The smartphone chip battle between Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Apple is more intense than ever before. All three have made huge progress with their high-end chips in recent years, particularly MediaTek, which is emerging as a strong competitor to the other two. Its latest Dimensity 9500 chip goes neck-to-neck with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Apple A19 Pro on benchmarks.

Here, we’ll look at the benchmark data and real-world differences to find out who has the edge over the other two chipsets.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs Dimensity 9500 vs Apple A19 Pro: benchmark comparison

Note: Devices that have been used for benchmark testing are Honor Magic 8 (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5), Vivo X300 Pro (Dimensity 9500), and iPhone 17 Pro (Apple A19 Pro).

Geekbench score

Apple still leads the single-core chart with 3,784 points, the most for a smartphone chipset, but the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with 3,634 points is not very much behind. The Dimensity 9500 sits behind the two with 3,177 points.

The multi-core score is an entirely different story, as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 leads the race with 10,813 points. This is about 11% higher than the Dimensity 9500 (9701 points) and Apple A19 Pro (9752 points).

In short, the Apple A19 Pro leads the single-core chart, but the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 makes a strong comeback in the multi-core territory. The Dimensity 9500 lags behind the two, but the gap has significantly narrowed over the years.

AnTuTu score

On the AnTuTu v11 platform, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 gets about 4.16 million total score. The Dimensity 9500 is a little behind with a 4 million score, while the Apple A19 Pro is nowhere near either of them, scoring about 2.43 million points.

There are several reasons for this massive difference between the Apple A19 Pro and the other two chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek. One is that AnTuTu uses different testing methods for iOS and Android devices. Secondly, the A19 Pro has been tested on AnTuTu v10, while the Snapdragon and Dimensity chips have been tested on a newer AnTuTu v11 platform.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs Dimensity 9500 vs Apple A19 Pro: spec sheet and key differences

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, Dimensity 9500, and Apple A19 Pro were announced in September, built using the same TSMC’s 3nm (N3P) process node. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 features eight third-gen Oryon CPU cores, with two of them running at 4.61 GHz and the remaining six at 3.63 GHz.

The Dimensity 9500 uses the latest ARM cores, featuring one C1-Ultra at 4.21 GHz, three C1-Premium at 3.5 GHz, and four C1-Pro at 2.7 GHz. Unlike the two, the Apple A19 Pro features six CPU cores, with two performance cores at 4.26 GHz and six performance cores at 2.6 GHz.

As for the graphics needs, the Snapdragon chip relies on the newly announced Adreno 840 with improved ray tracing capabilities, better performance, and power efficiency. The 12-core Mali-G1 Ultra on the Dimensity 9500 and the 6-core Apple GPU on the A19 Pro also bring substantial gaming enhancements.

The flagship chips also bring better on-device AI capabilities. They use the same LPDDR5x memory, although the storage type differs: UFS 4.1 on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and NVMe on Apple A19 Pro. The connectivity part brings notable differences, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 featuring the highest peak download speed of 12.5 Gbps. The Dimensity 9500 makes a comeback by offering the highest Wi-Fi speed (7.3 Gbps). The Apple A19 Pro uses a Snapdragon X80 5G modem, which was used on last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite.

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After months of leaks and rumors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is finally here, and it’s clearly a big leap over last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. More importantly, it outperforms its biggest rivals, the Apple A19 Pro and Dimensity 9500, in early benchmark figures.

Built on a 3nm process, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is touted as the “world’s fastest mobile system-on-a-chip” by Qualcomm, and the benchmark numbers mostly tell the same thing. For the benchmark comparison, we’re using the first-party benchmark numbers as shared by Notebookcheck.

Note that the benchmark figures have been obtained from a reference device, which has a high-end setup like a massive 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB UFS4.1 storage, and a large 6.8-inch 3,200×1,440 AMOLED LTPO display. Retail handsets might not perform as well as they prioritize battery life, optimal temperature, and other features over raw performance.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 benchmarks

Geekbench Score

Geekbench 6 (single core)

On Geekbench 6, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 gets about 20% higher single-core score over last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. It also beats the Dimensity 9500 by a 10% margin, but there’s a close matchup with Apple’s powerful A19 Pro. The 8 Elite Gen 5 is slightly behind Apple’s A19 Pro, although the gap is now very thin. The Tensor G5, with a single-core score of 2,316, isn’t a trouble to other chips on the list.

