Apple A16

Apple A16 Bionic

General information
Launched	September 7, 2022
Marketed by	Apple Inc.
Designed by	Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer	TSMC
Product code	APL1W10[1]
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate	2.02 GHz to 3.46 GHz
Cache
L1 cache	320 KB per P-core (192 KB instruction + 128 KB data) 224 KB per E-core (128 KB instruction + 96 KB data)
L2 cache	16 MB (performance cores) 4 MB (efficient cores)
Last level cache	24 MB
Architecture and classification
Application	Mobile
Technology node	4 nm (N4P)
Microarchitecture	Everest Sawtooth
Instructions	ARMv8.6-A[2]
Physical specifications
Transistors	16 billion
Cores	6 cores: 2 performance 4 efficiency
Memory (RAM)	6 GB
GPU	Apple-designed 5-core GPU @ 1398 MHz
Products, models, variants
Variant	Apple S9/S10 SiP (cut-down version that utilizes high efficiency cores from A16)
History
Predecessor	Apple A15 Bionic
Successors	Apple A17 Pro (iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max), Apple A18, Apple A18 Pro (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max)

The Apple A16 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, and manufactured by TSMC. It is used in iPhones 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, and 15 and 15 Plus.^[3]

Design

The Apple A16 Bionic features an Apple-designed 64-bit six-core CPU implementing ARMv8.6-A^[2] with two "Everest" ^[4][5] high-performance cores running at 3.46 GHz,^[6] and four "Sawtooth" ^[4][5] energy-efficient cores running at 2.02 GHz,^[7] in a similar design to the A15 processor on iPhone 14. Apple claims the A16 is about 40% faster than the competition,^[3] and it also has new efficiency cores, with their big advantage being they use a third of the power of the best efficiency cores of other phones on the market.

The A16 contains 16 billion transistors, a 6.7% increase from the A15's transistor count of 15 billion. It includes an improved neural processing unit (NPU) with 16 cores known as the "Apple Neural Engine", a new image signal processor (ISP) with improved computational photography capabilities, and a new module for handling screen-related features that Apple calls a "Display Engine".^[3]

The A16 has hardware video encoding and decoding support for the HEVC, H.264, and ProRes codec.^[8]

During the iPhone 14 launch event Apple touted the A16 chip as the first 4 nm processor in a smartphone.^[3] However, a TechInsights analysis found that the A16 was manufactured by TSMC on their N4P process.^[9] "N4P", as it is called, is a de facto 5 nm fabrication process^[10] that offers enhancements in performance, power and density when compared to previous products in the same 5 nm family: N5, N5P and N4.^{[11][12][13][10]}

In September 2024 TSMC started producing A16 chips in Arizona fab using the same N4P process as by the main Taiwan plant.^[14]

GPU and memory

The A16 integrates an Apple-designed five-core GPU, which is reportedly coupled with 50% more memory bandwidth when compared to the A15's GPU.^[3][15]

The A16's memory has been upgraded to LPDDR5 for 50% higher bandwidth and a 7% faster 16-core neural engine, capable of 17 trillion operations per second (TOPS). In comparison, the neural engine on the A15 was capable of 15.8 TOPS. All variants of the SoC come with 6 GB of memory.^[3][6] Unlike previous generations of Apple's A-Series chips, the A16 utilises a vertical version of the A12X/M1 packaging instead of traditional PoP DRAM. This system is based on an epoxy glass substrate with DRAM mounted on one side, A16 SoC on the other side, and presumably via's going through the epoxy glass that connect the two. Due to the removal of PoP wires, the A16's energy consumption per DRAM read/write transaction has been slightly reduced.^[16]

ISP and Display Engine

The new image processor (ISP) found on the A16 chip improved its computational photography capabilities. It was designed to handle the higher resolution image sensor found in the iPhone 14 Pro, being capable of performing up to 4 trillion operations per photo.^[3]

The Display Engine is a first on Apple A-series. It enables a better functioning "always on display" feature, and handles other tasks such as the 1 Hz refresh rate, the higher peak brightness of the display and improved anti-aliasing techniques that help smooth out rough edges in the rendering of graphics and images on device displays.^[3]

Firmware

New startup and shutdown chimes were added, only being available in accessibility.^[17][16]

Products that include the Apple A16 Bionic

• iPhone 14 Pro & 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15 & 15 Plus

See also

• Apple Silicon, range of ARM-based processors designed by Apple for their products
• Comparison of Armv8-A processors

References

1. "iPhone 14 Pro Max Chip ID". iFixit. September 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
2. "llvm-project/llvm/unittests/TargetParser/TargetParserTest.cpp at main · llvm/llvm-project · GitHub". GitHub. September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
3. Hristov, Victor (September 17, 2022). "A16 Bionic explained: what's new in Apple's Pro-grade mobile chip?". Phone Arena. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
4. "The codename of the CPU core of A16 for iPhone14 Pro is revealed-posted by leaker". iPhone Wired. September 12, 2022. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
5. Buckner, Sanjay (September 13, 2022). "Apple's A16 Bionic Gets New Cores, Now Codenamed After Mountains". News Revive. Archived from the original on September 13, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
6. "iPhone 14 Pro Max with A16 chipset appears on Geekbench with minimal performance improvement". GSMArena. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
7. "AArch64: add support for newer Apple CPUs". github.com. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
8. "iPhone 14 Pro - Technical Specifications". Apple Support. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
9. "Apple APL1W10 A16 Bionic TSMC N4P FinFET Application Processor Digital Floorplan Analysis". TechInsights. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
10. Cross, Jason (January 5, 2023). "Apple's 3nm iPhone chip advantage (and why it doesn't really matter)". MacWorld. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
11. "5nm Technology". TSMC. Archived from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
12. Schor, David (October 26, 2021). "TSMC Extends Its 5nm Family With A New Enhanced-Performance N4P Node". WikiChip Fuse. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
13. "N3E Replaces N3; Comes In Many Flavors". WikiChip Fuse. September 4, 2022. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
14. "Apple orders A16 SoC production from TSMC plant in United States". notebookcheck.net. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
15. "Apple A16 Bionic: All you need to know about the new chip". Trusted Reviews. September 7, 2022. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
16. "iPhone 14 Proの心臓部、「A16 Bionic」を解析する". EE Times Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved February 15, 2023.
17. Rossignol, Joe (September 7, 2022). "iPhone 14 Features a Mac-Like Startup Sound While Turning on". MacRumours. Retrieved February 20, 2024.

Preceded by Apple A15 Bionic

Apple A16 Bionic 2022

Succeeded by Apple A17 Pro