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A12 Bionic - Apple
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A12 Bionic
General Info
DesignerApple
ManufacturerTSMC
Model NumberA12 Bionic
Part NumberAPL1W81
MarketMobile, Embedded
IntroductionSeptember 12, 2018 (announced)
September 21, 2018 (launched)
General Specs
FamilyAx
Frequency2,400 MHz
Microarchitecture
ISAARMv8.3 (ARM)
MicroarchitectureVortex, Tempest
Core NameVortex, Tempest
Process7 nm
Transistors6,900,000,000
TechnologyCMOS
Die83.27 mm²
9.89 mm × 8.42 mm
Word Size64 bit
Cores6
Threads6
Multiprocessing
Max SMP1-Way (Uniprocessor)
Succession

A12 Bionic is a 64-bit hexa-core ARM performance mobile system on a chip introduced by Apple in late 2018 as a successor to the A11.

Overview

A12 announcement

Fabricated on TSMC 7 nm process and integrating 6.9 billion transistors, the A12 features two big Vortex cores operating at up to 2.4 GHz along with four little Tempest high-efficiency cores. Apple claims the big cores are up to 15% faster than the one in the A11 while being up to 40% more efficient. For the four high-efficiency cores, Apple claims up to 50% higher efficiency. Note that all six cores can operate concurrently.

The A12 features an Apple-designed graphics processor that is said to deliver up to 50% higher performance as well as a neural processor capable of peak performance of 5 TOPS (int8).


apple a12.svg

ISP

The A12 incorporates Apple's image signal processor (ISP), codename Petra, for camera related applications. The ISP is said to deliver faster depth engine and an improved video processor.

Integrated Graphics

The A12 incorporates an Apple-designed GPU. The GPU is a four-core design which is said to deliver 50% performance over the A11 in tessellation and multi-layer rendering as well as lossless memory compression.

Neural Engine

The A12 chip features an improved neural engine, codename Quin. Apple stated this is an 8-core design (the A11 featured what they called a dual-core design). The new engine is capable of performing real-time processing at 5 trillion 8-bit operations per second (up from 600 billion).

Utilizing devices

  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XS Max

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Bibliography

  • Apple Keynote. (September 12, 2018). Apple Special Event.
  • Daniel Yang, Stacy Wegner. (September 17, 2018) "Apple iPhone Xs Max Teardown". TechInsights.
Facts about "A12 Bionic - Apple"
base frequency2,400 MHz (2.4 GHz, 2,400,000 kHz) +
core count6 +
core nameVortex + and Tempest +
designerApple +
die area83.27 mm² (0.129 in², 0.833 cm², 83,270,000 µm²) +
die length9.89 mm (0.989 cm, 0.389 in, 9,890 µm) +
die width8.42 mm (0.842 cm, 0.331 in, 8,420 µm) +
familyAx +
first announcedSeptember 12, 2018 +
first launchedSeptember 21, 2018 +
full page nameapple/ax/a12 +
instance ofmicroprocessor +
isaARMv8.3 +
isa familyARM +
ldateSeptember 21, 2018 +
manufacturerTSMC +
market segmentMobile + and Embedded +
max cpu count1 +
microarchitectureVortex + and Tempest +
model numberA12 Bionic +
nameA12 Bionic +
part numberAPL1W81 +
process7 nm (0.007 μm, 7.0e-6 mm) +
smp max ways1 +
technologyCMOS +
thread count6 +
transistor count6,900,000,000 +
used byiPhone XR +, iPhone XS + and iPhone XS Max +
word size64 bit (8 octets, 16 nibbles) +