So, in terms of single-core performance on Geekbench, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 easily outperforms most of its rivals, except for the Apple A19 Pro, which is as good as Qualcomm’s. However, the multi-core CPU performance is a whole different story.  

Geekbench 6 (multi core)

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 achieves over 12,000 points in multi-core performance on Geekbench, leaving all other smartphone chips in the dust. This means more than 20% boost for the latest Snapdragon flagship compared to the A19 Pro and Dimensity 9500 when it comes to tasks that utilize multiple cores. The Tensor G5 disappoints again, scoring just 6,452, almost half of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

AnTuTu score

The reference device, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, scores over 4.3 million points on the AnTuTu benchmark. Other than this, only the Dimension 9500 could reach the 4 million territory, with a total score of 4,011,932.

The Apple A19 Pro barely gets past last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the Tensor G5 struggles at 1.4 million.

Please note that AnTuTu uses different test methods for Android and iOS platforms. This is one of the major reasons you’re seeing a huge difference in the scores here.

3DMark Wild Life Extreme Score

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 also shines in the 3DMark test, thanks to architectural upgrades and software enhancements. In the Wild Life Extreme test, it scores 8,329 points, while the A19 Pro can’t get past the 6,000 mark. The Snapdragon 8 Elite, surprisingly, performs better than Apple’s fastest chipset, while the Tensor G5 continues to struggle by a significant margin.

For the Dimensity 9500, we obtained the 3DMark benchmark numbers from the test conducted by Xiaobai’s Tech Reviews. Since no device with this chip has been released yet, the test was likely carried out on a reference device. For the Vivo X300 Pro, we used the leaked benchmark figures from Geekbench, while the AnTuTu score was recently revealed by the company itself.

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The iPhone 17 Pro lineup, powered by Apple’s new A19 Pro chip, is already being put through its paces. Early benchmark results show the GPU making a big jump over last year’s A18 Pro, especially in graphics-heavy tests. But while Apple has clearly raised the bar, Qualcomm and MediaTek aren’t far behind, and in some areas, still edge out the iPhone maker.

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max mark the debut of the A19 Pro. Popular reviewer Xiaobai’s Tech Reviews has shared early scores that paint a clearer picture of where the new chip stands in the ongoing mobile performance race.

On 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme test, the A19 Pro inside the iPhone 17 Pro Max scored 6,557 points. That’s a healthy jump—around 35%—over the A18 Pro’s 4,812 from last year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max. Still, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite (7,156) and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 (7,003) keep Apple from taking the outright lead, with next-generation chips from both companies due within weeks.

Where Apple shines is in ray-tracing. The Solar Bay Extreme benchmark, which stresses realistic lighting and reflections, saw the A19 Pro post 2,411 points. That’s nearly 50% higher than the A18 Pro, and well ahead of the Dimensity 9400 (1,160) and Snapdragon 8 Elite (1,277).

The Steel Nomad Light test shows a similar pattern. The A19 Pro reached 2,956 points—about 40% better than its predecessor—while the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 trailed slightly at 2,599 and 2,495, respectively.

Taken together, the A19 Pro delivers one of Apple’s biggest GPU gains in recent years. It may not claim the crown in every benchmark, but its ray-tracing advantage makes the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max serious contenders for gaming and creative workloads. With Qualcomm and MediaTek gearing up for their next releases, the GPU race is about to get even more interesting.

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Apple’s newest iPhone chip, the A19 Pro, is already drawing attention with leaked benchmark results that show it could go toe to toe with Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. While not a radical jump from last year’s A18 Pro, the numbers hint that Apple may hold its lead in raw CPU power for another generation.

A Geekbench entry for the iPhone 17 Pro Max put the A19 Pro at 4,019 points in single-core and 11,054 in multi-core. That’s roughly a 20% boost over the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Built on TSMC’s 3nm process, the chip looks to deliver not just higher performance but better efficiency in sustained workloads.

