Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Apple A12X Bionic

Let's find out which one of Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A12X Bionic is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

• Name
  Apple M1 (7-GPU) Apple A12X Bionic
• Family
  Apple M series Apple A series
• CPU group
  Apple M1 Apple A12/A12X/A12Z
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Generation
  1 12
• Predecessor
  -- Apple A10X Fusion

In this block we are going to compare Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Apple A12X Bionic 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.

• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• Overclocking
  No No

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A12X Bionic along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

• GPU name
  Apple M1 (7 Core) Apple A12X
• GPU frequency
  1.30 GHz 1.59 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo 2.49 GHz
• Execution units
  112 7
• Shader
  896 0
• Max. GPU Memory
  8 GB 6 GB
• Max. displays
  2 2
• Generation
  1 9
• Technology
  5 nm 7 nm
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q3/2018

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A12X Bionic. Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

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

To choose the best model between Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A12X Bionic 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
  LPDDR4X-4266 LPDDR4X-4266
• Max. Memory
  16 GB 16 GB
• Memory channels
  2 (Dual Channel) 2
• ECC
  No No

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple M1 (7-GPU) or Apple A12X Bionic? 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.

• TDP up
  20 W --
• TDP down
  10 W --

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A12X Bionic CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

• Technology
  5 nm 7 nm
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• L2-Cache
  16.00 MB 8.00 MB
• Architecture
  M1 A12
• Virtualization
  Apple Virtualization Framework None
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q3/2018
• Part Number
  APL 1102 --