Apple processor comparison A16 versus M1, M2 and every Apple chip

How does the latest processor compare to other chips it Apple’s lineup? Roman Loyola reports

At the heart of every Apple device is an Apple processor. Apple has been using its own processors in its iPhones and iPads for some time, while the Mac line-up has nearly completed its transition away from Intel chips. Apple has far more devices with its own silicon than Intel’s now – all that remain are the higher-end Mac mini and the Mac Pro – and before the end of 2023, every product Apple makes will likely be powered by a home-grown chip.

What’s remarkable about Apple silicon is its performance – major PC and Android chip manufacturers can’t ignore Apple’s chips because they’re being outpaced. But all chips aren’t created equally. Understanding the performance differences between each chip will help with your buying decisions, especially when you’re deciding between iPhone 14 or MacBook models. Knowing how each chip performs gives you a better idea of what products to buy and whether or not it’s worth your money to step up to a higher model.

Let’s take a look at how the new processors compare with the rest of the processors in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac line-up and see how each performs and what that means to you. For the sake of consistency, we’ve used Geekbench 5 benchmarks. (The results are all our own, but we’ve checked our numbers against the Geekbench database to be sure the results are expected.) Here’s every chip and how the benchmarks compare with each other.

EVERY PROCESSOR COMPARED

Before we get into the individual processor, let’s let the chips fall where they may. It’s a somewhat predictable chart of course, with the M1 Pro/Max Macs at the top, followed by a mix of iPads and iPhones. But there are still some fascinating results: Owners of the iPad Pro can say their tablet is about as fast as a MacBook Air and that wouldn’t be an exaggeration. And the difference between the £449 iPhone SE and the £849 iPhone 14 isn’t as huge as their price difference indicates.

Geekbench 5 (multi-core)

M1 Ultra (64-core GPU): 23,369 M1 Ultra (48-core GPU): 23,369 M1 Max (32-core GPU): 12,590 M1 Max (24-core GPU): 12,590 M1 Pro (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU): 12,544 M1 Pro (8-core CPU, 14-core GPU): 9,948 M2: 8,908 M2 (iPad Pro): 8,404 M1: 7,708 M1 (7-core GPU): 7,454 M1 (iPad Air): 7,140 A16 Bionic (iPhone 14 Pro): 5,378 A15 Bionic (iPhone 14): 4,819 A15 Bionic (iPhone SE): 4,557 A15 Bionic (iPhone 13): 4,543 A15 Bionic (iPad mini): 4,409 A14 Bionic (iPad Air): 4,210 A14 Bionic (iPad): 4,175 A14 Bionic (iPhone 12): 4,107

Geekbench 5 (Compute)

M1 Ultra (64-core GPU): 88,678 M1 Ultra (48-core GPU): 72,180 M1 Max (32-core GPU): 68,534 M1 Max (24-core GPU): 55,687 M1 Pro (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU): 42,862 M1 Pro (8-core CPU, 14-core GPU): 34,794 M2: 27,284 M2 (iPad Pro): 32,962 M1: 21,774 M1 (7-core GPU): 19,283 M1 (iPad Air): 20,975 A16 Bionic (iPhone 14 Pro): 15,644 A15 Bionic (iPhone 14): 12,325 A15 Bionic (iPhone SE): 11,010 A15 Bionic (iPhone 13): 10,764 A15 Bionic (iPad mini): 13,430 A14 Bionic (iPad Air): 12,512 A14 Bionic (iPad): 12,480 A14 Bionic (iPhone 12): 9,439

iPHONE PROCESSORS

Before we compare the performance of each iPhone processor, let’s take a look at the specifications so we can understand the differences between them – see the table below.

Now let’s look at how each processor performs. Not surprisingly, the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 14 Pro is the fastest. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 both have an A15 Bionic processor, but the iPhone 13 has one fewer GPU core than the iPhone 13 Pro, which gives it better graphics performance.

Apple still sells the iPhone 12, which has an A14 Bionic. It’s actually not much slower than the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic–the specs between the two processors are practically the same, with the A15 Bionic’s performance cores having a slightly faster clock speed and more RAM. If price is the main priority over the camera and other features, consider the iPhone 12 instead of the iPhone 13.

The speed difference is more obvious between the iPhone 12’s A14

iPHONE SPECS A16 BIONIC A15 BIONIC A15 BIONIC A14 BIONIC

Performance cores 2 at 3.46GHz 2 at 3.22GHz 2 at 3.22GHz 2 at 3.1 GHz Efficiency cores Graphics cores Neural engine RAM 4 at 2.02GHz 4 at 1.82GHz 4 at 1.82GHz 4 at 1.8GHz 5 5 4 4 16-core 16-core 16-core 16-core 8GB 8GB 8GB 6GB

Transistors

16 billion 15 billion 15 billion 11.8 billion Thermal design power 5 watts 6 watts 6 watts 6 watts Devices iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 iPhone 13, iPhone SE iPhone 12

Bionic and the chips in the iPhone 14 models. This could be the last hurrah for the A14 Bionic, since the iPhone 12 will be replaced by the 13 as the low-cost option with Apple’s next major iPhone roll-out next autumn, though it’s possible it makes its way into the next Apple TV revision.

