Blow up the iPhone 17 Pro? Qualcomm has released the 8 Elite Gen5, which nearly completely crushes the A19 Pro in real-world tests.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 faces off against Apple A19 Pro, with a comprehensive comparison of benchmark scores, energy efficiency, and AI ecosystem, revealing the direction of flagship mobile chipsets in 2025. (Background: Apple suffered a heavy defeat to MediaTek! Dimensity 9300 trounced Snapdragon 8gen3, A17Pro's performance lagged behind) (Additional context: Intel and Apple reopen 'chip conference' with stock prices soaring, Apple abandoning M series chips to return to Intel Core Ultra?) Every September, the competition of mobile chipsets starts like the lights of an F1 race, with flagship smartphones accelerating alongside it. This year's focus is on the direct confrontation between Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ( and Apple A19 Pro. According to actual test data from GeekBay, the 8 Elite Gen 5 overwhelmingly crushes the A19 Pro in many aspects, diminishing the prestige of the newly launched iPhone 17. Core Design: Multi-core advantage against single-core peak The 8L5 adopts an octa-core configuration of 2 big + 6 efficiency cores, with a maximum clock speed of 4.6 GHz, plus an SME unit, allowing for higher throughput in AI and vector computations. In contrast, A19 Pro maintains a 2 high-performance + 4 high-efficiency architecture. Although it has fewer cores, its single-core microarchitecture is deeply optimized. GeekBench 6 results show that A19 Pro scores between 3895 to 4019 in single-core, still leading 8L5's 3846; however, 8L5's multi-core score of 12546 surpasses A19 Pro's range of 9746 to 11054, indicating that the stacking of core counts and clock speeds is still effective for multi-threaded workloads, with Apple's camp maintaining only about a 2% single-core advantage. In energy efficiency, 8L5 falls directly between A19 Pro and A19, far surpassing Dimensity 9500, indicating A19 Pro is nearly on par. Graphics and AI: Expanded cache and hardware pass-through shine When it comes to GPU performance, 8L5 uses the new Adreno 840, with GPU cache expanded from 12 MB to 18 MB, paired with a 1.2 GHz clock speed, claiming a 23% increase in graphics performance, a 25% increase in ray tracing, and a 20% reduction in power consumption. More crucially, the hardware pass-through between the GPU and NPU reduces back-and-forth transfers when overlaying real-time AI effects in gaming. A19 Pro features a 6-core Apple GPU with VC heat spreader and aluminum shell cooling, emphasizing that it does not throttle under prolonged high loads. Both also elevate NPU specifications: 8L5's Hexagon performance improves by about 35%, with power consumption reduced by 16%; A19 Pro has a built-in 16-core neural engine, giving it an inherent advantage in image segmentation and generative AI, but its flexibility remains to be seen due to iOS's management of third-party frameworks. In benchmark scores, 8L5 leads with a score of 3100, just ahead of A19 Pro, which scores under 3000, achieving a complete overall surpass. Although it seems inferior to Dimensity 9500, the actual performance in the most commonly run 6~8W range on mobile devices is nearly identical, and this range outperforms A19 Pro's results. Only engineering machine demo data, may have special performance versions GeekBay's benchmark is from an engineering machine. Once the 8L5 is officially released, manufacturers like Xiaomi may produce special performance versions based on different models, just as Apple categorizes A19, A19 Pro, etc. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that if special performance versions of processors emerge, there may be opportunities for comprehensive surpassing. However, comparing such conclusions and scores may be unfair, as Android and Apple are on different paths: the industry believes 8L5 is evaluated as a 'steady and reliable generation,' using process and cache optimization to reduce the chances of unexpected failures, providing stable solutions for high-end Android brands. On the other hand, Apple relies on the advantage of hardware-software integration, applying single-core efficiency to application startup, data security, and long-term system support. In conclusion, 8L5 continues to lead in multi-core and AI scenarios, while also showing signs of Android's long-lost single-core resurgence; A19 Pro still maintains its influence in single-core and hardware-software collaboration. Who can truly win over consumer wallets may depend on the actual performance of the first batch of 8L5 retail devices next year, including cooling, battery life, and long-term update support. It is certain that under the pressure of MediaTek and Qualcomm's processor strategies, Apple's single-core high efficiency moat has already been challenged, and the A19 processor-led iPhone 17 series has faced score setbacks upon launch, possibly leading some performance seekers to wait and see the new Android flagships at the end of this year and early next year. Related reports: Intel falls from semiconductor king, seeks TSMC for foundry, ultimately being called for acquisition by Qualcomm; TSMC's 2nm chips are too expensive! Rumors suggest Apple iPhone 17 Pro will continue using 3nm; Nvidia and Qualcomm may switch orders? Apple moves towards 'de-Qualcommization': Next year's new iPhone SE to feature Apple self-developed communication chips, rumored to be manufactured by TSMC <Will iPhone 17 Pro be hit hard? Qualcomm launches 8 Elite Gen5, nearly completely crushing A19 Pro in tests> This article was first published in BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.