Apple A12Z Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)

Let's find out which one of Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) and Apple A12Z Bionic is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

• Name
  Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Apple A12Z Bionic
• Family
  Apple A series Apple A series
• CPU group
  Apple A15 Apple A12/A12X/A12Z
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Generation
  15 12
• Predecessor
  -- Apple A10X Fusion

In this block we are going to compare Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) vs Apple A12Z 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 A15 Bionic (4-GPU) and Apple A12Z Bionic along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

• GPU name
  Apple A15 (4 GPU Cores) Apple A12Z
• GPU frequency
  0.60 GHz 1.59 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  No turbo 2.49 GHz
• Execution units
  128 8
• Shader
  1024 0
• Max. GPU Memory
  8 GB 6 GB
• Max. displays
  3 2
• Generation
  12 9
• Technology
  5 nm 7 nm
• Release date
  Q3/2021 Q1/2020

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) and Apple A12Z 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 / Encode 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 A15 Bionic (4-GPU) and Apple A12Z 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
  6 GB 16 GB
• Memory channels
  1 (Single Channel) 2
• ECC
  No No

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) or Apple A12Z 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 (PL1)
  8.5 W 15 W

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) and Apple A12Z 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
• L3-Cache
  32.00 MB --
• Architecture
  A15 A12
• Virtualization
  None None
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) x86-64 (64 bit)
• Release date
  Q3/2021 Q1/2020