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Apple A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic: What’s The Difference?

Soumyakanti — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 22:12:21 +0000

When Apple announces a new chipset, it’s often met with excitement around the world. This year, the spotlight was on the A17 Pro. But how does it fare against its predecessor, the A16 Bionic?

Let’s break it down.

A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic Chipset Comparison

Manufacturing Process

A17 Pro: The standout feature of the A17 Pro is the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip built on TSMC’s latest 3nm fabrication process. This nanometric reduction from its predecessor means the chip can fit more transistors in the same space, resulting in improved performance and energy efficiency. To be precise, the A17 Pro houses approximately 19 billion transistors.

A16 Bionic: The A16 Bionic, which works on a 4nm process and has around 16 billion transistors, was quite impressive in its time. However, with its 3nm process, the A17 Pro represents a major step ahead.

Raw Performance

CPU Cores: Both chips feature a 6-core CPU. However, architectural enhancements in the A17 Pro deliver what Apple describes as “the fastest single-threaded performance in any smartphone.”

Geekbench Insights: Benchmarks indicate a substantial performance boost for the A17 Pro. The single-core performance on Geekbench shows an improvement of around 16%, and the multi-core performance jumps by approximately 13% compared to the A16.

AnTuTu Insights: The iPhone 15 Pro Max scored 1,641,883 points on AnTuTu. In the CPU test, it achieved 392,643 points, and in the GPU test, it scored 597,734 points. It excelled in the memory department with a score of 306,164, surpassing the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s score of 233,925.

Graphical Prowess

GPU: While the A16 Bionic houses a 5-core GPU, the A17 Pro ramps it up with a 6-core GPU. According to Apple, this enhancement results in up to a 20% performance boost.

Real-World Impacts: This isn’t just a numbers game. The added core means better handling of high-res graphics, from gaming to professional graphic tasks.

Moreover, the A17 Pro’s GPU includes hardware-based ray tracing, a significant improvement in rendering realistic lighting and shadow effects. To be precise, the A17 Pro chip offers four times faster ray tracing performance compared to the A16 Bionic.

GFXBench Insights: In GPU benchmark results on GFXBench, it outperformed the A16 Bionic by significant margins. For example, in the Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen test, the iPhone 15 Pro Max with A17 Pro performed about 19% better than the iPhone 15 Plus with A16 Bionic. In the Manhattan 3.1 Offscreen test, the A17 Pro showed improvements of up to 31.5%, with 199.8 fps compared to the A16’s 151.9 fps. While not all comparisons reached the advertised 20% boost, the A17 Pro appears to deliver greater GPU performance improvements.

AI and Neural Capabilities

Neural Engine: Artificial Intelligence (AI) tasks play a crucial role in modern smartphones. While both chips incorporate a 16-core Neural Engine, the A17 Pro’s version is said to be twice as fast, performing up to 35 trillion operations per second. This leads to improved performance for AI tasks and better photo and video optimizations.

Memory and Efficiency

RAM: The A17 Pro boasts 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, outshining the A16’s 6GB. This additional memory will assist in multitasking, allowing smoother app transitions and better performance in memory-intensive tasks.

Efficiency: The A17 Pro’s 3nm process improves energy efficiency, enabling tasks to be performed with less power consumption. This leads to longer battery life and reduced heat generation, ensuring the device remains cool during demanding operations.

Improved ISP (Image Signal Processor)

Photonic Engine: The A17 Pro features improvements in its Image Signal Processor, including the new Photonic Engine and Smart HDR 5, resulting in improved photo and video quality compared to the A16 Bionic.

Mesh Shading: It also introduces Mesh shading and offers video capabilities such as 2.8K @ 60 fps in Cinematic and Action Modes, surpassing the A16’s 30 fps limit. Additionally, the A17 Pro captures 48MP HEIF images in addition to 48MP Pro RAW images.

Connectivity and Additional Features

USB 3 Performance: The A17 Pro brings USB 3 capabilities to iPhones, allowing for faster data transfer rates of up to 10 Gbps, a significant step up from the 480 Mbps seen in the A16 Bionic.

Media Engines: The A17 Pro also stands out with the addition of an AV1 decoder, expected to improve video streaming on newer iPhones.

The A17 Pro builds upon the A16 Bionic’s foundation with a range of refinements and enhancements, solidifying its position as a formidable contender in the mobile chipset industry.

