Apple A12 Bionic vs Apple A6

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A12 Bionic CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A6
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A6

CPU comparison

Apple A12 Bionic or Apple A6 - 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 Apple A12 Bionic has 6 cores with 6 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.49 GHz. Up to 4 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The Apple A12 Bionic was released in Q3/2018.

The Apple A6 has 2 cores with 2 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 1.30 GHz. The CPU supports up to 1 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple A6 was released in Q3/2012.
Apple A series (22) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3) CPU group Apple A6/A6X (2)
12 Generation 6
A12 Architecture A6
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A11 Bionic Predecessor Apple A5
Apple A13 Bionic Successor Apple A7

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A12 Bionic has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple A12 Bionic is 2.49 GHz while the Apple A6 has 2 CPU cores and 2 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Apple A6 is at 1.30 GHz.

Apple A12 Bionic Characteristic Apple A6
6 Cores 2
6 Threads 2
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture normal
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.49 GHz
2x Vortex
A-Core 1.30 GHz
2x Swift
1.59 GHz
4x Tempest
B-Core --

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.

Apple A12 Bionic Characteristic Apple A6
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware --
8 Neural cores @ 5 TOPS AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Apple A12 Bionic or Apple A6 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

Apple A12 GPU PowerVR SGX543MP3 (3 Cores)
1.13 GHz GPU frequency 0.27 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
9 GPU Generation --
7 nm Technology 32 nm
1 Max. displays 1
16 Compute units 6
256 Shader 48
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
4 GB Max. GPU Memory --
-- DirectX Version 10

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.

Apple A12 GPU PowerVR SGX543MP3 (3 Cores)
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC No
Decode Codec VC-1 No
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG No

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A12 Bionic can use up to 4 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 34.1 GB/s. The Apple A6 supports up to 1 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 8.5 GB/s.

Apple A12 Bionic Characteristic Apple A6
LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR2-1066
4 GB Max. Memory 1 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
34.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 8.5 GB/s
No ECC No
8.00 MB L2 Cache 1.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Apple A12 Bionic is 6 W, while the Apple A6 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Apple A12 Bionic Characteristic Apple A6
6 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A12 Bionic is manufactured in 7 nm and has 8.00 MB cache. The Apple A6 is manufactured in 32 nm and has a 1.00 MB cache.

Apple A12 Bionic Characteristic Apple A6
7 nm Technology 32 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv7-A (32 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
iOS Operating systems iOS
Q3/2018 Release date Q3/2012
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
Apple A12 @ 1.13 GHz
576 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
PowerVR SGX543MP3 (3 Cores) @ 0.27 GHz
68 (12%)

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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1116 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2731 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1286 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2353 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
425605 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

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.
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
4846 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

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).
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (100%)
Apple A6 Apple A6
2C 2T @ 1.30 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A12 Bionic Apple A6
Apple iPhone XR
Apple iPhone XS
Apple iPhone XS Max
Apple iPad mini (5. Gen)
Apple iPad Air (3. Gen)
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPhone 5C

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