A14 Bionic vs A12 Bionic

We compared two 6-core processors: Apple A14 Bionic (with Apple A14 GPU graphics) and A12 Bionic (Apple A12 GPU). Here you will find the pros and cons of each chip, technical specs, and comprehensive tests in benchmarks, like AnTuTu and Geekbench.

Review

General comparison of performance, power consumption, and other indicators
CPU Performance
Single and multi-core processor tests
Gaming Performance
GPU performance in games and OpenCL/Vulkan
Battery life
Efficiency of battery consumption
NanoReview Score
Overall chip score

Key Differences

Main differences and advantages of each chip
Pros of Apple A14 Bionic
  • Shows significantly better (up to 48%) AnTuTu 11 score – 1326K vs 895K
  • Has a smaller size transistor (5 versus 7 nm)
  • 24% higher CPU clock speed (3100 vs 2490 MHz)
  • Higher GPU frequency (~14%)
  • Better instruction set architecture

Benchmarks

Performance tests in popular benchmarks

AnTuTu 11

The AnTuTu Benchmark measures CPU, GPU, RAM, and I/O performance in different scenarios
A14 Bionic +48%
1326975
895627
CPU 364692 309104
GPU 311592 144993
Memory 180518 139578
UX 470169 301952
Total score 1326975 895627
Samples [55 tests] Less than 3

GeekBench 6

The GeekBench test shows raw single-threaded and multithreaded CPU performance
Single-Core Score
A14 Bionic +59%
2095
1318
Multi-Core Score
A14 Bionic +69%
5297
3134
Asset compression 182.6 MB/sec 116.8 MB/sec
HTML 5 Browser 110.6 pages/sec 59.4 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 123.2 Mpixels/sec 71.7 Mpixels/sec
Image detection 104.9 images/sec 23.7 images/sec
HDR 164.1 Mpixels/sec 98.7 Mpixels/sec
Background blur 19.1 images/sec 11.2 images/sec
Photo processing 50.8 images/sec 36.1 images/sec
Ray tracing 5.36 Mpixels/sec 3.49 Mpixels/sec
Samples 22 tests 5 tests
Compute Score (GPU)
A14 Bionic +114%
16822
7868
Background blur 27.6 images/sec 16.1 images/sec
Face detection 35.2 images/sec 19.2 images/sec
Horizon detection 0.54 Gpixels/sec 0.26 Gpixels/sec
Edge detection 0.79 Gpixels/sec 0.39 Gpixels/sec
Gaussian blur 0.83 Gpixels/sec 0.73 Gpixels/sec
Feature matching 0.24 Gpixels/sec 0.12 Gpixels/sec
Stereo matching 50.5 Gpixels/sec 24.1 Gpixels/sec
Particle physics 1772.1 FPS 608.2 FPS
API Metal Metal
Samples 17 tests Less than 3

3DMark

A cross-platform benchmark that assesses graphics performance in Vulkan (Metal)
3DMark Solar Bay
Score 2767 -
Stability 85% -
Graphics test 11 FPS -
Section 1 13 FPS -
Section 2 10 FPS -
Section 3 8 FPS -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
A14 Bionic +50%
2229
1482
Score 2229 1482
Stability 86% 65%
Graphics test 13 FPS 8 FPS

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple A14 Bionic
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-04 (Stelle)AnTuTu1288870
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-30 (Kirious)AnTuTu1251875
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-30 (Kirious)AnTuTu1251875
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-29 (Kirillkryt)AnTuTu1284629
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-29 (Ad_545)AnTuTu1216748
Apple A12 Bionic
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-16 -> op1GeekBench CPU1344 / 4757
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-31 (Π”ΠΈΠΌΠ°)AnTuTu644981
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-27 -> USAball386GeekBench GPU7868
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-27 -> USAball386GeekBench CPU1306 / 2770
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-12 -> GiahuyAnTuTu756483

Specifications

Full list of technical specifications of A14 Bionic and A12 Bionic

CPU

Architecture 2x 3.1 GHz – Firestorm
4x 1.8 GHz – Icestorm
2x 2.49 GHz – Vortex
4x 1.6 GHz – Tempest
Cores 6 6
Frequency 3100 MHz 2490 MHz
Instruction set ARMv8.5-A ARMv8.3-A
L1 cache 128 KB 128 KB
L2 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Transistor count 11.8 billion 6.9 billion
TDP (Sustained Power Limit) 6 W 6 W
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC

Graphics

GPU name Apple A14 GPU Apple A12 GPU
Architecture Apple Bionic GPU Apple Bionic GPU
GPU frequency 1278 MHz 1125 MHz
Pipelines 4 4
Shading units 64 64
Total shaders 256 256
FLOPS 654.3 Gigaflops 576 Gigaflops

AI Accelerator

Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Neural Engine
NPU theoretical performance 11 TOPS -

Memory

Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory frequency 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Bus 4x 16 Bit 4x 16 Bit
Max bandwidth 34.1 Gb/s 34.1 Gb/s
Max size 6 GB 4 GB

Multimedia (ISP)

Storage type NVMe NVMe
Max display resolution 2732 x 2048 2688 x 1242
Max camera resolution - 1x 32MP, 2x 12MP
Video capture 4K at 60FPS 4K at 60FPS
Video playback 4K at 60FPS 4K at 60FPS
Video codecs - H.264
- H.265
- Motion JPEG
- H.264
- H.265
- Motion JPEG
Audio codecs - AAC
- AAX
- AAX+
- AC-3
- AIFF
- CAF
- E-AC-3
- MP3
- MP4
- WAV
- AAC
- AAC‑LC
- AAX ΠΈ AAX+
- Apple Lossless
- HE‑AAC
- HE‑AAC v2
- Linear PCM
- MP3

Connectivity

Modem - Intel XMM 7560
4G support LTE Cat. 18 LTE Cat. 18
5G support Yes No
Download speed Up to 7500 Mbps Up to 1000 Mbps
Upload speed Up to 2500 Mbps Up to 350 Mbps
Wi-Fi 6 5
Bluetooth 5.0 5.0
Navigation GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo

Info

Announced September 2020 September 2018
Class Flagship Flagship
Model number APL1W01 APL1W81
Successor - Apple A19 Pro - Apple A19 Pro

Cast your vote

So, which SoC would you choose?
778 (73.8%)
276 (26.2%)
Total votes: 1054

Comments

Please give your opinion on the comparison of A12 Bionic and A14 Bionic, or ask any questions
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
Avatar
MAx January 11, 2024 at 03:07 PM
Don't take A14 if you are after good mic. A14 is a joke. A12 is ok.
+12 Reply
Avatar
Helen Gofton May 13, 2021 at 02:36 PM
Would the average person notice the difference between a 12 Bionic chip and a 14 Bionic chip.
+116 Reply
Avatar
Mark Christian Balan May 28, 2021 at 01:49 PM
Probably no for now. But when the devices age, you will definitely notice a difference
+47 Reply
Avatar
Me. January 9, 2022 at 02:40 PM
The biggest difference is A14 bionic doesn't optimize very well on gaming especially with the heaviest RPG game that I play currently. I'm just waiting to optimize the A14 before I planned to buy it.
+28 Reply