Google Tensor vs A13 Bionic

We compared the 8-core Google Tensor (Mali-G78 MP20) with the older 6-core Apple A13 Bionic (Apple A13 GPU) SoC. Here you will find the pros and cons of each chip, technical specs, and comprehensive tests in benchmarks, like AnTuTu and Geekbench.

Review

General comparison of performance, power consumption, and other indicators
CPU Performance
Single and multi-core processor tests
Gaming Performance
GPU performance in games and OpenCL/Vulkan
Battery life
Efficiency of battery consumption
NanoReview Score
Overall chip score

Key Differences

Main differences and advantages of each chip
Pros of Google Tensor
  • Performs 72% better in floating-point computations
  • Supports 50% higher memory bandwidth (51.2 against 34.1 GB/s)
  • Has a smaller size transistor (5 versus 7 nm)
  • Has 2 more cores
  • 6% higher CPU clock speed (2800 vs 2650 MHz)
Pros of Apple A13 Bionic
  • Higher GPU frequency (~45%)
  • Shows better (up to 9%) AnTuTu 11 score – 1101K vs 1010K
  • Better instruction set architecture

Benchmarks

Performance tests in popular benchmarks

AnTuTu 11

The AnTuTu Benchmark measures CPU, GPU, RAM, and I/O performance in different scenarios
1010025
1101851
CPU 365546 296803
GPU 169803 301818
Memory 178763 149834
UX 295913 353396
Total score 1010025 1101851
Samples [51 tests] [47 tests]
AnTuTu results from iOS and Android are not directly comparable! They won't affect NanoReview scores.

GeekBench 6

The GeekBench test shows raw single-threaded and multithreaded CPU performance
Single-Core Score
A13 Bionic +18%
1749
Multi-Core Score
A13 Bionic +11%
3989
Asset compression 159.8 MB/sec 146.8 MB/sec
HTML 5 Browser 97.5 pages/sec 90.1 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 138.9 Mpixels/sec 103.5 Mpixels/sec
Image detection 83.4 images/sec 85.1 images/sec
HDR 119.7 Mpixels/sec 130.3 Mpixels/sec
Background blur 14.1 images/sec 13.9 images/sec
Photo processing 30.2 images/sec 38.5 images/sec
Ray tracing 3.44 Mpixels/sec 4.69 Mpixels/sec
Samples 26 tests 12 tests
Compute Score (GPU)
A13 Bionic +56%
13902
Background blur 13.2 images/sec 20.3 images/sec
Face detection 7.31 images/sec 25.6 images/sec
Horizon detection 0.34 Gpixels/sec 0.44 Gpixels/sec
Edge detection 0.5 Gpixels/sec 0.68 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian blur 0.55 Gpixels/sec 0.77 Gpixels/sec
Feature matching 0.09 Gpixels/sec 0.19 Gpixels/sec
Stereo matching 39.4 Gpixels/sec 45.7 Gpixels/sec
Particle physics 1368.9 FPS 1367.9 FPS
API Vulkan Metal
Samples 11 tests 8 tests
Compute results use different APIs (Metal vs Vulkan/OpenCL) and are not directly comparable!

3DMark

A cross-platform benchmark that assesses graphics performance in Vulkan (Metal)
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Score 704 -
Stability 63% -
Graphics test 5 FPS -
3DMark Solar Bay
Score - 2564
Stability - 74%
Graphics test - 10 FPS
Section 1 - 12 FPS
Section 2 - 10 FPS
Section 3 - 7 FPS
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
2001
Score 1899 2001
Stability 59% 70%
Graphics test 11 FPS 11 FPS

PCMark 3.0

Benchmark for evaluating overall system performance in everyday workloads
PCMark 3.0
Web score 7105 -
Video editing score 5884 -
Data manipulation score 10310 -
Photo editing score 19072 -
Writing score 15550 -
Phones tested 3 models -

