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Apple A12Z Bionic vs Intel Core i7-8557U vs Apple A12X Bionic

Apple A12Z Bionic

► remove from comparison Apple A12Z Bionic

The Apple A12Z Bionic is a System on a Chip (SoC) from Apple that is found in the iPad Pro 11 and 12.5-inch from 2020. It offers 8 cores divided in four performance cores and four power efficiency cores (up from the 6 cores in the A12 of the iPhone XS). The difference to the older Apple A12X Bionic in the iPad Pro 2018 models seems to be an additional GPU core. Regarding CPU Apple noted: "Enhanced thermal design means higher peak and longer sustained performance". More details were not published by Apple, so it may be even the same chip with an additional enabled GPU core. On the other hand, it could be also manufactured in an improved 7nm (EUV?) process and offer higher clock rates. As Apple states no performance improvements on the CPU side, we don't expect big gains. However, the A12X was a very fast ARM based SoC and currently there is no competitor in the Android space that should beat the performance.

The chip also includes the M12 Motion co-processor and a Neural Engine with 8 cores for up to 5 trillion operations per second (unverified, numbers from the A12X).

The Apple A12X included 10 billion transistors (A12 6.9 billion) and the A12Z should be therefore offer a similar amount. This makes it a quite big chip, especially compared to the Snapdragon 835 (3 Billion) or a Skylake desktop quad-core SoC (1.75 Billion).

Intel Core i7-8557U

► remove from comparison

The Intel Core i7-8557U is a quad-core SoC for notebooks based on the Coffee Lake architecture that was announced in the new entry level MacBook Pro 13 in mid 2019. Compared to its predecessor, the CPU is now a quad-core with Hyperthreading support for the execution of up to 8 threads simultaneously. The base frequency is only 1.7 GHz, but the Turbo goes all the way up to 4.5 GHz. It is also equipped with an Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 GPU with 128 MB eDRAM, a dual-channel memory controller (DDR4) as well as VP9 and H.265 video decoding as well as encoding. The chip is still manufactured in a 14nm process with FinFET transistors.

Compared to slower Core i5 model with eDRAM and 15 Watts, the i5-8557U features 8 MB smart cache and the fastest clock of the Iris Plus GPU.

Architecture

Intel basically uses the same micro architecture compared to Kaby Lake, so the per-MHz performance does not differ. The manufacturer only reworked the Speed Shift technology for faster dynamic adjustments of voltages and clocks, and the improved 14nm process allows much higher frequencies combined with better efficiency than before.

Performance

Clocked at up to 4.5 GHz, the Core i7-8557U should offer an excellent single thread performance. The multi core performance is greatly improved due to the two additional cores (compared to the predecessor) but may be limited by the 15 Watt TDP (especially for sustained workloads).

Graphics

The integrated Intel Iris Plus 645 Graphics is the GT3e model of the Coffee Lake GPU (Intel Gen. 9.5). It has 48 Execution Units running at 300-1150 MHz  and the performance is comparable to a GeForce 930M or 940MX thanks to fast eDRAM cache. However, there aren't any significant improvements compared to the old Iris Plus 650, so modern games can often not be played smoothly or only at the lowest or medium settings, respectively.

Contrary to Skylake, Kaby lake now also supports H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec. The dual-core Kaby Lake processors announced in January should also support HDCP 2.2.

Power Consumption

The chip is manufactured in an improved 14nm++ process with FinFET transistors, which improves the efficiency even further. Intel specifies the TDP with 15 Watts and therefore suited for thin and light laptops.

Apple A12X Bionic

► remove from comparison Apple A12X Bionic

The Apple A12X Bionic is a System on a Chip (SoC) from Apple that is found in the iPad Pro 11 and 12.5-inch from 2018. It offers 8 cores divided in four performance cores and four power efficiency cores (up from the 6 cores in the A12 of the iPhone XS). Compared to the previous A10X in the old iPad Pro models, Apple advertises up to 95% higher performance of the CPU cores.

The chip also includes a new GPU with 7 cores, the M12 Motion co-processor and a Neural Engine with 8 cores for up to 5 trillion operations per second.

With 10 billion transistors (A12 6.9 billion), the A12X Bionic is a big chip especially compared to the Snapdragon 835 (3 Billion) or a Skylake desktop quad-core Soc (1.75 Billion).

