiplet
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• L2-Cache
  16.00 MB 2.00 MB
• L3-Cache
  -- 3.00 MB
• Architecture
  M1 Kryo 485
• Operating systems
  macOS Android
• Virtualization
  Apple Virtualization Framework None
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q4/2018
• Part Number
  APL 1102 SM8150-AC