Apple A17 Pro vs Apple A12Z Bionic

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple A17 Pro CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple A17 Pro Apple A12Z Bionic

CPU comparison

Apple A17 Pro or Apple A12Z 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 A12Z Bionic has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.49 GHz. The CPU supports up to 6 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple A12Z Bionic was released in Q1/2020.
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 A10X Fusion
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple A17 Pro is a 6 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.78 GHz. The Apple A12Z Bionic has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.49 GHz.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
6 Cores 8
6 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
3.78 GHz A-Core 2.49 GHz
4x 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 A12Z 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 A12Z
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 32
768 Shader 512
Yes 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 A17 Pro (6 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
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 A12Z Bionic can connect up to 6 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
LPDDR5-6400 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
8 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 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 A12Z Bionic is 15 W.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
11 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple A17 Pro has a 44.00 MB cache, while the Apple A12Z Bionic cache has a total of 8.00 MB.

Apple A17 Pro Characteristic Apple A12Z 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 Q1/2020
-- 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 (70 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple A12Z Bionic to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.1 stars (17 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple A17 Pro (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic (50%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Apple A17 Pro (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic (71%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1124 (53%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4718 (80%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1351 (46%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4798 (64%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple A12Z @ 1.13 GHz
1152 (54%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
779044 (70%)

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 A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (14%)

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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 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 A17 Pro Apple A17 Pro
6C 6T @ 3.78 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
717401 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Apple A17 Pro Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple iPhone 15 Pro
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Apple iPad Pro 2020

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