Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Benchmark, Test and specs

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The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) has 6 cores with 6 threads and is based on the 15. gen of the Apple A series series. The processor was released in Q3/2021. The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) scores 1,745 points in the Geekbench 5 single-core benchmark. In the Geekbench 5 multi-core benchmark, the result is 4,777 points.
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)

CPU lineage

The segment in which we have classified the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU). Here you can see if it is a desktop processor or a mobile processor or which processor may be the successor of the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU).

Name: Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Family: Apple A series (22)
CPU group: Apple A15 (2)
Architecture: A15
Segment: Mobile
Generation: 15
Predecessor: Apple A14 Bionic
Successor: Apple A16 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is 3.23 GHz. The number of CPU cores greatly affects the speed of the processor and is an important performance indicator.

CPU Cores / Threads: 6 / 6
Core architecture: hybrid (big.LITTLE)
A-Core: 2x Avalanche
B-Core: 4x Blizzard
Hyperthreading / SMT: No
Overclocking: No
A-Core Frequency: 3.23 GHz
B-Core Frequency: 2.02 GHz

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.

AI hardware: Apple Neural Engine
AI specifications: 16 Neural cores @ 15.8 TOPS

Internal Graphics

The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. Specifically, the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) uses the Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores), which has 640 texture shaders and 20 execution units. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

GPU name: Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores)
GPU frequency: 1.34 GHz
GPU (Turbo): No turbo
Compute units: 20
Shader: 640
Hardware Raytracing: No
Release date: Q3/2021
Max. displays: 3
Generation: 12
Direct X: --
Technology: 5 nm
Max. GPU Memory: 6 GB
Frame Generation: No

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.

h265 / HEVC (8 bit): Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit): Decode / Encode
h264: Decode / Encode
VP8: Decode / Encode
VP9: Decode / Encode
AV1: No
AVC: Decode
VC-1: Decode
JPEG: Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The processor can use up to 6 GB memory in 1 (Single Channel) memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 34.1 GB/s. The memory type as well as the amount of memory can greatly affect the speed of the system.

Memory type: Memory bandwidth:
LPDDR4X-4266
34.1 GB/s
Max. Memory: 6 GB
Memory channels: 1 (Single Channel)
ECC: No
PCIe:
PCIe Bandwidth: --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the processor is 7.25 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently. The TDP usually gives a rough idea of the actual power consumption of the CPU.

TDP (PL1 / PBP): 7.25 W
TDP (PL2): --
TDP up: --
TDP down: --
Tjunction max.: --

Technical details

The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is made in 5 nm. The smaller the manufacturing process of a CPU, the more modern and energy-efficient it is. Overall, the processor has 48.00 MB cache. A large cache can greatly speed up the processor's speed in some cases such as games.

Technology: 5 nm
Chip design: Chiplet
Socket: --
L2-Cache: 16.00 MB
L3-Cache: 32.00 MB
AES-NI: No
Operating systems: iOS
Virtualization: None
Instruction set (ISA): Armv8-A (64 bit)
ISA extensions: --
Release date: Q3/2021
Release price: --
Part Number: --
Documents: --

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Benchmark results

Verified Benchmark results
The benchmark results for the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) have been carefully checked by us. We only publish benchmark results that have been created by us or that have been submitted by a visitor and then checked by a team member. All results are based on and fullfill our benchmark guidelines.

Screenshots:

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.
Intel Core i9-12900H Intel Core i9-12900H
14C 20T @ 5.00 GHz
1754
Intel Core i7-12800HE Intel Core i7-12800HE
14C 20T @ 4.60 GHz
1753
Intel Core Ultra 7 155H Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
16C 22T @ 4.80 GHz
1746
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
1745
Intel Core i7-1370P Intel Core i7-1370P
14C 20T @ 5.20 GHz
1745
Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
1745
Intel Core i5-13500HX Intel Core i5-13500HX
14C 20T @ 4.70 GHz
1743

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.
Intel Core i7-1068G7 Intel Core i7-1068G7
4C 8T @ 3.60 GHz
4797
Intel Core i3-10305 Intel Core i3-10305
4C 8T @ 4.30 GHz
4789
Intel Core i7-8850H Intel Core i7-8850H
6C 12T @ 3.30 GHz
4781
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
4777
Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
4777
Intel Core i5-1140G7 Intel Core i5-1140G7
4C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
4776
Intel Core i7-10810U Intel Core i7-10810U
6C 12T @ 1.10 GHz
4770

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.
Intel Xeon E-2388G Intel Xeon E-2388G
8C 16T @ 5.10 GHz
2264
Intel Core Ultra 5 125H Intel Core Ultra 5 125H
14C 18T @ 4.50 GHz
2256
Intel Core Ultra 5 135H Intel Core Ultra 5 135H
14C 18T @ 4.60 GHz
2247
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
2245
Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
2245
Intel Core i5-12500H Intel Core i5-12500H
12C 16T @ 4.50 GHz
2241
Intel Core i5-1345U Intel Core i5-1345U
10C 12T @ 4.70 GHz
2240

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.
Intel Core i5-9500 Intel Core i5-9500
6C 6T @ 4.00 GHz
5424
Intel Xeon E5-2640 v3 Intel Xeon E5-2640 v3
8C 16T @ 3.00 GHz
5422
Intel Xeon E5-2630L v4 Intel Xeon E5-2630L v4
10C 20T @ 2.20 GHz
5406
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
5402
Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
5402
Intel Xeon E-2234 Intel Xeon E-2234
4C 4T @ 4.00 GHz
5402
Intel Core i5-8600 Intel Core i5-8600
6C 6T @ 3.80 GHz
5391

