AMD A8-5550M vs Apple A12 Bionic

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD A8-5550M CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A12 Bionic
AMD A8-5550M Apple A12 Bionic

CPU comparison

AMD A8-5550M or Apple A12 Bionic - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The AMD A8-5550M has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.10 GHz. Up to GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The AMD A8-5550M was released in Q2/2013.

The Apple A12 Bionic has 6 cores with 6 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.49 GHz. The CPU supports up to 4 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple A12 Bionic was released in Q3/2018.
AMD A (112) Family Apple A series (22)
AMD A8-5000M (3) CPU group Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3)
3 Generation 12
Richland (Piledriver) Architecture A12
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A11 Bionic
-- Successor Apple A13 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD A8-5550M is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.10 GHz (3.10 GHz). The Apple A12 Bionic has 6 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.49 GHz.

AMD A8-5550M Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
4 Cores 6
4 Threads 6
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.10 GHz (3.10 GHz) A-Core 2.49 GHz
2x Vortex
-- B-Core 1.59 GHz
4x Tempest

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

AMD A8-5550M Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 8 Neural cores @ 5 TOPS

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

AMD Radeon HD 8550G GPU Apple A12
0.52 GHz GPU frequency 1.13 GHz
0.72 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
5 GPU Generation 9
32 nm Technology 7 nm
2 Max. displays 1
4 Compute units 16
256 Shader 256
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
2 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
11 DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

AMD Radeon HD 8550G GPU Apple A12
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The AMD A8-5550M supports a maximum of GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple A12 Bionic can connect up to 4 GB of memory in 1 memory channels.

AMD A8-5550M Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
DDR3-1600 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
Max. Memory 4 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 34.1 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 8.00 MB
4.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The AMD A8-5550M has a TDP of 35 W, that of the Apple A12 Bionic is 6 W.

AMD A8-5550M Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
35 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 6 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The AMD A8-5550M has a 4.00 MB cache, while the Apple A12 Bionic cache has a total of 8.00 MB.

AMD A8-5550M Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
32 nm Technology 7 nm
Unknown Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, FMA3, FMA4 ISA extensions --
FS1r2 Socket --
AMD-V Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Operating systems iOS
Q2/2013 Release date Q3/2018
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the AMD A8-5550M to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple A12 Bionic to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.0 stars (21 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
AMD A8-5550M (34%)
Apple A12 Bionic (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD A8-5550M (50%)
Apple A12 Bionic (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
381 (34%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1116 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
947 (35%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2731 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
AMD Radeon HD 8550G @ 0.72 GHz
369 (64%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
Apple A12 @ 1.13 GHz
576 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
3093 (64%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
4846 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1286 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 3.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2353 (100%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 2.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
425605 (100%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
AMD A8-5550M AMD A8-5550M
4C 4T @ 2.10 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (100%)

Devices using this processor

AMD A8-5550M Apple A12 Bionic
Unknown Apple iPhone XR
Apple iPhone XS
Apple iPhone XS Max
Apple iPad mini (5. Gen)
Apple iPad Air (3. Gen)

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. Apple A12 BionicApple A14 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic vs Apple A14 Bionic
2. Apple A10X FusionApple A12 Bionic Apple A10X Fusion vs Apple A12 Bionic
3. Apple A13 BionicApple A12 Bionic Apple A13 Bionic vs Apple A12 Bionic
4. Apple M1Apple A12 Bionic Apple M1 vs Apple A12 Bionic
5. Apple A10 FusionApple A12 Bionic Apple A10 Fusion vs Apple A12 Bionic
6. Apple A12 BionicApple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A12 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
7. Apple A12 BionicApple A9X Apple A12 Bionic vs Apple A9X
8. Apple A12 BionicQualcomm Snapdragon 888 Apple A12 Bionic vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
9. Apple A8XApple A12 Bionic Apple A8X vs Apple A12 Bionic
10. Apple A11 BionicApple A12 Bionic Apple A11 Bionic vs Apple A12 Bionic


back to index