The importance of these enhancements may vary from user to user, but for those seeking top-tier performance, the A17 Pro establishes a new standard in the continually evolving realm of smartphone technology.

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Apple A16 Bionic disappoints in performance, Geekbench result reveals

Sudhanshu — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 03:58:34 +0000

A couple of days ago, Apple launched the iPhone 14 series globally. The devices pack new features like emergency satellite connectivity, a refreshed UI experience, camera improvements, and the A16 Bionic chipset on the Pro models, to name a few.

iPhone 14 Pro

The devices are yet to reach the customers. However, someone has already managed to install and run Geekbench on a Pro model. So let’s take a look at the performance.

The well-known tipster Ice Universe has shared a Geekbench result of what appears to be an A16 Bionic-powered iPhone. It is unclear if it is the Pro or the Pro Max model; however, the benchmark in itself isn’t that impressive. The new chip scores 1879 points on the single-core test and 4664 points on the multi-core test. For comparison, the A15-equipped iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max models usually manage scores of around 1730 points on the single-core tests and 4700 points on the multi-core tests.

If this is indeed the Geekbench score of an A16-equipped iPhone, it might answer the question of why Apple chose to compare the chipset to the older A13 Bionic rather than the A15 Bionic chipset of last year. The company might have opted to go with more efficiency rather than performance this time around, as it has claimed that the chips consume 20% less power than before.

Another report claims that only Apple iPhone 14 Pro models to be powered by A14 chip

Jeet — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 02:53:18 +0000

Apple is still months away from officially launching its next-generation iPhone 14 series smartphones in the market but ahead of the announcement, there have been several leaks related to the upcoming devices.

In a new development, yet another report has claimed that only the iPhone 14 Pro series models will come powered by the new Apple A16 Bionic chipset. This time, it is being reported by TrendForce in its global smartphone market report.

This is in line with the previous reports which claimed that the Apple iPhone 14 series models will continue to be powered by the Apple A15 Bionic chipset which is powering the current-generation iPhone 13 series phones.

It is claimed that only the Apple iPhone 14 Pro models will pack the latest processor from the company, which is most likely to be called Apple A16 Bionic. While the iPhone 14 and 14 Max will have A15 SoC, they will pack 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM instead of 4GB RAM.

As of now, it’s not clear why Apple is deciding to have different types of processors for the devices in the same lineup, something that the company has not done so far. However, this time, the company is focused on making the Pro and non-Pro models significantly different.

The reason behind such development from the technology giant could be the global chip shortage. If the reports are to be believed, then the entire supply chain for the iPhone production has been impacted and it is being claimed that the production of the entry-level iPhone 14 has been delayed by three weeks or more.

Apple A16 Bionic chip may still be based on TSMC’s 5nm process: Report

Sean — Fri, 27 May 2022 10:37:41 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks, we have covered various reports regarding the Apple iPhone 14 series. Now, the latest report has revealed some interesting information regarding the next gen A16 Bionic chip that will power the next gen iPhones.

Previously, we had reported on the Cupertino based giant reserving the new A16 chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, while the base iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max featuring a refreshed version of last year’s A15 Bionic chipset. Furthermore, the new A16 Bionic was initially believed to be based on TSMC’s new 4nm process node, but according to tipster @ShrimpApplePro this might not be the case this year.

In a tweet, the tipster said that a reliable source has shared that the A16 Bionic will still be based on the 5nm process, or the TSMC N5P. Although, he also added that this is unlikely and to take this news with a pinch of salt. But, his reliable source does state that the A16 Bionic could based on the TSMCFF5, which might also be a refreshed process node.

From a fairly reliable source, but take this one with a big grain of MSG.
A16 Bionic will continue to use 5nm from TSMC N5P. From the list I received from source “TSMCFF5”
Upgrades are slightly better CPU, LPDDR5 RAM and better GPU. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/lYebcki94F

— ShrimpApplePro (@VNchocoTaco) May 26, 2022

The tweet further adds that the new A16 Bionic chip will also arrive with support for LPDDR5 RAM along with a new and improved CPU and GPU as well. On the other hand, there have also been rumored that the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will feature the 5nm process based A16 Bionic, while the Pro models are equipped with a more advanced A16 Pro chipsets. Keep in mind, this all still just speculation so take this report with a pinch of salt and stay tuned for more updates.

