Apple A6X vs Apple A6

Let's find out which one of Apple A6X and Apple A6 is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

• Name
  Apple A6X Apple A6
• Family
  Apple A series Apple A series
• CPU group
  Apple A6/A6X Apple A6/A6X
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Generation
  6 6
• Predecessor
  Apple A5X Apple A5
• Successor
  Apple A8X Apple A7

In this block we are going to compare Apple A6X vs Apple A6 by main technical specifications: number of cores and threads, base and maximum frequencies, process technology and cache size. The higher these specifications are, the more powerful your CPU will be.

• CPU Cores / Threads
  2 / 2 2 / 2
• Core architecture
  normal normal
• Cores
  2x Swift 2x Swift
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• Frequency
  1.40 GHz 1.30 GHz

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple A6X and Apple A6 along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

• GPU name
  PowerVR SGX554MP4 (4 Cores) PowerVR SGX543MP3 (3 Cores)
• GPU frequency
  0.30 GHz 0.27 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo No turbo
• Execution units
  16 6
• Shader
  128 48
• Max. displays
  1 1
• Direct X
  10 10
• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Release date
  Q3/2012 Q3/2012

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple A6X and Apple A6. Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  No No
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  No No
• h264
  No No
• VP8
  No No
• VP9
  No No
• AV1
  No No
• AVC
  No No
• VC-1
  No No
• JPEG
  No No

To choose the best model between Apple A6X and Apple A6 you need to pay special attention to memory type, clock frequency, multi-channel features, and PCIe version. The higher these numbers are, the better your CPU will be. Keep in mind that the maximum memory and frequency may also depend on the model of the motherboard.

• Memory type
  LPDDR2-1066 LPDDR2-1066
• Max. Memory
  1 GB 1 GB
• Memory channels
  4 (Quad Channel) 2 (Dual Channel)
• Bandwidth
  17.1 GB/s 8.5 GB/s
• ECC
  No No
• AES-NI
  No No

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple A6X or Apple A6? The Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicates the maximum amount of heat that should be dissipated by the chip cooling system. However, the value of TDP gives only a rough indication of the real power consumption of the CPU.

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple A6X and Apple A6 CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

• Technology
  32 nm 32 nm
• Chip design
  Chiplet Chiplet
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• L2-Cache
  1.00 MB 1.00 MB
• Architecture
  A6 A6
• Operating systems
  iOS iOS
• Virtualization
  None None
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv7-A32 (32 bit) ARMv7-A32 (32 bit)
• Release date
  Q3/2012 Q3/2012
• Part Number
  APL 0598 APL 0598