Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A12Z Bionic

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A16 Bionic CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple A16 Bionic and the Apple A12Z Bionic and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Apple A16 Bionic 6 core processor released in Q3/2022 with the Apple A12Z Bionic which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q1/2020.
Apple A series (22) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple A16 (1) CPU group Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3)
16 Generation 12
A16 Architecture A12
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Predecessor Apple A10X Fusion
Apple A17 Pro Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A16 Bionic is a 6 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.46 GHz. The processor can compute 6 threads at the same time. The Apple A12Z Bionic clocks with 2.49 GHz, has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
6 Cores 8
6 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.46 GHz
2x Everest
A-Core 2.49 GHz
4x Vortex
2.02 GHz
4x Sawtooth
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.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
16 Neural cores @ 17 TOPS AI specifications 8 Neural cores @ 5 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 A16 (5 GPU Cores) GPU Apple A12Z
1.34 GHz GPU frequency 1.13 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
13 GPU Generation 9
4 nm Technology 7 nm
3 Max. displays 1
20 Compute units 32
640 Shader 512
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
6 GB Max. GPU Memory 6 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 A16 (5 GPU Cores) GPU Apple A12Z
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 / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
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 1 memory channels is supported by the Apple A16 Bionic, while the Apple A12Z Bionic supports a maximum of 6 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 68.2 GB/s enabled.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
LPDDR5-6400 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
6 GB Max. Memory 6 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
51.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 68.2 GB/s
No ECC No
20.00 MB L2 Cache 8.00 MB
24.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Apple A16 Bionic has a TDP of 7.25 W. The TDP of the Apple A12Z Bionic is 15 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
7.25 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A16 Bionic has 44.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 4 nm. The cache of Apple A12Z Bionic is at 8.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 7 nm.

Apple A16 Bionic Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
4 nm Technology 7 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8.6-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
iOS Operating systems iOS
Q3/2022 Release date Q1/2020
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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Here you can rate the Apple A16 Bionic to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.4 stars (25 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple A12Z Bionic to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.8 stars (11 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple A16 Bionic (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic (56%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple A16 Bionic (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic (81%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
1890 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1124 (59%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
5465 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4718 (86%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
2531 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1351 (53%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
6299 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4798 (76%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
Apple A16 (5 GPU Cores) @ 1.34 GHz
1789 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple A12Z @ 1.13 GHz
1152 (64%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
947502 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
779044 (82%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
17 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (29%)

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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
991 (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 A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4539 (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.
Apple A16 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
6C 6T @ 3.46 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
717401 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A16 Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple iPhone 14 Pro
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Apple iPad Pro 2020

News and articles for the Apple A16 Bionic and the Apple A12Z Bionic


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