ModelApple A12Z BionicIntel Core i7-8557UApple A12X Bionic
SeriesApple Apple A-SeriesIntel Coffee LakeApple Apple A-Series
CodenameVortex, TempestCoffee Lake-UVortex, Tempest
Series: Apple A-Series Vortex, Tempest
Apple A12Z Bionic « - 2.49 GHz8 / 8 cores Vortex, Tempest
Apple A12X Bionic - 2.49 GHz8 / 8 cores Vortex, Tempest
Intel Core i7-8559U2.7 - 4.5 GHz4 / 8 cores8 MB L3
Intel Core i7-8557U « 1.7 - 4.5 GHz4 / 8 cores8 MB L3
Intel Core i5-8269U2.6 - 4.2 GHz4 / 8 cores6 MB L3
Intel Core i5-8279U2.4 - 4.1 GHz4 / 8 cores6 MB L3
Intel Core i5-8259U2.3 - 3.8 GHz4 / 8 cores6 MB L3
Intel Core i5-8257U1.4 - 3.9 GHz4 / 8 cores6 MB L3
Intel Core i3-8109U3 - 3.6 GHz2 / 4 cores4 MB L3
Apple A12Z Bionic - 2.49 GHz8 / 8 cores Vortex, Tempest
Apple A12X Bionic « - 2.49 GHz8 / 8 cores Vortex, Tempest
Clock <=2490 MHz1700 - 4500 MHz <=2490 MHz
L1 Cache2 MB256 KB2 MB
L2 Cache8 MB1 MB8 MB
Cores / Threads8 / 84 / 88 / 8
Transistors10000 Million10000 Million
Technology7 nm14 nm7 nm
FeaturesARMv8 Instruction SetDual-Channel DDR4 Memory Controller, HyperThreading, AVX, AVX2, Quick Sync, Virtualization, AES-NI, Intel SSE4.1, Intel SSE 4.2ARMv8 Instruction Set
iGPUApple A12Z Bionic GPUIntel Iris Plus Graphics 645 (300 - 1150 MHz)Apple A12X Bionic GPU
ArchitectureARMx86ARM
Announced
L3 Cache8 MB
TDP28 Watt
max. Temp.100 °C
SocketFCBGA1528
Manufacturerark.intel.com

Benchmarks

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics
min: 40279     avg: 40289     median: 40289 (34%)     max: 40299 Points
39393 Points (33%)
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot (ES 3.0) Unlimited Physics
4700 Points (54%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Single-Core
1313 Points (40%)
Geekbench 6.2 - Geekbench 6.2 Multi-Core
4660 Points (18%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
min: 1117     avg: 1122     median: 1122 (47%)     max: 1127 Points
1079 Points (46%)
1120 Points (47%)
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 4707     avg: 4710     median: 4709.5 (8%)     max: 4712 Points
4119 Points (7%)
4620 Points (8%)
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Single-Core
1114 Points (5%)
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Multi-Core
4661 Points (15%)
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Single-Core
min: 4984     avg: 4993     median: 4993 (50%)     max: 5002 Points
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 17691     avg: 17866     median: 17866 (20%)     max: 18041 Points
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
646 ms (1%)
min: 603     avg: 609     median: 608.5 (1%)     max: 614 ms
Sunspider - Sunspider 1.0 Total Score *
125 ms (1%)
114 ms (1%)
Sunspider - Sunspider 0.9.1 Total Score *
114 ms (1%)
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
min: 42372     avg: 42618     median: 42425 (38%)     max: 43057 Points
min: 44425     avg: 45080     median: 45079.5 (41%)     max: 45734 Points
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
min: 140     avg: 158.3     median: 141 (29%)     max: 194 Points
min: 172     avg: 177     median: 177 (37%)     max: 182 Points
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 MEM
min: 14010     avg: 14312     median: 14311.5 (44%)     max: 14613 Points
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 UX
min: 62524     avg: 64951     median: 64950.5 (80%)     max: 67377 Points
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 GPU
min: 312218     avg: 317206     median: 317206 (98%)     max: 322193 Points
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 CPU
min: 162798     avg: 163060     median: 163060 (100%)     max: 163321 Points
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 Total Score
min: 552676     avg: 559527     median: 559527 (99%)     max: 566378 Points
AnTuTu v8 - AnTuTu v8 UX
min: 77253     avg: 77589     median: 77588.5 (65%)     max: 77924 Points
76371 Points (64%)
AnTuTu v8 - AnTuTu v8 MEM
min: 74998     avg: 92841     median: 92841 (75%)     max: 110684 Points
63887 Points (52%)
AnTuTu v8 - AnTuTu v8 GPU
min: 373781     avg: 375589     median: 375589 (69%)     max: 377397 Points
350192 Points (64%)
AnTuTu v8 - AnTuTu v8 CPU
min: 185841     avg: 186014     median: 186014 (67%)     max: 186186 Points
187788 Points (68%)
AnTuTu v8 - AnTuTu v8 Total Score
min: 712218     avg: 732032     median: 732032 (71%)     max: 751846 Points
678238 Points (65%)
PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - PerformanceTest Mobile V1 CPU Tests
min: 756889     avg: 758432     median: 758432 (100%)     max: 759975 Points
Power Consumption - Geekbench 5.5 Power Consumption 150cd *
8.5 Watt (4%)
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption 150cd 1min *
2.2 Watt (2%)

Average Benchmarks Apple A12Z Bionic → 100% n=2

Average Benchmarks Intel Core i7-8557U → 92% n=2

Average Benchmarks Apple A12X Bionic → 99% n=2

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

v1.26
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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)