Apple may rebrand A15 Bionic as A16 for iPhone 14, with price hike

Sean — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 07:15:52 +0000

Earlier this week, we had reported on known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claiming that the upcoming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max might ship with the last gen A15 Bionic chipset. And now, new information has further backed this information along with some other interesting details.

iPhone 14 Pro

Apart from Kuo, other notable sources like Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have also backed this claim. If its true, this would mark the first time that the Cupertino based giant divided its iPhone lineup’s chipsets since the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. The former featured the A7 while the latter arrived with the older A6 chip. According to a iDrop News report, the iPhone 14 series will also be receiving a similar treatment this time around.

Apparently, the brand will be reusing the A15 Bionic chipset that was on the iPhone 13 series for the base iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Max model this year. However, to avoid possible backlash, the company will be rebranding the new chipset to the A16, to keep it in line with its typical annual chip refresh cycle. On the other hand, the actual new chip could be labelled as the A16 Pro, which will likely be reserved for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Notably, this move allow Apple to cut down on costs. With the mini model being discontinued, the lineup will now start at 799 US Dollars, meanwhile, the Max version will cost 100 US Dollars more. In other words, the company would still be able to maintain its usual 200 US Dollar price difference between its Pro and non Pro models.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro models to have much better specs than regular models

Jeet — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 02:37:29 +0000

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 14 series has been in the news for the past few months, revealing some key details about the upcoming flagship phones. A few key details about the Apple iPhone 14 series are already known and some more details have surfaced online.

In a new report, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that unlike the smartphones from Apple launched so far, the upcoming iPhone 14 models and iPhone 14 Pro models will have drastically different specifications.

Apple iPhone 14 and 14 Pro Concept Renders

Kuo claims that the upcoming Apple A16 Bionic processor will be powering only the Pro models of the iPhone 14 series, i.e. iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max while the regular models, i.e. iPhone 14 and 14 Max will have the Apple A15 Bionic processor.

Further, the upcoming lineup will have 6GB of RAM, which is an improvement when compared to the current-generation iPhones that have 4GB of RAM. However, the Pro models in the iPhone 14 series will have LPDDR5 RAM while the standard models will keep using the LPDDR4X RAM.

Earlier it was reported that the Pro models will come with a dual pill-shaped punch-hole cutout on top of the screen for housing the front-facing camera while the regular models will continue to have a notch.

Usually, the Pro and non-Pro models of the iPhones don’t have these many differences in terms of the core specifications but this year, Apple appears to be experimenting with significantly different core internals for the iPhone models. To know for sure how much of this is true, we will have to wait for the official launch event later this year.

Apple iPhone 14 may not be powered by 3nm chipset due to TSMC’s production issues

Jeet — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 03:17:47 +0000

Apple is gearing up to launch its next-generation iPhone 13 series smartphones next month but even before the official launch takes place, details related to the next year’s iPhone 14 series have been making rounds.

It is speculated that the Apple iPhone 14 lineup could come powered by the 3nm chipset manufactured by TSMC. However, the latest report indicates that may not be the case as the Taiwan-based manufacturer is facing delays.

Apple iPhone 12

The report claims that TSMC has confirmed that its 3nm process, known as N3, has been delayed for mass-production by about 3-4 months. This means that the iPhone 14 lineup will miss the chipset (possibly named Apple A16 Bionic) manufactured using the 3nm process and instead will pack a processor made using the N4 process.

Previously, it was reported that Apple has already placed orders for the 4nm chip with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and is set to go into production in the fourth quarter of this year.

Not only that, the Cupertino-based tech giant has already booked the majority of TSMC’s capacity for the production of 3nm chips over chip giant Intel. The 3nm chips are likely to go into production in the second half of next year and were expected to be powering the next-generation iPhone 14 series phones.

Similarly, Samsung is also reportedly facing production issues related to the 3nm chip and thus, its flagship smartphones getting launched next year could also come packed with the 4nm chipset and same will be the fate of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 898 given that the company is reliant on TSMC and Samsung for manufacturing.

Apple is all set to launch the iPhone 13 series smartphones in the market, possibly in the third week of September but the company has not yet revealed the launch date. All four models in the lineup — iPhone 13, 13 Mini, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max are expected to come powered by the Apple A15 Bionic chipset manufactured using 5nm+ process by TSMC.