Apple A5 vs Apple A10 Fusion. Specifications, performance, tests

Comprehensive background on the processors being compared, detailing their series, generation, and targeted market segment.

• Family
  Apple A series Apple A series
• CPU group
  Apple A5/A5X Apple A10/A10X
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Generation
  5 10
• Predecessor
  -- Apple A9
• Successor
  Apple A6 Apple A11 Bionic

Essential parameters including the number of cores, threads, base and turbo frequencies, and cache size. These metrics provide insight into the processor’s speed—higher values generally indicate better performance.

• Core architecture
  normal hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• Frequency
  1.00 GHz 1.30 GHz
• Turbo (1 Core)
  No turbo 2.34 GHz
• Hyperthreading
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No

The integrated graphics (iGPU) do not influence the CPU performance significantly; they serve as a substitute for a dedicated graphics card in the absence of one or are utilized in mobile devices.

• GPU name
  PowerVR SGX543MP2 (2 Cores) Apple A10
• GPU frequency
  0.20 GHz 0.90 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo No turbo
• Execution units
  4 6
• Shader
  32 192
• Max. GPU Memory
  -- 4 GB
• Max. displays
  1 1
• Generation
  7
• Technology
  32 nm 16 nm
• Release date
  Q1/2012 Q3/2016

This section details the built-in codecs used for encoding and decoding media content, which significantly enhance processing speed and efficiency.

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

Overview of the types and quantities of RAM supported by Apple A10 Fusion and Apple A5. The supported memory frequencies may vary depending on the motherboard configuration.

• Memory type
  LPDDR2-800 LPDDR4-3200
• Max. Memory
  1 GB 3 GB
• Memory channels
  2 1
• ECC
  No No

Analyze the TDP (Thermal Design Power) requirements of Apple A5 and Apple A10 Fusion to make an informed decision on the appropriate cooling system. Remember that TDP refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  5 W

Information on architecture, interfaces, and additional instructions supported by Apple A5 and Apple A10 Fusion, including virtual machine technologies and fabrication processes.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv7-A32 (32 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• L2-Cache
  1.00 MB 4.00 MB
• Architecture
  A5 A10
• Technology
  32 nm 10 nm
• Virtualization
  None None
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• Release date
  Q1/2011 Q3/2016
• Part Number
  APL 0498 --