Gaming

Table of average FPS and graphics settings in mobile games
PUBG Mobile - 57 FPS
[Ultra]
Call of Duty: Mobile - 60 FPS
[Ultra]
Fortnite - 60 FPS
[High]
World of Tanks Blitz - 60 FPS
[Ultra]
Genshin Impact - 59 FPS
[Ultra]
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang - 60 FPS
[Ultra]
Device - Apple iPhone 11 Pro
828 x 1792
We provide average results. FPS may differ, depending on game version, OS and other factors.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Tensor
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-26 -> Islom_1180AnTuTu 121235821
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-13 (Vladi♂️Slave♂️)AnTuTu 121281085
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-19 (duwi)AnTuTu 11774697
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-17 -> Paranoid _AntostAnTuTu 11930801
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-04 (nguyen van nguyen)AnTuTu 11990021
Apple A13 Bionic
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-21 (Π•Π²Π³Π΅Π½ΠΈΠΉ :))AnTuTu 111178640
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-07 (nuri)AnTuTu 111133524
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-07 (Ianzzzz)AnTuTu 111090244
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-07 (Ianzzzz)AnTuTu 111090244
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-04 (Feonton)AnTuTu 11915377

Specifications

Full list of technical specifications of Google Tensor and A13 Bionic

CPU

Architecture 2x 2.8 GHz – Cortex-X1
2x 2.25 GHz – Cortex A76
4x 1.8 GHz – Cortex A55
2x 2.65 GHz – Lightning
4x 1.6 GHz – Thunder
Cores 8 6
Frequency 2800 MHz 2650 MHz
Instruction set ARMv8.2-A ARMv8.4-A
L1 cache - 128 KB
L2 cache 3 MB 8 MB
L3 cache 4 MB -
Process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Transistor count - 8.5 billion
TDP (Sustained Power Limit) 5.6 W 6 W
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC

Graphics

GPU name Mali-G78 MP20 Apple A13 GPU
Architecture Valhall 2nd gen Apple Bionic GPU
GPU frequency 850 MHz 1230 MHz
Pipelines 20 4
Shading units 32 64
Total shaders 640 256
FLOPS 1085.4 Gigaflops 629.8 Gigaflops
Vulkan version 1.3 -
OpenCL version 2.0 -

AI Accelerator

Neural processor (NPU) Tensor Processing Unit Apple Neural Engine
NPU theoretical performance - 5 TOPS

Memory

Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory frequency 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Bus 4x 16 Bit 4x 16 Bit
Max bandwidth 51.2 Gb/s 34.1 Gb/s
Max size 12 GB 4 GB

Multimedia (ISP)

Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Max display resolution 3840 x 2160 2688 x 1242
Max camera resolution 1x 200MP, 2x 32MP -
Video capture 4K at 60FPS 4K at 60FPS
Video playback 4K at 60FPS 4K at 60FPS
Video codecs - H.264
- H.265
- AV1
- VP9
- H.264
- H.265
- Motion JPEG
Audio codecs - AAC
- AIFF
- CAF
- MP3
- MP4
- WAV
- AAC
- AAX
- AAX+
- AC-3
- AIFF
- CAF
- E-AC-3
- MP3
- MP4
- WAV

Connectivity

Modem Exynos 5300b -
4G support LTE Cat. 24 LTE Cat. 18
5G support Yes No
Download speed Up to 7350 Mbps Up to 1200 Mbps
Upload speed Up to 3670 Mbps Up to 350 Mbps
Wi-Fi 6 6
Bluetooth 5.2 5.0
Navigation GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo

Info

Announced October 2021 September 2019
Class Flagship Flagship
Model number GS101 (S5P9845) APL1W85
Official page Google Tensor official site -
Successor - Google Tensor G5 - Apple A19 Pro

Cast your vote

So, which SoC would you choose?
458 (57.8%)
334 (42.2%)
Total votes: 792

Comments

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