Qualcomm is back with yet another top end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. With the claim of being the most powerful smartphone processor in the era of the reigning king the Apple A17 Pro, is it really worth the claim, or all of this is a marketing gimmick? If you are also confused and you want to choose one of these two processors, this article will end all your excuses. Which one of these two is king and if you are about to choose one from these two, what processor will suit your work? In this article, we will compare all the specifications of these two processors.
In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile technology, the competition between leading chip manufacturers is a constant driver of innovation. Two major players in this arena, Qualcomm and Apple, have consistently introduced powerful and cutting-edge processors to fuel the performance of their respective flagship devices. As consumers increasingly rely on their smartphones for a myriad of tasks, from gaming and photography to productivity and communication, the battle for supremacy in the realm of mobile processors becomes more critical than ever.
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Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple A17 Pro Specs Comparison: Which One Is Better?
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from Qualcomm and the Apple A17 Pro are prime examples of the technological prowess these companies bring to the table. Let’s take a closer look at the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the Apple A17 Pro. We’ll check out how they work inside, what they can do, and the special things they have to make using your phone even better. Get ready for a deep dive into these powerful processors and what they bring to the table for your smartphone experience!
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple A17 Pro Specifications
The A17 Pro is the latest chip from Apple and the Apple iPhone 15 Pro features the same A17 processor which bowed away its users with the single and multicore scores in the benchmark test. But only a few days ago the first smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 gen 3 was launched by Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra features this new beast from Qualcomm and Surprisingly the S24 Ultra has bettered the multicore score of the S24 Ultra.
| Specs | Apple A17 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| CPU | Six-core CPU, 19 billion transistors | Octa-core, Kryo CPU |
| CPU Cores | 2x 3.78 GHz High-performance cores | 1x 3.3GHz (Cortex-X4) |
| 4x 2.11GHz High-efficiency cores | 3x 3.2GHz (Cortex-A720) | |
| 2x 3.0GHz (Cortex-A720) | ||
| 2x 2.3GHz (Cortex-A520) | ||
| Process Technology | TSMC’s 3nm process (N3B) | TSMC’s 4nm process |
| GPU | Apple Pro-class 6-core GPU | New Adreno GPU (750?) |
| Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing | Unreal Engine Global Illumination | |
| Memory Support | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X, up to 4.8GHz |
| Machine Learning and AI | 16-core Neural Engine; 35 TOPS | New Hexagon AI Engine |
| ISP | Apple-designed Image Signal Processor | New Cognitive ISP |
| Camera Capability | ProRAW photos at 48MP | Semantic Segmentation up to 12 layers |
| Photonic Engine | Dual Camera experience | |
| Dolby HDR Capture | ||
| Video Capability | 4K60 ProRes videos | Night Vision for Darker scenes |
| Spatial video recording | ||
| 4K HDR Dolby Vision @ 60FPS | ||
| Cinematic 4K@24FPS | ||
| Action mode | ||
| Modem | Snapdragon X70 5G modem | Snapdragon X75 5G modem |
| Up to 10 Gbps Peak Download | Up to 10 Gbps Peak Download | |
| Up to 3.5 Gbps Peak Upload | Up to 3.5 Gbps Peak Upload | |
| Wi-Fi Support | Wi-Fi 6E | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 5.4, LE Audio |
| Dual Bluetooth Antenna | ||
| aptX Lossless | ||
| Others | AV1 Decoder | AV1 Codec Support |
| ProRes codec | NavIC Support | |
| Pro display engine | Snapdragon Seamless | |
| NavIC Support |
Does that mean that this time Qualcomm has stepped up their game? If you look at the specs of these two processors, they look amazing with the Snapdragon offering an Octa Core CPU and the Apple A17 Pro offering a Six Core CPU with 19 billion transistors. Here is the complete Spec comparison of the Snapdragon 8 gen 3 and the A17 Pro.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple A17 Pro Features
As we have already mentioned above that the Snapdragon is using the 8 core CPU (Octa-Core) while the A17 Pro features a 6 Core CPU but it comes with 19 billion transistors built on the 3 nm process node while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is fabricated on the 4 nm process node though the 8 gen 3 is using the upgraded Kryos cores. By looking at the CPU design, you can guess that Apple has a big and impressive CPU design with 3 nm node compared to a 4 in 8 Gen 3 by Snapdragon.
If you want to find the answer to which one is better from these two processors, you can easily refer to the Geekbench scores. The Geekbench 6 score is giving A17 Pro an upper hand in the single-core task but the 8 Gen 3 has bettered the A17 Pro in the multicore score probably the first time. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 2207 points in the single-core and 7494 in the multicore test. However the Apple A 17 Pro has scored 2829 in the single-core and 7261 in the multicore test which is slightly lower than the 8 gen 3 by Snapdragon.
Which one is Better – Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple A17 Pro
If you look at the AnTuTu Benchmark of both processors, you will be surprised to see any processor touching the magical 2 million marks in the benchmark test (2139281 to be precise) and this is none other than the Snapdragon 8 gen 3. However the Apple A 17 Pro scored 1628672 points in the AnTuTu test. You can choose by yourself by looking at the Pros of these two processors below.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Pros
- Performs 2.2x better in floating-point computations
- Supports 50% higher memory bandwidth (77 against 51.2 GB/s)
- Shows better (up to 36%) AnTuTu 10 score – 2106K vs 1548K
- Has 2 additional cores
- Better instruction set architecture
Apple A 17 Pro Pros
- Higher GPU frequency (~82%)
- Has a smaller size transistor (3 versus 4 nm)
- 15% higher CPU clock speed (3780 vs 3300 MHz)
- Highly optimized & efficient instruction set architecture
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers competitive performance, as seen in benchmarks and games, making it a strong contender[1][2]. On the other hand, the Apple A17 Pro boasts a higher CPU clock speed and GPU clock speed compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
If you want to choose one from these two you will get confused as both the processors are way too good in their game. Ultimately, the choice between these two depends on individual preferences and the ecosystem (Android or iOS) users are accustomed to. The best processor is the processor which suits your work the best and both the processor will handle your daily to daily activities quite swiftly.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of this guide on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple A17 Pro Specs Comparison. Although it’s very difficult to declare a single winner here as both the processors are very powerful and have the ability to quickly wrap up your tasks.
However, if you are someone who loves gaming and video rendering you can go for the Apple A 17 Pro chip as it is a clear winner tehri with the 3 nm process node technology but for the day-to-day task, you can opt for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Go through the comparison chart and you will find a winner by yourself.