Apple A12Z Bionic vs Apple M3

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A12Z Bionic CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M3
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple M3

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple A12Z Bionic and the Apple M3 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Apple A12Z Bionic 8 core processor released in Q1/2020 with the Apple M3 which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2023.
Apple A series (22) Family Apple M series (25)
Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3) CPU group Apple M3 (6)
12 Generation 3
A12 Architecture M3
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A10X Fusion Predecessor Apple M2
-- Successor Apple M4

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A12Z Bionic is a 8 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.49 GHz. The processor can compute 8 threads at the same time. The Apple M3 clocks with 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz), has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Apple A12Z Bionic Characteristic Apple M3
8 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.49 GHz
4x Vortex
A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
4x P-Core
1.59 GHz
4x Tempest
B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
4x E-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 A12Z Bionic Characteristic Apple M3
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
8 Neural cores @ 5 TOPS AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

Apple A12Z GPU Apple M3 (10 Core)
1.13 GHz GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
9 GPU Generation 3
7 nm Technology 3 nm
1 Max. displays 2
32 Compute units 160
512 Shader 1280
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
6 GB Max. GPU Memory 24 GB
-- 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.

Apple A12Z GPU Apple M3 (10 Core)
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to 6 GB of memory in a maximum of 2 memory channels is supported by the Apple A12Z Bionic, while the Apple M3 supports a maximum of 24 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s enabled.

Apple A12Z Bionic Characteristic Apple M3
LPDDR4X-4266 Memory LPDDR5-6400
6 GB Max. Memory 24 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
68.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 102.4 GB/s
No ECC No
8.00 MB L2 Cache 20.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Apple A12Z Bionic has a TDP of 15 W. The TDP of the Apple M3 is 22 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Apple A12Z Bionic Characteristic Apple M3
15 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 22 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down 15 W
-- Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Apple A12Z Bionic has 8.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 7 nm. The cache of Apple M3 is at 20.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 3 nm.

Apple A12Z Bionic Characteristic Apple M3
7 nm Technology 3 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
-- Socket --
None Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
iOS Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q1/2020 Release date Q4/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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Here you can rate the Apple M3 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.9 stars (1221 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple A12Z Bionic (48%)
Apple M3 (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple A12Z Bionic (43%)
Apple M3 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
991 (50%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
1965 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4539 (43%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
10437 (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.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1124 (52%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
2150 (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.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4718 (45%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
10450 (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.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1351 (43%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
3125 (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.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4798 (40%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
11863 (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.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple A12Z @ 1.13 GHz
1152 (32%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
Apple M3 (10 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
3550 (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).
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (14%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
137 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
659 (100%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
779044 (100%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 0.70 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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
717401 (100%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 0.70 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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
8C 8T @ 4.06 GHz
18951 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
2.49 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Apple M3
10,437 CB R23 MC @ 22 W
474 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A12Z Bionic Apple M3
Apple iPad Pro 2020 Apple iMac 24 (2023)

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