Geekbench 5 (multi-core)

A16 Bionic: 5,378 A15 Bionic (Pro): 4,794 A15 Bionic: 4,543 A14 Bionic: 4,107

Geekbench 5 (Compute)

A16 Bionic: 15,644 A15 Bionic (Pro): 14,487 A15 Bionic: 10,764 A14 Bionic: 9,439 Geekbench 5 (multi-core)

A16 Bionic: 8,404 A15 Bionic (Pro): 7,140 A15 Bionic: 4,409 A14 Bionic: 4,175

iPAD PROCESSORS

The staggered release of Apple’s iPad line-up creates an odd-looking performance order of CPU and its device. The M2-equipped iPad Pros are the fastest models, and the gap between them and the iPad and iPad mini is significant. Apple claims that the M2 is 15 percent faster than the M1 that it replaced in the previous iPad Pros and is in the current iPad Air.

The new iPad that was released in the autumn of 2022 has an A14 Bionic, an upgrade from the A13 Bionic in the previous model. Apple says the new iPad offers a 20 percent CPU boost and a 10 percent graphics increase.

Geekbench 5 (Compute)

A16 Bionic: 32,962 A15 Bionic (Pro): 20,975 A15 Bionic: 13,430 A14 Bionic: 12,480

iPAD SPECS M2 M1 A15 BIONIC A14 BIONIC

Performance cores 4 at 3.49GHz 4 at 3.2GHz 2 at 2.93GHz 2 at 3.1GHz Efficiency cores Graphics cores Neural engine RAM 4 at 2.06GHz 4 at 2.06GHz 4 at 1.82GHz 4 at 1.8GHz 10 8 5 4 16-core 16-core 16-core 16-core 8GB 8GB 4GB 6GB

Transistors

20 billion 16 billion 15 billion 11.8 billion Thermal design power 15 watts 14 watts 6 watts 6 watts Devices 11- & 12-inch iPad Pro iPad Air iPad mini iPad

MAC PROCESSORS

With Apple’s M-series of chips for the Mac, the company’s release schedule involves the base version in the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and other Macs. Apple then modifies it to create higher-end versions.

The latest M-Series chip is the M2, which was released with the new 13inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air in the summer of 2022, right after WWDC. The M2 replaces the M1 in those Macs, but Apple may keep around M1 models to offer as lowcost options, such as the £999 M1 MacBook Air.

With the M2, Apple claims an 18 percent improvement in general CPU performance over the M1. In the multi-core CPU test, we are able to confirm Apple’s claim. The singlecore CPU test showed a lower 13 percent increase for the M2.

The M1 Ultra is a beast of a chip, doubling the CPU multi-core performance of the M1 Max, which

MAC SPECS M2 M2 M1 ULTRA M1 ULTRA M1 MAX

Performance cores 4 at 3.49GHz 4 at 3.49GHz 16 at 3.2GHz 16 at 3.2GHz 8 at 3.2GHz

Efficiency cores 4 at 2.06GHz 4 at 2.06GHz 4 at 2.06GHz 4 at 2.06GHz 2 at 2.06GHz Graphics cores 10 8 64 48 32 Neural engine 16-core 16-core 32-core 32-core 16-core RAM 8GB 8GB 64GB 64GB 32GB Transistors 20 billion 20 billion 114 billion 114 billion 16 billion

Thermal design power

Devices 15 watts 15 watts 60 watts 60 watts 14 watts

13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air MacBook Air Mac Studio Mac Studio 16-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Studio

MAC SPECS M1 MAX M1 PRO M1 PRO M1 M1

Performance cores 8 at 3.2GHz 8 at 3.2GHz 6 at 3.2GHz 4 at 3.2GHz 4 at 3.2GHz

Efficiency cores 2 at 2.06GHz 2 at 2.06GHz 2 at 2.06GHz 4 at 2.06GHz 4 at 2.06GHz Graphics cores 24 16 14 8 7 Neural engine 16-core 16-core 16-core 16-core 16-core RAM 32GB 16GB 16GB 8GB 8GB Transistors 16 billion 16 billion 16 billion 16 billion 16 billion

Thermal design power

Devices 14 watts 14 watts 14 watts 14 watts 14 watts

16-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Studio 14- & 16-inch MacBook Pro 14-inch MacBook Pro 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, 24-inch iMac, Mac mini MacBook Air, 24-inch iMac

has half as many CPU cores. It blazes in GPU performance too.

As for the M1 Max, it separates itself from the M1 Pro with its graphics performance – the 32-core GPU gives it a big boost. The only device we haven’t personally tested is the 8-core CPU, 14-core GPU of the M1 Pro in the £1,899 14-inch MacBook Pro, but online benchmarks show CPU performance around 20 percent slower than the 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU M1 Pro.

An interesting comparison between the 8-core CPU M1 Pro and the low-end M1 can be found. The 8-core M1 Pro offers about a 30 percent increase, and the £1,899 14-inch MacBook Pro costs about 33 percent more than the M1-based £1,349 13-inch MacBook Pro. In terms of just pure performance, you’re paying a little more than a dollar per percentage point.

The chip that started it all, the good old M1, may seem slow compared to the M1 Pro and M1 Max – but that’s not to undermine Apple’s original Mac processor. Remember, the M1 blows past the Intel processors it replaced, resulting in a significant price/performance value.