Intel Core i7-6700K vs Apple A12Z Bionic

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-6700K CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple A12Z Bionic
Intel Core i7-6700K Apple A12Z Bionic

CPU comparison

Intel Core i7-6700K 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 Intel Core i7-6700K has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.20 GHz. Up to 64 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-6700K was released in Q3/2015.

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.
Intel Core i7 (298) Family Apple A series (22)
Intel Core i 6000 (24) CPU group Apple A12/A12X/A12Z (3)
6 Generation 12
Skylake S Architecture A12
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
Intel Core i7-4770K Predecessor Apple A10X Fusion
Intel Core i7-7700K Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i7-6700K is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 4.00 GHz (4.20 GHz). The Apple A12Z Bionic has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 2.49 GHz.

Intel Core i7-6700K Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
4 Cores 8
8 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
4.00 GHz (4.20 GHz) A-Core 2.49 GHz
4x Vortex
-- 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.

Intel Core i7-6700K Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- 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.

Intel HD Graphics 530 GPU Apple A12Z
0.35 GHz GPU frequency 1.13 GHz
1.15 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
9 GPU Generation 9
14 nm Technology 7 nm
3 Max. displays 1
24 Compute units 32
192 Shader 512
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
32 GB Max. GPU Memory 6 GB
12 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.

Intel HD Graphics 530 GPU Apple A12Z
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i7-6700K supports a maximum of 64 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple A12Z Bionic can connect up to 6 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

Intel Core i7-6700K Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
DDR4-2133, DDR3-1866 Memory LPDDR4X-4266
64 GB Max. Memory 6 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
34.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 68.2 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache 8.00 MB
8.00 MB L3 Cache --
3.0 PCIe version --
16 PCIe lanes --
15.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Intel Core i7-6700K has a TDP of 91 W, that of the Apple A12Z Bionic is 15 W.

Intel Core i7-6700K Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
91 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 15 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i7-6700K has a 8.00 MB cache, while the Apple A12Z Bionic cache has a total of 8.00 MB.

Intel Core i7-6700K Characteristic Apple A12Z Bionic
14 nm Technology 7 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions --
LGA 1151 Socket --
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems iOS
Q3/2015 Release date Q1/2020
420 $ Release price --
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Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-6700K to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.9 stars (12 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 (18 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i7-6700K (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic (95%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core i7-6700K (97%)
Apple A12Z Bionic (93%)

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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
1124 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
991 (88%)

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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
5640 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4539 (80%)

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 i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
1151 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1124 (98%)

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 i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
4459 (95%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4718 (100%)

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 Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
1347 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
1351 (100%)

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 i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
4665 (97%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
4798 (100%)

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 i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
Intel HD Graphics 530 @ 1.15 GHz
442 (38%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
Apple A12Z @ 1.13 GHz
1152 (100%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
421 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
2059 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
779044 (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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
717401 (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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
82 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
8955 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
369.3 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
464 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
2313 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.20 GHz
180 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 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.
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
888 (100%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
0 (0%)

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).
Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple A12Z Bionic Apple A12Z Bionic
8C 8T @ 2.49 GHz
5 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i7-6700K Apple A12Z Bionic
Unknown Apple iPad Pro 2020

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