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.
Intel Core i5-12600H Intel Core i5-12600H
Intel Iris Xe Graphics 80 (Alder Lake) @ 1.40 GHz
1735
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
Qualcomm Adreno 660 @ 0.84 GHz
1720
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+
Qualcomm Adreno 660 AV1 @ 0.84 GHz
1720
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores) @ 1.34 GHz
1713
AMD Ryzen 5 5600GE AMD Ryzen 5 5600GE
AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (Renoir) @ 1.90 GHz
1702
AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650GE AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650GE
AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (Renoir) @ 1.90 GHz
1702
AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650G AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650G
AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 (Renoir) @ 1.90 GHz
1702

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.
Samsung Exynos 2200 Samsung Exynos 2200
8C 8T @ 2.80 GHz
917364
Google Tensor G3 Google Tensor G3
8C 8T @ 2.91 GHz
894587
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+
8C 8T @ 3.00 GHz
825450
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
825116
MediaTek Dimensity 8000 MediaTek Dimensity 8000
8C 8T @ 2.75 GHz
820000
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888
8C 8T @ 2.84 GHz
816812
MediaTek Dimensity 8100 MediaTek Dimensity 8100
8C 8T @ 2.85 GHz
811000

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 A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
15.8
Apple M2 Apple M2
8C 8T @ 0.66 GHz
15.8
Apple M2 (8-GPU) Apple M2 (8-GPU)
8C 8T @ 0.66 GHz
15.8
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
15.8
Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 Qualcomm Snapdragon 870
8C 8T @ 3.20 GHz
15
Samsung Exynos 990 Samsung Exynos 990
8C 8T @ 2.73 GHz
15
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
8C 8T @ 3.10 GHz
15

Benchmarks


News and articles for the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)

MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ vs Apple A16 and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ vs Apple A16 and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
Posted by Stefan on 2022-09-22
With the Dimensity 9000+, Mediatek presents the latest of its smartphone chips. The successor to the Mediatek Dimensity 9000 achieves higher CPU and GPU clock frequencies thanks to better binning. The CPU clock of the prime core (A core) increases from 3.0 to 3.2 GHz. And the ARM Mali-G710 MP10 GPU can now clock at 0.9 GHz (previously 0.85 GHz).

Both are a good improvement over the Dimensity 9000 in theory but the increase in performance should not usually be noticeable in practice. In the end, the overall performance of the Mediatek Dimensity 9000+ is impressive: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is beaten in Geekbench 5 in both the single-core and multi-core benchmarks.
What we know about the new Apple A16 Bionic in Apples iPhone 14
What we know about the new Apple A16 Bionic in Apples iPhone 14
Posted by Stefan on 2022-08-23
Every year Apple releases a new iPhone series and with the release of the series always the latest Apple A processor. This has become even more important in recent years, as it has also formed the basis for Apple's M processor series since 2020. The Apple M processors are based on the same core architecture as the Apple A processors, but have been significantly upgraded in many areas such as memory bandwith, amount of memory or cache.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is more powerful and efficient
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is more powerful and efficient
Posted by Stefan on 2022-07-11
Qualcomm is changing the contract manufacturer from Samsung to TSMC for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. By switching to the TSMC 4 nm manufacturing process, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is not only 10 percent faster but also 15 percent more efficient than its predecessor. This makes Qualcomm's TOP SoC one of the fastest smartphone chips on the market.

Description of the processor

The Apple A15 Bionic is a 6-core SoC that was presented to the public in autumn 2021 with the Apple iPhone 13 and Apple iPhone 13 Pro. The SoC is again based on a 2 + 4 CPU core design, whereby the 2 "Avalanche" performance cores are supported by 4 energy-efficient CPU cores dubbed "Blizzard".

A clock frequency of 3.23 GHz is determined for the processor in Geekbench 5.4.1. The CPU cores can process a maximum of 1 thread per core at the same time. The cores do not have a turbo mode, but it is probably the case that Apple does not specify the base clock frequency. This cannot currently be read out using tools, so we can only assume that the processor does not continuously clock at 3.23 GHz.

Compared to its direct predecessor, the Apple A14 Bionic, Apple was able to increase the performance of the smartphone SoC by approx. 10-15 percent. The level 1 system cache has doubled compared to its predecessor, the level 2 cache remains the same at 4 MB. Both the Apple A15 Bionic and the Apple A14 Bionic are manufactured in a 5 nm process at TSMC, with the slightly improved "N5 +" process being used for the newer Apple A15 Bionic, which further reduces energy consumption.

This has a positive effect on the battery life. The new iPhone 13 / iPhone 13 Pro last about 1 hour longer. Apple has doubled the neural cores compared to the Apple A14 Bionic, this is said to benefit the image and video processing in particular. The graphics performance is also significantly higher than that of the predecessor. With the Apple A15, Apple also distinguishes between two expansion levels: the smaller one has only 4 GPU cores (Apple iPhone 13), while the larger version (Apple iPhone 13 Pro) comes with 5 GPU cores (approx. 20% more power).

The TDP of the Apple A15 Bionic is 8.5 watts, but the SoC throttles its performance slightly after a while so as not to overheat.



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