Apple A17 Pro vs Apple A12 Bionic

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A17 Pro CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A12 Bionic
Apple A17 Pro Apple A12 Bionic

CPU comparison

Apple A17 Pro 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 Apple A17 Pro has 6 cores with 6 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.78 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 1 memory channels. The Apple A17 Pro was released in Q3/2023.

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.
Apple A series (22) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple A17 (1) CPU group Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3)
17 Generation 12
A17 Architecture A12
Mobile Segment Mobile
Apple A16 Bionic Predecessor Apple A11 Bionic
-- Successor Apple A13 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A17 Pro is a 6 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.78 GHz. The Apple A12 Bionic has 6 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.49 GHz.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
6 Cores 6
6 Threads 6
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.78 GHz A-Core 2.49 GHz
2x Vortex
2.11 GHz 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 A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS 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.

Apple A17 Pro (6 GPU Cores) GPU Apple A12
1.40 GHz GPU frequency 1.13 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation 9
3 nm Technology 7 nm
3 Max. displays 1
24 Compute units 16
768 Shader 256
Yes Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
6 GB Max. GPU Memory 4 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 A17 Pro (6 GPU Cores) GPU Apple A12
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
Decode Codec AV1 No
Decode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Apple A17 Pro supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The Apple A12 Bionic can connect up to 4 GB of memory in 1 memory channels.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
LPDDR5-6400 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
8 GB Max. Memory 4 GB
1 (Single Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
51.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 34.1 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 TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Apple A17 Pro has a TDP of 11 W, that of the Apple A12 Bionic is 6 W.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
11 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 6 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A17 Pro has a 44.00 MB cache, while the Apple A12 Bionic cache has a total of 8.00 MB.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12 Bionic
3 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
Q3/2023 Release date Q3/2018
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple A17 Pro to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.0 stars (68 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 (14 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple A17 Pro (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic (48%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple A17 Pro (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic (40%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
2140 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1116 (52%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
5868 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2731 (47%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
2952 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
1286 (44%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
7462 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
2353 (32%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
Apple A17 Pro (6 GPU Cores) @ 1.40 GHz
2147 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
Apple A12 @ 1.13 GHz
576 (27%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
35 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (14%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
1108570 (100%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
425605 (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.
Apple A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12 Bionic Apple A12 Bionic
6C 6T @ 2.49 GHz
4846 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A17 Pro Apple A12 Bionic
Apple iPhone 15 Pro
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
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 A17 ProApple M1 Apple A17 Pro vs Apple M1
5. Apple M1Apple A12 Bionic Apple M1 vs Apple A12 Bionic
6. Apple A17 ProApple M2 Apple A17 Pro vs Apple M2
7. Apple A10 FusionApple A12 Bionic Apple A10 Fusion vs Apple A12 Bionic
8. Apple A17 ProApple A16 Bionic Apple A17 Pro vs Apple A16 Bionic
9. Apple A12 BionicApple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A12 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
10. Apple A12 BionicApple A9X Apple A12 Bionic vs Apple A9X


back to index