On the Android side, leaker Digital Chat Station claims Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5—due to launch in early 2026 inside devices like the Xiaomi 17 series and iQOO 15—will land around 3,393 single-core and 11,515 multi-core. If true, it means Qualcomm is catching up but not necessarily surpassing Apple’s silicon, continuing a long-running theme in the mobile chip rivalry.

There is some debate about how realistic the A19 Pro’s scores are. Other listings put the multi-core result below 10,000, suggesting the higher number could be from tests run with controlled environment such as a thermoelectric cooler attached to the phone. In day-to-day use, the gains may feel less dramatic.

Still, the results underline Apple’s strength in CPU design. Qualcomm may counter with advantages in graphics and AI, but Apple’s tight hardware-software integration keeps its iPhones ahead in consistency. With the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 expected in just a few weeks, the competition for smartphone performance leadership looks set to remain fierce.

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Apple’s latest iPhone 17 lineup has only just arrived, but benchmark scores for its new A19 Pro chip are already circulating. The early numbers suggest the processor is capable, though the year-on-year leap isn’t as dramatic as some might have expected.

One of the first AnTuTu results put the A19 Pro at 2,033,552 points, only a small bump over last year’s A18 Pro at just under two million. Initially, the score was thought to belong to the 17 Pro itself, but a later correction from AnTuTu confirmed it actually came from the newly introduced iPhone Air (model iPhone 18,4), which shares the same chip. That detail doesn’t change the takeaway much, but it helps explain some of the differences seen in the breakdown.

The largest gain came in memory performance, where the new models benefit from a jump to 12GB of RAM. That improvement pushed memory scores nearly 50 percent higher, boosting multitasking and background performance. CPU results, on the other hand, dipped slightly compared with the A18 Pro—likely the result of early firmware or thermal limits during testing. Graphics and overall system performance remain steady, pointing to Apple’s focus on efficiency and consistency rather than chasing big benchmark spikes.

Geekbench listings seen earlier this month showed a similar trend: small single-core and multi-core gains, but nothing revolutionary. Apple has also added a vapor chamber to the Pro models, which should help with heat management during sustained gaming or heavy workloads—something that doesn’t always show in synthetic benchmarks.

For most users, the A19 Pro will still feel like one of the fastest chips around, handling AI tasks, demanding apps, and videography with ease. But in raw benchmark terms, this year’s update looks more like evolution than revolution.

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Apple just unveiled the iPhone 17 series with cutting edge specs and features. The new iPhone 17 debuted with the Apple A19, while the iPhone 17 Pro models and Air packed the Apple A19 Pro chip. Both chips power the brand’s latest flagship phones, bringing impressive performance and AI upgrades. So here’s a quick breakdown explaining the two chips and even their key differences.

Apple A19 & A19 Pro: Configuration, Process, & Architecture

Both chips are built on TSMC’s 3nm (N3P) node, bringing efficiency and performance improvements over older generations. The Apple A19 and Apple A19 Pro feature the same 6 core CPU configuration that includes 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The powerful performance cores have a 4.26GHz clock speed. In other words, the duo are practically the same in terms of CPU architecture and power efficiency.

However, one of the big differences is with the GPU. The base Apple A19 features a 5 core GPU, while the A19 Pro arrives with a 6 core GPU. Although, the iPhone 17 Air gets a cut down 5 core GPU on its A19 Pro chip, similar to the base A19. So the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are better for gaming or graphically intensive apps. Although, you do get hardware accelerated ray tracing on both chips.

Performance Difference

Thanks to the all new vapor chamber cooling system, the Cupertino based giant can push the Apple A19 Pro chips harder for various workloads. But the difference is marginal at best, with some benchmarks showcasing single digit percentage difference. However, the biggest upgrade in performance is for sustained workloads. This advanced thermal management solution is critical for enabling the chipset to run at peak performance for extended periods, such as during intense gaming sessions or when editing high-resolution video.

It is worth noting that the Apple A19 is paired with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM, while the A19 Pro gets a higher 12GB LPDDR5X memory. You get a higher 6MB L2 cache on the A19 Pro, compared to the 4MB L2 cache on the vanilla variant. Certain features are also exclusive to the Pro models. This includes the ProRes RAW format, which is hardware limited on the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. Among the new upgrades, Apple is even getting an improved ISP for better image processing.

