Every September, we compare Apple's new A-series chip with Qualcomm's flagship silicon to check whether Qualcomm has finally closed the gap. This year, the A20 Pro is Apple's first iPhone chip to be built on a 2nm node, whereas the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is fabricated on a 3nm process. While the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a generation older, let's see where it stacks up in comparison to Apple's latest A20 Pro processor.
A20 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: The Manufacturing Gap
Let's start with the fabrication process since it's the single biggest difference between these two chips. The A20 Pro moves to TSMC's 2nm (N2) node, which is the first process to replace the older FinFET transistors with gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet transistors.
TSMC's new 2nm node can bring up to 10-15% performance jump at the same power level or keep the performance steady while reducing power consumption by 25-30%.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, on the other hand, is fabricated on TSMC's N3P node, which is a mature and well-refined 3nm process, but in 2026, it's still a 3nm FinFET design and a notch below the 2nm node.
Note that a first-generation node usually prioritises efficiency over raw clock speeds, but it does allow the A20 Pro to deliver strong performance while drawing less power.
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A20 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: CPU
Now, coming to the CPU, Apple continues with its familiar 6-core layout, but this year, it brings two new super cores and four efficiency cores. According to an estimate, the A20 Pro is said to score around 4,300 in Geekbench 6 single-core and about 11,000 in multi-core.
During the iPhone 18 Pro launch event, Apple claimed the A20 Pro has the fastest CPU in any smartphone and in fact, it delivers desktop-class performance.
Qualcomm, on the other hand, packs an 8-core setup with the powerful 3rd-gen Oryon CPU. It features 2 Prime cores clocked at 4.61GHz and 6 Performance cores running at 3.63GHz.
In the past, Apple has been leading the single-core race and the A19 Pro's Geekbench performance demonstrated the trend even better. I think the A20 Pro is going to increase the single-core gap even more, compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
That said, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 fights back in the multi-core department, thanks to the eight Oryon v3 cores. It has already pushed multi-core scores into the 11,000+ range. To put it simply, the CPU story has not really changed this year as Apple continues to own single-core performance while Qualcomm leads in multi-threaded tasks.
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A20 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: GPU
This year Apple has gone with a 7-core GPU on the A20 Pro (up from 6-core on the A19 Pro). And each of those cores bring a Neural Accelerator with improved hardware ray tracing performance. Basically, the underlying architecture is the same as the A19 Pro, except that there is now an extra GPU core and has access to faster 96-bit LPDDR5X memory.
Qualcomm packs the Adreno 840 GPU inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is paired with 18MB of dedicated High Performance Memory (HPM) and runs at a clock speed of 1.2GHz.
When it comes to raw graphics throughput, the Adreno 840 is a capable GPU and it has already defeated the 6-core A19 Pro GPU. Now with the latest upgrades, the 7-core A20 Pro GPU might outrank the Adreno 840 GPU, but we will have to do independent testing first.
By the way, the Dimensity 9500's benchmark results put its Mali-G1 Ultra GPU above all the mobile GPUs out there and in fact, in many 3DMark tests, the Mali-G1 Ultra GPU outclassed all rival GPUs. So it will be interesting to see where the new 7-core A20 Pro GPU stacks up and whether it regains the GPU crown this year.
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A20 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Specs Comparison
| Specification | Apple A20 Pro | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC N2 (2nm) | TSMC N3P (3nm) |
| CPU | 6-core Apple CPU | Octa-core 3rd-gen Oryon CPU |
| CPU Cores | 2x super + 4x efficiency | 2x Prime Oryon v3 at 4.61GHz + 6x Performance Oryon v3 at 3.63GHz |
| GPU | 7-core Apple GPU | Adreno 840, 1.2GHz, 18MB HPM |
| NPU | Dual 16-core Neural Engine (32-core) | Hexagon NPU |
| Storage and Memory | 12GB LPDDR5X (96-bit interface), NVMe storage | LPDDR5X up to 5,300MHz (84.8 GB/s), UFS 4.1 |
| Modem | Apple C2 | Snapdragon X85 5G (up to 12.5 Gbps download / 3.7 Gbps upload) |
| Connectivity | Apple N1 wireless (Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth, Thread) | FastConnect 7900 (Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB) |
To conclude, the A20 Pro is a more powerful chip as it's the latest silicon from Apple. The transition to the 2nm node has given Apple a clear lead in performance and efficiency. Not to mention, there are two new super cores and Apple has managed to add an extra GPU core which should improve the graphics performance and bring it on par with the rivals.
Having said that, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is still a flagship chip. The 8-core Oryon v3 CPU is quite powerful and in multi-core tasks, it leads the mobile segment. The Adreno 840 GPU is incredibly hard to beat even after a year of release.
What I am interested in is the comparison with Qualcomm's upcoming flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. Note that Qualcomm's branding is not confirmed yet and a few leaks suggest that the top-end chip could be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 instead.
Qualcomm is expected to unveil its next flagship at the Snapdragon Summit 2026 on September 22. This chip is also tipped to move to TSMC's 2nm N2P node and pack a new-generation Oryon CPU with Prime cores rumoured to reach the 5GHz mark.
Not to mention, the Adreno 850 GPU is confirmed to bring new Matrix cores inside each GPU core, just like the Neural Accelerator inside the A20 Pro GPU. So while the A20 Pro clearly beats the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, let's see how it fares against Qualcomm's upcoming flagship chip.
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