Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) vs M3 (iPad)
We compared two 8-core processors: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) (with Adreno 830 graphics) and Apple M3 (iPad) (Apple M3 GPU). Here you will find the pros and cons of each chip, technical specs, and comprehensive tests in benchmarks, like AnTuTu and Geekbench.
Review
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
Pros of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4)
- 7% higher CPU clock speed (4320 vs 4050 MHz)
- Shows better (up to 13%) AnTuTu 11 score โ 3126K vs 2777K
Pros of Apple M3 (iPad)
- Higher GPU frequency (~25%)
- Supports 21% higher memory bandwidth (102.4 against 84.8 GB/s)
- Better instruction set architecture
Benchmarks
Performance tests in popular benchmarksAnTuTu 11
| CPU | 893474 | 782907 |
| GPU | 1133808 | 1029236 |
| Memory | 427210 | 305749 |
| UX | 671910 | 659395 |
| Total score | 3126402 | 2777287 |
| Samples | [541 tests] | [8 tests] |
AnTuTu results from iOS and Android are not directly comparable! They won't affect NanoReview scores.
GeekBench 6
Single-Core Score
Multi-Core Score
| Asset compression | 367.8 MB/sec | 458.1 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 223.5 pages/sec | 270.6 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 257 Mpixels/sec | 299.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Image detection | 234.4 images/sec | 287.2 images/sec |
| HDR | 315.8 Mpixels/sec | 422.1 Mpixels/sec |
| Background blur | 32.7 images/sec | 48.2 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 90.6 images/sec | 116.1 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 12.4 Mpixels/sec | 13.4 Mpixels/sec |
| Samples | 148 tests | 4 tests |
Compute Score (GPU)
| Background blur | 45.3 images/sec | 86.1 images/sec |
| Face detection | 21.6 images/sec | 108.3 images/sec |
| Horizon detection | 0.73 Gpixels/sec | 1.43 Gpixels/sec |
| Edge detection | 0.91 Gpixels/sec | 1.93 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian blur | 1.75 Gpixels/sec | 2.41 Gpixels/sec |
| Feature matching | 0.33 Gpixels/sec | 0.62 Gpixels/sec |
| Stereo matching | 96.8 Gpixels/sec | 128.9 Gpixels/sec |
| Particle physics | 3848 FPS | 4690 FPS |
| API | Vulkan | Metal |
| Samples | 100 tests | 3 tests |
Compute results use different APIs (Metal vs Vulkan/OpenCL) and are not directly comparable!
3DMark
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Score | 2386 | 2695 |
| Stability | - | 70% |
| Graphics test | 18 FPS | 20 FPS |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Score | 10874 | 10356 |
| Graphics test | 41 FPS | 39 FPS |
| Section 1 | 47 FPS | 52 FPS |
| Section 2 | 41 FPS | 38 FPS |
| Section 3 | 35 FPS | 28 FPS |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Score | 5664 | - |
| Stability | 51% | - |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | - |
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 21945 | - |
| Video editing score | 8458 | - |
| Data manipulation score | 16086 | - |
| Photo editing score | 39118 | - |
| Writing score | 22647 | - |
| Phones tested | 36 models | - |
Recent User Tests
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2026-09-25 (Asuna) | AnTuTu 11 | 3203192 |
| ๐ 2026-09-25 (Ramirez) | AnTuTu 12 | 3484313 |
| ๐ 2026-09-24 -> Maximum | AnTuTu 12 | 3347504 |
| ๐ 2026-09-24 (Icecream) | AnTuTu 12 | 3297029 |
| ๐ 2026-09-24 -> iannnnn | AnTuTu 12 | 3255862 |
Apple M3 (iPad)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2026-04-17 (Jacob) | AnTuTu 11 | 2015536 |
| ๐ 2026-04-12 (Kaimen) | AnTuTu 11 | 2811760 |
| ๐ 2026-04-08 (Bearry) | AnTuTu 11 | 2838721 |
| ๐ 2026-03-22 (Noora) | AnTuTu 11 | 2779459 |
| ๐ 2026-03-21 (Noora) | AnTuTu 11 | 2708158 |
Specifications
Full list of technical specifications of Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) and M3 (iPad)CPU
| Architecture | 2x 4.32 GHz โ Oryon (Phoenix L) 6x 3.53 GHz โ Oryon (Phoenix M) |
4x 4.05 GHz โ 4x 2.75 GHz โ |
| Cores | 8 | 8 |
| Frequency | 4320 MHz | 4050 MHz |
| Instruction set | ARMv8-A | ARMv8.6-A |
| L1 cache | 192 KB | 256 KB |
| L2 cache | 12 MB | 16 MB |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | - |
| Process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Transistor count | - | 25 billion |
| TDP (Sustained Power Limit) | 8 W | 20 W |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
Graphics
| GPU name | Adreno 830 | Apple M3 GPU |
| Architecture | Adreno 800 | Apple GPU |
| GPU frequency | 1100 MHz | 1380 MHz |
| Pipelines | 3 | 9 |
| Shading units | 512 | 128 |
| Total shaders | 1536 | 1152 |
| FLOPS | 3379.2 Gigaflops | 3179.5 Gigaflops |
| Vulkan version | 1.3 | - |
| OpenCL version | 3.0 | - |
| DirectX version | 12.1 | - |
AI Accelerator
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Apple Neural Engine |
| NPU theoretical performance | - | 18 TOPS |
Memory
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory frequency | 5300 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| Bus | 4x 16 Bit | 8x 16 Bit |
| Max bandwidth | 84.8 Gb/s | 102.4 Gb/s |
| Max size | 24 GB | 24 GB |
Multimedia (ISP)
| Storage type | UFS 4.0, UFS 4.1 | NVMe |
| Max display resolution | 3840 x 2540 | 2732 x 2048 |
| Max camera resolution | 1x 320MP | 1x 48MP |
| Video capture | 8K at 60FPS, 4K at 120FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video playback | 8K at 60FPS, 4K at 120FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video codecs | - H.264 - H.265 - AV1 - VP8 - VP9 |
- H.264 - H.265 - AV1 - VP9 |
| Audio codecs | - AAC - AIFF - CAF - MP3 - MP4 - WAV |
- AAC - AIFF - CAF - MP3 - MP4 - WAV |
Connectivity
| Modem | Snapdragon X80 | - |
| 4G support | LTE Cat. 24 | - |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
| Download speed | Up to 10000 Mbps | Up to 7500 Mbps |
| Upload speed | Up to 3500 Mbps | Up to 3500 Mbps |
| Wi-Fi | 7 | 6 |
| Bluetooth | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| Navigation | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
Info
| Announced | October 2024 | October 2023 |
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Model number | SM8750-AB | - |
| Official page | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) official site | - |
| Successor | - Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | - |
Further details
Notes on Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4):
- The SM8750-AC model has a higher frequencyโ4,470 MHz for performance cores versus 4,320 MHz in the SM8750-AB and SM8750-3-AB modelsโand its GPU is 100 MHz faster.
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