iPhone 4S Preliminary Benchmarks: ~800MHz A5, Slightly Slower GPU than iPad 2, Still Very Fast
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on October 11, 2011 3:22 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone 4S
- SoCs
Apple's ability to control the entire information chain, down to the point of limiting leaks, appears to be gradually slipping as it grows as a company. Case in point are the numerous hardware and performance leaks surrounding the newly launched iPhone 4S. Little did we know that several weeks ago we were staring at photos of the 4S' PCB, and more recently we've seen the first performance results from Apple's first A5 based smartphone thanks to a few eager users around the web. We've compiled these results here from various sources (all linked below) and compared them to our existing database of tests.
The results are pretty much as expected. Javascript performance finally catches up to Tegra 2 based Honeycomb devices, while general CPU performance is significantly higher than the iPhone 4. I suspect Ice Cream Sandwich will bridge the Android smartphone gap (the Honeycomb equipped Gtab 8.9 is here to give you an idea of where a more modern Android browser ends up).
Keep in mind that all of these tests measure performance of the software stack in addition to the hardware. In particular the web browser tests depend largely on browser optimizations, which is why we see differences between similar hardware running different browser versions. Also note that all results were run at stock, with the stock browser. Finally, although these browser tests were captured on video we'll still be running our official tests once our 4Ses arrive and will update accordingly.
Using some of the integer and fp tests of published Geekbench scores we can already conclude that Apple is shipping a lower clocked A5 in the iPhone 4S than it does in the iPad 2. This naturally makes sense as the iPhone 4S has a much smaller 5.25 Whr battery. Based on the Geekbench results it looks like the iPad 2 is clocked around 25% higher than the iPhone 4S, pegging the latter's clock speed at 800MHz.
A lower clock not only means higher yields from the factory, but likely a lower operating voltage as well. Dropping a CPU's core voltage, yields a greater-than-linear decrease in power consumption, making the marginal loss in clock speed a good choice. At a lower operating frequency than its Android competitors, Apple does have to exploit its strengths in software to avoid any tangible performance penalties. Apple has traditionally done this very well in the past, so I don't expect the loss of frequency to be a huge deal to the few who do cross-shop iOS and Android.
Unsurprisingly, memory bandwidth doesn't appear to have gone up either compared to the iPad 2's A5 (taking into account scaling due to CPU clock increases). The Samsung part number on the iPad 2's A5 indicates two LPDDR2-800 die on package, it's safe to assume that whatever Apple clocked the memory interface at in the iPad 2 remains unchanged in the iPhone 4S.
The GPU results tell a similar story courtesy of some early GLBenchmark 2.1 results. The 960 x 640 results are useless as they are bound by vsync at ~60 fps. Luckly GLBenchmark 2.1 added an off-screen render mode at 1280 x 720 where we can really see the differences between the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S A5 implementations:
Here the iPad 2 holds a ~21% performance advantage, which once again I assume to be all related to clock speed. Also note the huge advantage over the existing iPhone 4. The GPU power in the 4S should be more than enough to run any well written, current generation title at well north of 30 fps on its display.
We'll be reviewing the iPhone 4S in the coming weeks, stay tuned!
Source: GLBenchmark Database, Geekbench Database, Macrumors
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Bozzified - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
LOL at blinders. No... every single Android phone that was released in the last couple of months have destroyed iPhone 4.iPhone 4S is not an amazing piece of hardware. Most of the improvements we see here are purely based on iOS improvements which all phones from a few months ago on Android will get with Ice Cream Sandwich. Surely not all of them are "superphones" so they won't be the fastest but it's without a doubt that with Ice Cream Sandwich we will see huge performance gains on Android, just like iOS 5 is doing to iPhone 4S.
KoolAidMan1 - Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - link
Android BADLY needs performance optimization as it is still choppier than both iOS and Windows Phone 7 on slower hardware. That aside, the PowerVR GPU in the A5 is still better on paper than anything in the current Android SoCs. I'd call that superior hardware, wouldn't you?Tegra 3 is already looking like too little too late. By the time it drops will be around the time when the A6 is out. If it isn't a serious leapfrog then this current pattern will continue.
deV14nt - Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - link
The Galaxy S II is not choppier than competing devices, at least with the Exynos versions. It zooms webpages in and out while loading Flash, pretty much the most difficult thing to do in web browsing (watch some videos from PhoneDog or some sort). iOS doesn't even attempt to load Flash. I do not know of any Windows Phone device that accomplishes that feat.That said, Android optimization would be lovely.
doobydoo - Sunday, October 16, 2011 - link
Cling to flash support as the 1 negative which gives iphone users their superior battery lifedoobydoo - Sunday, October 16, 2011 - link
Lets just guess, shall we?WaltFrench - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
“…so many phones have been working with an arm tied behind their back thanks to Google.”No, let's be clear: Google gives the OHA software that they can modify, and then the OHA member sells a particular package to a carrier, which sells it to you. You don't like what you got from Verizon? Go bitch to them. They could've demanded that Samsung produce a high-capacity product, and, in turn, Sammy could've said something like not selling any phone before it was ready, and turned the screws on Google for a competitive product.
Trouble is, all along the line, everybody was more interested in a sale (or a pair of eyeballs hitting Google ads) than performance. This oughtn't be just HUGELY surprising, or did somebody think that Verizon, Samsung and Google are all charities?
Swapzzz - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
Very good way to market Iphone.... Totally Bias .... I can make a graph my self put some other phone on top .... And as far as I see No wonder Oracle ( JAVA) Has a law suit against the Apple guys .... (Love the innovator Steve jobs ) But hate these cheap marketing strategies......There are far better processors and phone in the market Iphone is definitely one of them but by far not the best !!
steven75 - Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - link
You sound like a guy that would show up at a drag strip and declare your V12 engine "better" than the guy with the V8 that just posted a faster time than you.The end results are all that matter.
Swapzzz - Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - link
Well I thought V12 engine are better that V8 Hmmm lets see ... I believe its the driver that matters ... and fanboy you definetly suck at Cars.... As far as Andriod goes Fanboys can fight it out as much as they want I would say APPLE is already being eaten.... You like it or not thats the fact Market stats is the fact.http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/06/comscore-androi...
Remember, You fanboys are stuck with 1 similar looking piece globally. Where as Andriod is a open source platform much more customizable than any Iphone and andriod can make use of the resources provided to it.
KoolAidMan1 - Thursday, October 13, 2011 - link
Enjoy slower performance, weak developer support, and no enterprise support on your "open" platform.You throw the "fanboy" word around quite a bit for someone who ignores raw performance data and where the real developer support is.