Apple A15 Bionic
VS
Apple M1
Apple A15 Bionic
VS
Apple M1

Which to select

What to choose and what is the difference between Apple A15 Bionic and Apple M1? Which processor is more powerful and faster to accomplish your task? The processor with the best specifications and a winner in benchmarks is your choice!

CPU generation and family

Processor nomenclature, family, group and segment.

Apple A15 Bionic
Name
Apple M1
Mobile
Segment
Mobile
Apple A15
CPU group
Apple M1
Apple A series
Family
Apple M series
15
Generation
1
Apple A14 Bionic
Predecessor
--
--
Successor
--

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

What to choose Apple A15 Bionic or Apple M1? The greater the value of the characteristic (highlighted in green), the better.

3.23 GHz
Frequency
3.20 GHz
6
CPU Cores
8
No turbo
Turbo (1 Core)
No turbo
6
CPU Threads
8
No
Hyperthreading
No
No
Overclocking
No
no data
Turbo (8 Cores)
No turbo
No turbo
Turbo (6 Cores)
no data
hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Core architecture
hybrid (big.LITTLE)
2x Avalanche
A core
4x Firestorm
4x Blizzard
B core
4x Icestorm
--
C core
--

Internal Graphics

The graphics chip allows the processor to perform complex calculation and display tasks. The more memory and the higher the clock frequency, the better. Determine the winner, who has the better chip? Apple A15 Bionic or Apple M1. 

Apple A15 (5 GPU Cores)
GPU name
Apple M1 (8 Core)
1.80 GHz
GPU frequency
3.20 GHz
3.20 GHz
GPU (Turbo)
No turbo
12
Generation
1
5
Execution units
128
3
Max. displays
2
5 nm
Technology
5 nm
Q3/2021
Release date
Q4/2020
8 GB
Max. GPU Memory
8 GB

Hardware codec support

Technical information that will be of interest to specialists and does not affect the performance of the processor. It can be skipped in the comparison.

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

Memory & PCIe

The interfaces and standards of RAM that the processor supports. The more modern the standard and the larger the memory capacity, the better.

no data
Memory type
LPDDR4X-4266
no data
Max. Memory
16 GB
no data
Memory channels
2
no data
ECC
No
no data
PCIe version
4.0

Memory & PCIe

LPDDR4X-4266
Memory type
no data
8 GB
Max. Memory
no data
No
ECC
no data
2
Memory channels
no data

Encryption

Data encryption standards supported by CPUs

No
AES-NI
Yes

Thermal Management

TDP is the maximum amount of heat generated by the processor. It is used when selecting a cooling system. The higher the TDP, the more heat the cooling system will have to dissipate.

--
Tjunction max.
--
--
TDP up
20 W
--
TDP down
10 W
8.5 W
TDP (PL1)
15 W
--
TDP (PL2)
--

Technical details

These are key parameters that will help you determine which CPU is better. Pay special attention to the release date, technological aspects of the manufacturing process (measured in nanometers), and the third-level cache (L3).

--
L3-Cache
--
5 nm
Technology
5 nm
A15
Architecture
M1
None
Virtualization
None
N/A
Socket
N/A
Q3/2021
Release date
Q4/2020
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
Instruction set (ISA)
ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
4.00 MB
L2-Cache
16.00 MB
--
Part Number
--
ISA extensions
Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation

Devices using this processor

Devices that can use this type of processor, desktop or laptop.

Apple iPad mini (6. Gen) Apple iPhone 13 mini Apple iPhone 13 Apple iPhone 13 Pro Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Used in
Apple iMac 24 (2021) Apple MacBook Pro 13 (L2020) Apple MacBook Air (2020) Apple Mac mini (2020) Apple iPad Pro 11 (2021) Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2021)

User rating

0.0 Out of 0 CpusData Score Apple A15 Bionic
5.0 Out of 1 CpusData Score Apple M1