Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) vs Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) and the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) 20 core processor released in Q1/2022 with the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) which has 6 CPU cores and was introduced in Q3/2021.
Apple M series (25) Family Apple A series (22)
Apple M1 (9) CPU group Apple A15 (2)
1 Generation 15
M1 Architecture A15
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Apple A14 Bionic
Apple M2 Ultra (60-GPU) Successor Apple A16 Bionic

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) is a 20 core processor with a clock frequency of 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz). The processor can compute 20 threads at the same time. The Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) clocks with 3.23 GHz, has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 6 threads in parallel.

Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Characteristic Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
20 Cores 6
20 Threads 6
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz)
16x Firestorm
A-Core 3.23 GHz
2x Avalanche
0.60 GHz (2.06 GHz)
4x Icestorm
B-Core 2.02 GHz
4x Blizzard

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Characteristic Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple Neural Engine AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
32 Neural cores @ 22 TOPS AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 15.8 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 M1 Ultra (48 Core) GPU Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores)
0.39 GHz GPU frequency 1.34 GHz
1.30 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
1 GPU Generation 12
5 nm Technology 5 nm
5 Max. displays 3
768 Compute units 20
6144 Shader 640
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
64 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 M1 Ultra (48 Core) GPU Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores)
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 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 128 GB of memory in a maximum of 8 memory channels is supported by the Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU), while the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) supports a maximum of 6 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of 34.1 GB/s enabled.

Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Characteristic Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
LPDDR5-6400 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
128 GB Max. Memory 6 GB
8 (Octa Channel) Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
819.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 34.1 GB/s
No ECC No
52.00 MB L2 Cache 16.00 MB
-- L3 Cache 32.00 MB
4.0 PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) has a TDP of 60 W. The TDP of the Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is 7.25 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Characteristic Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
60 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 7.25 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
120 W TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) has 52.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 5 nm. The cache of Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) is at 48.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 5 nm.

Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Characteristic Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
5 nm Technology 5 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8.5-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
Apple Virtualization Framework Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
macOS Operating systems iOS
Q1/2022 Release date Q3/2021
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.3 stars (3 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) (96%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) (22%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
1793 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
1745 (97%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
24055 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
4777 (20%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
2397 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
2245 (94%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
23970 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
5402 (23%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
Apple M1 Ultra (48 Core) @ 1.30 GHz
15900 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores) @ 1.34 GHz
1713 (11%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 0.60 GHz
22 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
15.8 (72%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
114 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
0 (0%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
1624 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
0 (0%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
1534 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
0 (0%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
24189 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
0 (0%)

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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 0.60 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
825116 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
379 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 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 M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU)
20C 20T @ 3.20 GHz
41059 (100%)
Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
6C 6T @ 3.23 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (5-GPU)
Apple Mac Studio (2022) Apple iPad mini (6. Gen)
Apple iPhone 13 Pro
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Apple iPhone 14
Apple iPhone 14 Plus

News and articles for the Apple M1 Ultra (48-GPU) and 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.
Apple M2 Pro with more CPU cores and production in 3 nm ?
Apple M2 Pro with more CPU cores and production in 3 nm ?
Posted by Stefan on 2022-06-28
After Apple surprisingly presented the normal Apple M2 processor as the first successor to the Apple M1 already in June 2022, the Apple M2 Pro and the Apple M2 Max may follow in autumn. The difference in performance compared to the basic version could be even greater this time and range from 25 to 40 percent.

In this article we describe how Apple could realize this and why the price should also go up.
Apple M2 vs Apple M1 - What are the differences?
Apple M2 vs Apple M1 - What are the differences?
Posted by Stefan on 2022-06-09
During WWDC 2022 on June 6th, 2022 Apple surprisingly presented its new Apple M2 processor. This will initially be installed in a completely revised Apple MacBook Air with 13.6 inches, a even thinner form factor and new colors. Apple also updated the already known (old) Apple MacBook Pro 13.3 with touch bar.

Many leakers had counted on Apple not presenting its new second-generation M processor until the fall. But things turned out differently. And there is very likely a reason for that: the improvements in the Apple M2 are limited compared to the predecessor.

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