Apple A19 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Benchmarks and Specs

While Apple has launched its flagship A19 Pro processor with the iPhone 17 series, Qualcomm is going to unveil its next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 processor on September 23. However, ahead of the event, most of the details have already leaked, and it may even debut as the 'Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5'. Nevertheless, based on the available information, here is our comparison between the A19 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite 2.

A19 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Geekbench Score

The Apple A19 Pro has surfaced on Geekbench, running on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. In the Geekbench 6 CPU test, the A19 Pro scored 3,895 in single-core and 9,746 in multi-core. Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy (a slightly overclocked version) appeared on Geekbench, running on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Edge. It scored 3,393 in single-core and 11,515 in multi-core.

Going by these numbers, the A19 Pro delivers about 15% faster single-core performance than the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. However, in multi-core tasks, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 leads by over 18%.

That said, there are some caveats worth noting. Apple has only packed six CPU cores on the A19 Pro, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 has eight CPU cores, naturally giving it an edge in multi-core performance. Qualcomm has also raised the frequency much higher on the 8 Elite 2 (4.74GHz vs 4.26GHz). Despite the lower frequency, the A19 Pro does better than the 8 Elite 2 in single-core workloads, which means Apple's CPU is more power-efficient.

In addition, we are comparing the A19 Pro with the Galaxy version of the 8 Elite 2, which is slightly overclocked. The standard SD 8 Elite 2 (4.61GHz) is expected to score lower than the current numbers. Either way, it appears Apple continues to dominate in single-core CPU performance, while the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 is set to shine in multi-core workloads.

A19 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Specs Comparison

In our comparison between the A18 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite, we concluded that Qualcomm had nearly surpassed Apple in most segments, except in single-core CPU performance. Now, with the latest A19 Pro chipset, Apple is on a solid footing to challenge Qualcomm this year.

Both the A19 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 are fabricated on TSMC's 3nm (N3P) process node. Apple has gone with its usual 6-core CPU setup on the A19 Pro, however, Qualcomm is expected to employ an 8-core CPU setup, much like its earlier processors.

On the GPU side, the Snapdragon 8 Elite already had a substantial lead, and with the second iteration, Qualcomm may post even higher scores with its powerful Adreno 840 GPU against the 6-core A19 Pro GPU. That said, the final verdict will come down to benchmarks, so stay tuned to see who takes the crown for 2025’s best mobile chipset.