Apple A12 Bionic

The Apple A12 Bionic is a System on a Chip (SoC) from Apple that is found in the iPhone Xs and Xr. It was announced late 2018 and offers 6 cores divided in 2 performance cores and four power efficiency cores. Compared to the previous A11 Bionic, the A12 should offer a 15% improved CPU performance for the performance cores and a 50% lower power consumption for the efficiency cores (both according to Apple).

The chip also includes a new GPU that is advertised as 50% faster, the M12 Motion co-processor and a Neural Engine with 8 cores for up to 5 trillion operations per second.

With 6.9 billion transistors, the A12 Bionic is a big chip especially compared to the Snapdragon 835 (3 Billion) or a Skylake desktop quad-core Soc (1.75 Billion). Compared to the A11, the A12 integrates 60% more transistors.

Benchmarks

3DMark - Ice Storm Unlimited Physics 1280x720 offscreen

min: 27400     avg: 27548     median: 27547 (32%)     max: 27717 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			27400
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			27413
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			27547
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			27663
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			27717

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play MSM8625Q -89%

...

AMD A10-9600P -8%

AMD A6-5200 -8%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 -8%

AMD Pro A12-8800B -7%

AMD A8-5550M -7%

Intel Core m5-6Y57 -4%

Intel Core m3-6Y30 -2%

AMD A12-9720P -2%

AMD A12-9700P -1%

Apple A12 Bionic

AMD PRO A12-9800B 1%

Intel Core i3-6006U 2%

Intel Core M-5Y10c 3%

Intel Core M-5Y31 4%

Intel Core i7-2637M 6%

Intel Core m5-6Y54 6%

AMD A10-5750M 6%

Intel Core i3-5005U 6%

AMD FX-7600P 7%

...

Intel Core i7-9700K 206%

0%

100%

3DMark - Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited Physics 2560x1440

min: 2723     avg: 3060.4     median: 3030 (68%)     max: 3347 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			2723
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			2998
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			3030
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			3204
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			3347

MediaTek MT8163 V/A 1.5 GHz

...

Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 -22%

Mediatek Helio P60 -21%

HiSilicon Kirin 955 -21%

Samsung Exynos 8895 Octa -19%

Samsung Exynos 9810 -16%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 -13%

HiSilicon Kirin 970 -12%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998) -7%

Samsung Exynos 9820 -2%

Apple A12 Bionic

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 1%

HiSilicon Kirin 980 21%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 23%

...

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 23%

0%

100%

3DMark - Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Unlimited Physics 2560x1440

min: 2880     avg: 3129.4     median: 2961 (63%)     max: 3493 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			2880
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			2952
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			2961
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			3361
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			3493

Mediatek MT6580M

...

Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 -23%

HiSilicon Kirin 955 -23%

Samsung Exynos 9810 -16%

Mediatek Helio P60 -16%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 -14%

HiSilicon Kirin 970 -13%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998) -12%

Samsung Exynos 9820 -2%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 -1%

Apple A12 Bionic

HiSilicon Kirin 980 19%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 21%

Apple A12X Bionic 50%

...

Apple A12X Bionic 50%

0%

100%

Geekbench 4.3 - 64 Bit Single-Core Score

min: 4750     avg: 4778.8     median: 4774 (75%)     max: 4824 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			4750
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			4758
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			4774
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			4788
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			4824

Mediatek Helio P60

...

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX -7%

Samsung Exynos 9820 -6%

Intel Core i5-8500T -3%

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 -3%

Intel Core i7-7700HQ -3%

Intel Xeon E-2176M -2%

AMD Ryzen 7 2700 -2%

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X -2%

Intel Core i5-8300H 0%

Apple A12 Bionic

Intel Core i7-7660U 0%

Intel Core i7-8550U 1%

Intel Core i7-8500Y 2%

Intel Core i7-7820HK 2%

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3%

Intel Core i7-8565U 3%

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X 4%

Intel Core i7-8750H 4%

Apple A12X Bionic 4%

...

Intel Core i9-9900K 29%

0%

100%

Geekbench 4.3 - 64 Bit Multi-Core Score

min: 11244     avg: 11417.6     median: 11480 (32%)     max: 11598 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			11244
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			11276
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			11480
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			11490
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			11598

Mediatek Helio P60

...

