Apple A15 Bionic vs Apple A8

Let's find out which one of Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8 is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

• Name
  Apple A15 Bionic Apple A8
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Family
  Apple A series Apple A series
• Generation
  15 8
• CPU group
  Apple A15 Apple A8/A8X
• Predecessor
  Apple A14 Bionic Apple A7
• Successor
  -- Apple A9

In this block we are going to compare Apple A15 Bionic vs Apple A8 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.

• Frequency
  3.23 GHz 1.10 GHz
• CPU Cores
  6 2
• Turbo (1 Core)
  No turbo 1.50 GHz
• CPU Threads
  6 2
• Hyperthreading
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) normal
• A core
  2x Avalanche 2x Typhoon
• B core
  4x Blizzard --

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8 along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

• GPU name
  Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores) Apple A8
• GPU frequency
  1.80 GHz 0.53 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  3.20 GHz No turbo
• Execution units
  5 4
• Shader
  0 128
• Max. GPU Memory
  8 GB 4 GB
• Max. displays
  3 1
• Generation
  12 5
• Technology
  5 nm 20 nm
• Release date
  Q3/2021 Q3/2014

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8. Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

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

To choose the best model between Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8 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 LPDDR3-1600
• Max. Memory
  8 GB 2 GB
• ECC
  No No
• Memory channels
  2 1

AES-NI encryption support for CPUs Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8.

• AES-NI
  No No

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple A15 Bionic or Apple A8? 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 (PL1)
  8.5 W 5 W

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8 CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  None None
• L2-Cache
  4.00 MB 1.00 MB
• L3-Cache
  -- 4.00 MB
• Architecture
  A15 A8
• Technology
  5 nm 20 nm
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• Release date
  Q3/2021 Q3/2014

List of devices based on Apple A15 Bionic and Apple A8.

• Used in
  Apple iPad mini (6. Gen)Apple iPhone 13 miniApple iPhone 13Apple iPhone 13 ProApple iPhone 13 Pro Max Apple iPhone 6Apple iPhone 6 PlusApple iPad Mini 4Apple TV HDApple HomePodApple iPod touch (6. Gen)