AI Upgrades

A key focus on the new A19 and A19 Pro chips is the AI upgrades. Apple’s latest iPhones now supports on-device artificial intelligence, which is thanks to an updated 16 core Neural Engine. This powers intelligent features within the iOS 26 software, such as real time photo enhancements, live translations, predictive text, and more, which are processed directly on the device for increased speed and privacy.

Connectivity

For wireless connectivity, it includes a new Apple-designed N1 wireless networking chip that enables support for the A19 series chips. So you get WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and a Snapdragon 5G modem. Similarly, the A19 Pro also supports top tier WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The iPhone 17 Pros get the Qualcomm modem for 5G connectivity, but the iPhone Air gets Apple’s in-house C1X 5G modem. This proprietary chip offers improved power efficiency, but it is limited to the sub 6GHz bands.

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New flagship phones are expected to launch soon, starting with Apple introducing the iPhone 17 series on Sept. 9, followed by the Xiaomi 16 series towards the end of the month. A slew of new flagship phones from brands such as Vivo, Oppo, Honor, iQOO, Realme, OnePlus, and Redmi are also anticipated in October. Alongside the flagship war, this period will also mark the battle of new chipsets that will power these phones.

Chipset war to begin soon

According to reliable tipster Digital Chat Station, the smartphone industry is heading into a major “chip war” before the big wave of flagship phone launches. Apple is leading with the A19 and A19 Pro, followed by MediaTek with the Dimensity 9500, and then vwith two Snapdragon 8 series platforms, the SM8850 and SM8845. These Qualcomm chips are likely to hit the market with respective names such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (aka. Snapdragon 8 Elite 2) and Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.

All of these are based on TSMC’s N3P process and are positioned as powerful “performance beasts.” The tipster also mentions that Apple and Qualcomm have already shifted to a dual-chip strategy. With chipset makers expected to adopt the 2nm process next year, which will bring higher costs, it remains to be seen whether MediaTek will also follow a dual-chip strategy.

As per reports, the cost of TSMC’s 2nm wafers is estimated at around $30,000 per wafer, higher than the price of 3nm wafers. This surge in cost is expected to affect the pricing of Android flagship phones in 2026.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 to power next-generation foldable phones

DCS said that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is currently being tested by manufacturers such as Honor, Oppo, and Vivo, and he plans to share his own hands-on results soon. He added that some brands are considering using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 for foldable phones.

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According to a recent leak from tipster Digital Chat Station, the second half of 2025 will see new flagship chips from all major players in the mobile silicon market. This not only includes Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek, but also Huawei. 

DCS claims that Apple’s A19 Pro chip will debut in September, continuing the company’s yearly cadence. Qualcomm is expected to follow shortly after with its next flagship SoC, Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, internally known as SM8850.

Both Apple and Qualcomm are said to be utilizing TSMC’s N3P node, a refinement of the foundry’s current 3nm process. The tipster says these upcoming chips will hit a new high in frequency (i.e., clock speed) and will have improved energy efficiency over the previous generation.

Huawei Kirin 9030 is a surprise

MediaTek’s high-end chip, possibly named Dimensity 9500, will also launch by September end. Meanwhile, Huawei’s Kirin 9030 is reportedly scheduled for release toward the end of the year. 

We’re sure to learn more about the Dimensity 9500 or any chip, for that matter, in detail when it launches. But Huawei, as in the past, might keep the specifics of the Kirin 9030 under wraps. If timelines hold, all four flagship processors will enter the market between late 2025 and early 2026.

Elsewhere in the comments section of the leak, discussion emerged about Xiaomi’s in-house XRING processor. DCS says Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun did not expect the first-generation XRING O1 to perform so well, so there were no plans for its successor. However, DCS claims the XRING O2 will be even “more popular.”

Separately, a report from IT Home this morning suggests that Apple is preparing to launch M5 chips this fall in new versions of the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. The update is likely to be limited to the processor itself, with little else changing in the hardware design or features.

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