Apple A9 vs Intel Core i3-2100. Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• CPU group
  Apple A9/A9X Intel Core i 2000
• Family
  Apple A series Intel Core i3
• Generation
  9 2
• Predecessor
  Apple A8 -
• Segment
  Mobile Desktop / Server
• Successor
  Apple A10 Fusion -

Core counts, threads, cache and clock modes describe the CPU configuration. Performance depends on the workload and comparable measured results.

• A-Core
  2x Twister -
• Base Frequency
  1.85 GHz 3.1 GHz
• Core architecture
  normal normal
• CPU Cores
  2 2
• CPU Threads
  2 4
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  No Yes
• Overclocking
  No No
• Turbo Frequency (1 Core)
  No turbo No turbo
• Turbo Frequency (2 Cores)
  No turbo No turbo

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• DirectX Version
  - 10.1
• Execution units
  6 6
• Generation
  6 6
• GPU Frequency
  650 MHz 850 MHz
• GPU name
  Apple A9 Intel HD Graphics 2000
• GPU Turbo
  No turbo 1100 MHz
• Max. displays
  1 2
• Max. GPU Memory
  4 GB -
• Release date
  Q3/2015 Q1/2011
• Shader
  192 48
• Technology
  16 nm 32 nm

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• AV1
  No No
• H.264 / AVC
  Decode Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No No
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No No
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode No
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• VP8
  Decode No
• VP9
  No No

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Intel Core i3-2100 and Apple A9. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• ECC
  No No
• Max. Memory
  2 GB 32 GB
• Memory channels
  1 2
• Memory type
  LPDDR4-3200 DDR3-1066DDR3-1333
• PCIe lanes
  - 16
• PCIe version
  - 2.0

• AES-NI
  No Yes

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Apple A9 and Intel Core i3-2100 Power specifications describe different manufacturer limits. TDP, base power and maximum turbo power are separate values; they do not establish measured system consumption.

• TDP (PL1, legacy label)
  5 W 65 W

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Apple A9 and Intel Core i3-2100, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Architecture
  A9 Sandy Bridge S
• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  - SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX
• L2-Cache
  3 MB -
• L3-Cache
  4 MB 3 MB
• Release date
  Q3/2015 Q1/2011
• Socket
  - LGA 1155
• Technology
  16 nm 32 nm
• Virtualization
  None VT-x, VT-x EPT