A16 Bionic: The fastest chip in a smartphone

The Apple A16 Bionic is a 64bi-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC), designed by Apple and Fabricated by TSMC for the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. TSMC manufactured the A16 to Apple’s Design specifications. The die contains nearly 16 billion transistors that are fabricated through a 4nm process.

The 6-core CPU contains 4 high-efficiency cores that are faster than the ones in its predecessor, the Apple A15 while consuming 20% less power. The 5 GPU cores have 50% more memory bandwidth. The 16-core Neural Engine is capable of nearly 17 trillion operations per second. A new Display Engine supports always-on displays with refresh rates as low as 1 Hz, and Image Signal Processor supports Photonic Engine Features.

The A16 bionic chip in iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is generations ahead of the competition, and unlocks unparalleled experiences like the Dynamic Island, powers all-day battery life, and delivers impressive computational photography capabilities. With two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, the new 6-core CPU is up to 40 percent faster than the competition and easily handles demanding workloads. The 5-core GPU is perfect for graphics-intensive games and apps. Using Apple’s best-in-class fusion architecture to combine performance and energy savings, the chip delivers more performance with a fraction of the power compared to the competition.

Fundamental to the pro camera system, A16 Bionic combines the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine and Image signal processor to seamlessly support the new camera hardware and perform up to 4 trillion operations per photo.