Engineering:Apple A16

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Short description: System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.
Apple A16 Bionic
Apple A16.jpg
General Info
LaunchedSeptember 7, 2022
Designed byApple Inc.
Common manufacturer(s)
Product codeAPL1W10 [1]
Max. CPU clock rateto 3.46 GHz[2] 
Cache
L2 cache16 MB (performance cores)
4 MB (efficient cores)
24 MB (system cache)
Architecture and classification
ApplicationMobile
Min. feature size5 nm (N4)[3][4][5]
marketed as "4 nm"[6]
Microarchitecture"Everest" and "Sawtooth"
Instruction setA64
Physical specifications
Transistors
  • 16 billion
Cores
  • 6 (4 efficiency, 2 performance)
GPU(s)Apple-designed 5- core GPU
History
PredecessorApple A15

The Apple A16 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., and manufactured by TSMC. It is used in the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max models only.[7]

Design

The Apple A16 Bionic features an Apple-designed 64-bit six-core CPU implementing ARMv8.6-A (no SM4 of v8.6, but with HCX)[8] with two "Everest" [9][10] high-performance cores running @3,46GHz[2] and four "Sawtooth" [9][10] energy-efficient cores running @2,02GHz,[8] in a similar design to the A15 processor on iPhone 14. Apple claims the A16 is about 40% faster than the competition,[7] 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 dedicated neural network with 16-cores known as "Neural Engine", a new image processor (ISP) with improved computational photography capabilities and a new module for handling screen-related features that Apple calls a "Display Engine".[7]

During the iPhone 14 launch event, Apple touted the A16 chip as the first 4 nm processor in a smartphone.[7], and such information has been replicated by some news magazines.[11][6] However, it is manufactured by TSMC on a third-generation version of their N5 technology.[3] "N4", as it is called, is a de facto 5 nm fabrication process that offers enhancements in performance, power and density when compared to previous products in the same 5 nm family: N5 and N5P.[4][5]

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.[7][6]

Memory, in turn, 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 A15 was capable of 15.8 TOPS. However, the A16 is still paired with the same amount of RAM available in its predecessor: 6 GB.[7][2]

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, being capable of performing up to 4 trillion operations per photo.[7]

The Display Engine is a first on Apple A-series. It enables a better functioning "always on display" feature, and handles other tasks like the 1Hz refresh rate, the higher peak brightness of the display and improved antialiasing techniques that help smooth out rough edges in the rendering of graphics and images on device displays.[7]

Products that include the Apple A16 Bionic

  • iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

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 teardown ! iPhone 14 pro disassembly ! iPhone 14 teardown ! iPhone 14 pro max teardown". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRzsCaT5SFE. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "iPhone 14 Pro Max with A16 chipset appears on Geekbench with minimal performance improvement" (in en-US). https://www.gsmarena.com/iphone_14_pro_max_with_a16_chipset_appears_on_geekbench_with_minimal_performance_improvement-news-55711.php. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "5nm Technology". TSMC. https://www.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/logic/l_5nm. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Schor, David (2021-10-26). "TSMC Extends Its 5nm Family With A New Enhanced-Performance N4P Node" (in en-US). https://fuse.wikichip.org/news/6439/tsmc-extends-its-5nm-family-with-a-new-enhanced-performance-n4p-node/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "N3E Replaces N3; Comes In Many Flavors" (in en-US). 2022-09-04. https://fuse.wikichip.org/news/7048/n3e-replaces-n3-comes-in-many-flavors/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Apple A16 Bionic: All you need to know about the new chip" (in en). 2022-09-07. https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/apple-a16-bionic-release-date-specs-performance-4237384. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Hristov, Victor. "A16 Bionic explained: what's new in Apple's Pro-grade mobile chip?" (in en-US). https://www.phonearena.com/news/A16-Bionic-explained-whats-new_id142438. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "AArch64: add support for newer Apple CPUs" (in en). https://github.com/apple/llvm-project/commit/677da09d0259d7530d32e85cb561bee15f0066e2. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The codename of the CPU core of A16 for iPhone14 Pro is revealed-posted by leaker" (in en-US). https://iphonewired.com/news/481842/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Buckner, Sanjay (2022-09-13). "Apple's A16 Bionic Gets New Cores, Now Codenamed After Mountains" (in en-US). https://newsrevive.com/apples-a16-bionic-gets-new-cores-now-codenamed-after-mountains/. 
  11. ↑ Lee, Kevin (2022-09-07). "Apple's iPhone 14 Event: Everything Announced" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/apple-event-september-2022-far-out-announcements-everything-announced. 
Preceded by
Apple A15 Bionic 		Apple A16 Bionic
2022 		Succeeded by
Incumbent




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