Specifications

The Arm Cortex-A78 CPU delivers premium performance with the industry-leading power efficiency for multiple form factors.

The fourth-generation premium core built on DynamIQ technology. Paired with Cortex-A55 CPUs in a scalable DynamIQ big.LITTLE configuration, Cortex-A78 extends the performance and efficiency of premium smartphones to multiple form factors. Consumers demand premium level performance from devices, Cortex-A78 provides up to a 20% sustained performance increase, along with 50% energy savings when compared to earlier generation devices. Together with a solution-focused approach to chip design, including the GPU and NPU, Cortex-A78 provides greater efficiency for multi-day battery life across mobile, laptop, and foldable devices.

Arm Cortex-A78 Block Diagram

Arm Cortex-A78 CPU based on DynamIQ technology

 Architecture  Armv8-A (Harvard)  
 Extensions
  • Armv8.1 extensions
  • Armv8.2 extensions
  • Cryptography extensions
  • RAS extensions
 Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only)
  
 ISA support
  • A64
  • A32 and T32 (at EL0 only) 
  
 Microarchitecture
  Pipeline  Out of order
   Superscalar
  Yes
   Neon / Floating Point Unit  Included
   Cryptography Unit
  Optional
   Max number of CPUs in cluster
  4
   Physical Addressing (PA)  40-bit
 Memory system and external interfaces
  L1 I-Cache / D-Cache  32KB to 64KB
   L2 Cache  256KB to 512KB
   L3 Cache  Optional, 512KB to 4MB
 Up to 8MB (with Cortex-X1)
   ECC Support  Yes
   LPAE  Yes
   Bus interfaces             AMBA ACE or CHI
   ACP  Optional
   Peripheral Port  Optional
   Functional Safety Support  ASIL D systematic
   Security  TrustZone
   Interrupts  GIC interface, GICv4
   Generic timer  Armv8-A
   PMU  PMUv3
   Debug  Armv8-A (plus Armv8.2-A extensions)
   CoreSight  CoreSightv3
   Embedded Trace Macrocell  ETMv4.2 (instruction trace)

Key features compared to Cortex-A77

Some of the key areas where Cortex-A78 improves on performance and energy efficiency of Cortex-A77. 

  • Twenty percent sustained performance improvements (assuming a 1W power budget)
  • Fifty percent energy savings at same performance, enabling multi-day battery life using latest process nodes
  • Extended scalability with extra support from the DynamIQ Shared Unit for big.LITTLE
Cortex-A comparison table (Armv7-A)
Feature Cortex-A5 Cortex-A7 Cortex-A9 Cortex-A15 Cortex-A17
Instruction set architecture and extensions Armv7-A Armv7-A
LPAE Virtualization		 Armv7-A Armv7-A
LPAE Virtualization		 Armv7-A
LPAE Virtualization
Pipeline In order In order Out of order Out of order Out of order
Superscalar No Partial Yes Yes Yes
Neon and Floating Point Unit Optional Optional Optional Optional Included
Floating Point Unit only Optional Optional Optional Optional Included
Cryptography Unit No No No No No
Physical Addressing (PA) 32-bit 40-bit 32-bit 40-bit 40-bit
Dual Core Lock-Step (DCLS) No No No No No
L1 I-Cache / D-Cache 4k-64k 8k-64k 16k-64k 32kB/32kB 32k-64k/32k
L2 Cache External L2C-310 Up to 1MB External L2C-310 512kB-4MB 256kB-8MB
L3 Cache NA NA NA NA NA
ECC / Parity   No Yes Yes L2 only
LPAE No Yes No Yes Yes
Bus Interfaces AXI ACE AXI ACE or CHI ACE
ACP Optional No Optional Optional Optional
Peripheral Port     No No Yes
Functional Safety Support          
Security TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone
Interrupt Controller Optional Integrated GIC v1 (MP only) Optional Integrated GIC v2 Internal Integrated GIC v1 (MP only) Optional Integrated GICv2 External GICv2
Generic Timer No Yes Yes Armv8-A Armv8-A

Cortex-A comparison (Armv8-A)

Feature Cortex-A32 Cortex-A34 Cortex-A35 Cortex-A53 Cortex-A55 Cortex-A57 Cortex-A65 Cortex-A65AE Cortex-A72 Cortex-A73 Cortex-A75 Cortex-A76 Cortex-A76AE Cortex-A77 Cortex-A78
Instruction set architecture and extensions Armv8-A AArch32 only Armv8-A AArch64 only Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only) Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product
 Armv8-A, Armv8.1 extensions, Armv8.2 extensions, Cryptography extensions, RAS extensions, Armv8.3 (LDAPR instructions only), Armv8.4 Dot Product
Pipeline In order In order In order In order In order Out of order Out of order Out-of-order Out of order Out of order Out-of-order Out-of-order Out-of-order Out-of-order
 Out-of-order
Superscalar       Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Yes
Neon and Floating Point Unit Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
 Included
Floating Point Unit only N/A N/A N/A N/A Optional Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included Included
 Included
Cryptography Unit Optional Optional Optional Optional N/A Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional
 Optional
Physical Addressing (PA) 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit 44-bit 44-bit 44-bit 40-bit 44-bit 40-bit 40-bit 40-bit
 40-bit
Dual Core Lock-Step (DCLS) No No No No No No No Yes (in safety-mode) No No No No Yes (in safety-mode) No
 No
L1 I-Cache / D-Cache 8k-64k 8k-64k 8k-64k 8k-64k 16kB-64kB 48kB/32kB 16KB to 64KB 16KB to 64KB 48KB/32kB-64kB 32k/32k-64k 64KB 64KB 64KB 64KB
 64KB
L2 Cache 128KB-1MB 128KB-1MB 128KB-1MB 128KB-2MB 64kB-256kB 512kB-2MB 64KB to 256KB 64KB to 256KB 512kB-4MB 256k-8MB 256KB to 512KB 256KB to 512KB 256KB to 512KB 256KB to 512KB
 256KB to 512KB
L3 Cache NA NA NA NA Optional
From 256kB to 4MB		 NA Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB NA NA Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB Optional 512KB to 4MB
 Optional 512KB to 4MB
ECC / Parity Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes L2 only Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Yes
LPAE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Yes
Bus Interfaces ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI ACE or CHI
 ACE or CHI
ACP Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional Yes Optional Optional Optional Yes Optional Optional Optional Optional
 Optional
Peripheral Port         Optional   Optional Optional     Optional Optional Optional Optional
 Optional
Functional Safety Support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes   Yes Yes   Yes Yes Yes Yes
 ASIL D systematic
Security TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone TrustZone
 TrustZone
Interrupt Controller External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv3		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4		 External
GICv4
 External
GICv4
Generic Timer Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A Armv8-A
 Armv8-A