Semiconductor & Computer Engineering
| Edit Values | |
| A12 Bionic | |
| General Info | |
| Designer | Apple |
| Manufacturer | TSMC |
| Model Number | A12 Bionic |
| Part Number | APL1W81, T8020 |
| Market | Mobile, Embedded |
| Introduction | September 12, 2018 (announced) September 21, 2018 (launched) |
| General Specs | |
| Family | Ax |
| Frequency | 2,490 MHz (Big), 1,590 MHz (Little) |
| Microarchitecture | |
| ISA | ARMv8.3 (ARM) |
| Microarchitecture | Vortex, Tempest |
| Core Name | Vortex, Tempest, Chinook |
| Process | 7 nm |
| Transistors | 6,900,000,000 |
| Technology | CMOS |
| Die | 83.27 mm² 9.89 mm × 8.42 mm |
| Word Size | 64 bit |
| Cores | 6 |
| Threads | 6 |
| Multiprocessing | |
| Max SMP | 1-Way (Uniprocessor) |
| Succession | |
| Contemporary | |
| A12X Bionic | |
A12 Bionic, also known as Apple H11P (engineering name) is a 64-bit hexa-core ARM performance mobile SoC introduced by Apple in late 2018 as a successor to the A11. It is codenamed Cyprus.
Overview[edit]
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).
ISP[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- iPhone XR
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPad Mini 2019
- iPad Air 2019
- iPad 2020
- Apple TV 2021
- iPad (8th Generation)
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Bibliography[edit]
- Apple Keynote. (September 12, 2018). Apple Special Event.
- Daniel Yang, Stacy Wegner. (September 17, 2018) "Apple iPhone Xs Max Teardown". TechInsights.
| core count | 6 + |
| core name | Vortex +, Tempest + and Chinook + |
| designer | Apple + |
| die area | 83.27 mm² (0.129 in², 0.833 cm², 83,270,000 µm²) + |
| die length | 9.89 mm (0.989 cm, 0.389 in, 9,890 µm) + |
| die width | 8.42 mm (0.842 cm, 0.331 in, 8,420 µm) + |
| family | Ax + |
| first announced | September 12, 2018 + |
| first launched | September 21, 2018 + |
| full page name | apple/ax/a12 + |
| instance of | microprocessor + |
| isa | ARMv8.3 + |
| isa family | ARM + |
| ldate | September 21, 2018 + |
| manufacturer | TSMC + |
| market segment | Mobile + and Embedded + |
| max cpu count | 1 + |
| microarchitecture | Vortex + and Tempest + |
| model number | A12 Bionic + |
| name | A12 Bionic + |
| part number | APL1W81 + and T8020 + |
| process | 7 nm (0.007 μm, 7.0e-6 mm) + |
| smp max ways | 1 + |
| technology | CMOS + |
| thread count | 6 + |
| transistor count | 6,900,000,000 + |
| used by | iPhone XR +, iPhone XS +, iPhone XS Max +, iPad Mini 2019 +, iPad Air 2019 +, iPad 2020 +, Apple TV 2021 + and iPad (8th Generation) + |
| word size | 64 bit (8 octets, 16 nibbles) + |