M2 (iPad) vs A15 Bionic
We compared the 8-core Apple M2 (iPad) (Apple M2 GPU) with the older 6-core A15 Bionic (Apple A15 GPU) SoC. Here you will find the pros and cons of each chip, technical specs, and comprehensive tests in benchmarks, like AnTuTu and Geekbench.
Review
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
Pros of Apple M2 (iPad)
- Supports 200% higher memory bandwidth (102.4 against 34.1 GB/s)
- Shows significantly better (up to 79%) AnTuTu 11 score β 2536K vs 1413K
- Performs 67% better in floating-point computations
- Has 2 more cores
- 8% higher CPU clock speed (3490 vs 3230 MHz)
Benchmarks
Performance tests in popular benchmarksAnTuTu 11
| CPU | 841074 | 410975 |
| GPU | 801119 | 370837 |
| Memory | 371059 | 164151 |
| UX | 523068 | 467312 |
| Total score | 2536320 | 1413275 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [69 tests] |
GeekBench 6
Single-Core Score
Multi-Core Score
| Asset compression | 386.1 MB/sec | 208.1 MB/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 238.6 pages/sec | 122.9 pages/sec |
| PDF Renderer | 269.5 Mpixels/sec | 139.1 Mpixels/sec |
| Image detection | 236.7 images/sec | 125.1 images/sec |
| HDR | 334.9 Mpixels/sec | 179.4 Mpixels/sec |
| Background blur | 42 images/sec | 22.3 images/sec |
| Photo processing | 106.5 images/sec | 53.2 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | 10.4 Mpixels/sec | 6.26 Mpixels/sec |
| Samples | 4 tests | 37 tests |
Compute Score (GPU)
| Background blur | 74.8 images/sec | 35.4 images/sec |
| Face detection | 93.3 images/sec | 44.8 images/sec |
| Horizon detection | 1.36 Gpixels/sec | 0.62 Gpixels/sec |
| Edge detection | 1.92 Gpixels/sec | 0.82 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian blur | 2.31 Gpixels/sec | 0.84 Gpixels/sec |
| Feature matching | 0.53 Gpixels/sec | 0.3 Gpixels/sec |
| Stereo matching | 129.5 Gpixels/sec | 71.1 Gpixels/sec |
| Particle physics | 5024.6 FPS | 2198.2 FPS |
| API | Metal | Metal |
| Samples | 3 tests | 19 tests |
3DMark
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Score | 2474 | - |
| Stability | 67% | - |
| Graphics test | 18 FPS | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Score | 8572 | 3765 |
| Stability | 71% | 71% |
| Graphics test | 33 FPS | 14 FPS |
| Section 1 | 41 FPS | 19 FPS |
| Section 2 | 33 FPS | 14 FPS |
| Section 3 | 23 FPS | 9 FPS |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Score | 6808 | 2854 |
| Stability | 71% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 40 FPS | 17 FPS |
Recent User Tests
Apple M2 (iPad)
No benchmark results yet
Apple A15 Bionic
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-09-23 -> HotPower | AnTuTu 11 | 1184759 |
| π 2026-09-19 -> HotPower | Geekbench 6 GPU | 21284 |
| π 2026-09-19 (Vova) | AnTuTu 11 | 1297615 |
| π 2026-09-19 -> HotPower | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2423 / 5985 |
| π 2026-09-18 (charlesddd) | AnTuTu 11 | 1461749 |
Specifications
Full list of technical specifications of M2 (iPad) and A15 BionicCPU
| Architecture | 4x 3.49 GHz β Avalanche 4x 2.42 GHz β Blizzard |
2x 3.23 GHz β Avalanche 4x 2.02 GHz β Blizzard |
| Cores | 8 | 6 |
| Frequency | 3490 MHz | 3230 MHz |
| Instruction set | ARMv8.5-A | ARMv8.5-A |
| L1 cache | 192 KB | 256 KB |
| L2 cache | 16 MB | 12 MB |
| Process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Transistor count | 20 billion | 15 billion |
| TDP (Sustained Power Limit) | 20 W | 6 W |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
Graphics
| GPU name | Apple M2 GPU | Apple A15 GPU |
| Architecture | Apple GPU | Apple Bionic GPU |
| GPU frequency | 1398 MHz | 1338 MHz |
| Pipelines | 8 | 5 |
| Shading units | 128 | 128 |
| Total shaders | 1024 | 640 |
| FLOPS | 2863.1 Gigaflops | 1712.6 Gigaflops |
AI Accelerator
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| NPU theoretical performance | 15.8 TOPS | 15.8 TOPS |
Memory
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory frequency | 3200 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Bus | 8x 16 Bit | 4x 16 Bit |
| Max bandwidth | 102.4 Gb/s | 34.1 Gb/s |
| Max size | 24 GB | 6 GB |
Multimedia (ISP)
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Max display resolution | 2732 x 2048 | 2732 x 2048 |
| Video capture | 4K at 60FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video playback | 4K at 60FPS | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video codecs | - H.264 - H.265 - VP9 |
- H.264 - H.265 - VP8 - VP9 - Motion JPEG |
| Audio codecs | - AAC - AIFF - CAF - MP3 - MP4 - WAV |
- AAC - AAX - AAX+ - AC-3 - AIFF - CAF - E-AC-3 - MP3 - MP4 - WAV |
Connectivity
| 4G support | LTE Cat. 24 | LTE Cat. 24 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
| Download speed | Up to 7500 Mbps | Up to 7500 Mbps |
| Upload speed | Up to 3000 Mbps | Up to 3000 Mbps |
| Wi-Fi | 6 | 6 |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Navigation | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
Info
| Announced | June 2022 | September 2021 |
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Model number | APL1109 | APL1W07 |
| Successor | - Apple M4 (iPad) | - Apple A19 Pro |
Cast your vote
Total votes: 138