HiSilicon Kirin 980 -13%

Intel Core i5-7300HQ -12%

Samsung Exynos 9820 -10%

Apple A11 Bionic -9%

AMD Ryzen 3 1200 -5%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 -3%

Intel Core i7-2860QM -2%

AMD Ryzen 5 3550H -1%

AMD Ryzen 3 2200G -1%

Apple A12 Bionic

Intel Core i7-3720QM 6%

AMD Ryzen 3 1300X 7%

Intel Core i5-8250U 12%

Intel Core i7-5700HQ 15%

Intel Core i5-8350U 17%

Intel Core i5-8265U 18%

AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 20%

Intel Core i7-8565U 20%

Intel Core i7-8550U 24%

...

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 217%

0%

100%

Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score *

min: 603.1     avg: 621.7     median: 610.3 (1%)     max: 643.5 ms

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB		Safari 12	603.1
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB		Safari Mobile 12.0	609.1
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB		Safari Mobile 12.0	610.3
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB		Safari 12.1	642.5
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB		Safari Mobile 12	643.5

Intel Xeon W-2145 -4%

...

Intel Xeon W-2145 -4%

Apple A12X Bionic -2%

Apple A12 Bionic

Apple A11 Bionic 16%

Intel Core i7-8700K 21%

Intel Core i7-7740X 22%

Intel Core i9-7900X 23%

Intel Core i7-7700K 24%

Intel Core i5-7360U 28%

Intel Core i7-6700K 29%

Intel Core i7-6700 31%

Intel Core i5-8210Y 31%

...

Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227A 9465%

0%

100%

Octane V2 - Total Score

min: 41367     avg: 42485.6     median: 42897 (86%)     max: 43280 Points

+ 5 benchmarks and specifications- 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPad Mini 5	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB		Safari 12.1	41367
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB		Safari Mobile 12	41770
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB		Safari Mobile 12.0	42897
Apple iPhone Xs Max	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB		Safari 12	43114
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB		Safari Mobile 12.0	43280

Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 8930AB

...

Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5 -8%

Intel Core i9-8950HK -7%

Intel Core i7-6920HQ -7%

Intel Xeon E3-1505M v6 -6%

Intel Core i9-9900K -6%

Intel Core i7-6700K -5%

Intel Core i5-7360U -5%

Intel Xeon E3-1280 v5 -4%

Intel Core i7-9700K -1%

Apple A12 Bionic

Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6 1%

Intel Core i5-6600K 1%

Intel Core i7-6700 5%

Apple A12X Bionic 6%

Intel Xeon W-2145 10%

Intel Core i7-8700K 11%

Intel Core i7-7740X 14%

...

Intel Core i7-7740X 14%

0%

100%

PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - CPU Tests

min: 482773     avg: 486852     median: 486197 (64%)     max: 491585 Points

+ 3 benchmarks and specifications- 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart - Hide comparison chart

Model	GPU	Memory	Core / Memory	GPU Memory	Value
Apple iPhone XR	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			482773
Apple iPhone XS	A12 Bionic GPU	4096 MB			486197
Apple iPad Air 2019	A12 Bionic GPU	3072 MB			491585

Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227 -100%

...

Samsung Exynos 8895 Octa -51%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 -50%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 -49%

HiSilicon Kirin 980 -49%

HiSilicon Kirin 955 -48%

HiSilicon Kirin 960 -46%

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998) -45%

HiSilicon Kirin 950 -44%

Apple A11 Bionic -7%

Apple A12 Bionic

Apple A12X Bionic 56%

...

Apple A12X Bionic 56%

0%

100%

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Reviews for the Apple Apple A-Series A12 Bionic processor

Apple iPad Air 2019 (Apple A12 Bionic GPU, 10.5")
» Apple iPad Air (2019) Tablet Review - Review
» Apple iPad Air 2019 - External Review

Apple iPad Mini 5 (Apple A12 Bionic GPU, 7.9")
» Apple iPad Mini 5 - External Review

Apple iPhone XR (Apple A12 Bionic GPU, 6.1")
» Apple iPhone XR Smartphone Review - Review
» Apple iPhone Xr - External Review

Apple iPhone XS (Apple A12 Bionic GPU, 5.8")
» Apple iPhone XS Smartphone Review - Review
» Apple iPhone XS - External Review

Apple iPhone Xs Max (Apple A12 Bionic GPU, 6.5")
» Apple iPhone XS Max Smartphone Review - Review
» Apple iPhone Xs Max - External Review

Other CPUs of the series Apple Apple A-Series

Surrounding CPUs