Apple M1 (7-GPU) VS Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)

Comparing Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)

Comparison of video cards Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) in benchmarks and specifications.

Differences Specifications Benchmarks

Differences

Top features of Apple M1 (7-GPU)

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Top features of Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)

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Specifications

Complete list of technical specifications

Apple M1 (7-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)

CPU generation and family

Let's find out which one of Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

Specification	Value
Name	Apple M1 (7-GPU) Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)
Family	Apple M series Apple A series
CPU group	Apple M1 Apple A15
Segment	Mobile Mobile
Generation	1 15

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

In this block we are going to compare Apple M1 (7-GPU) vs Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) by main technical specifications: number of cores and threads, base and maximum frequencies, process technology and cache size. The higher these specifications are, the more powerful your CPU will be.

Specification	Value
CPU Cores / Threads	8 / 8 6 / 6
Core architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (big.LITTLE)
A-Core	4x Firestorm 2x Avalanche
B-Core	4x Icestorm 4x Blizzard
Hyperthreading / SMT	No No
Overclocking	No No
A-Core Frequency	3.20 GHz 3.23 GHz
B-Core Frequency	2.06 GHz 2.02 GHz

Internal Graphics

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

Specification	Value
GPU name	Apple M1 (7 Core) Apple A15 (4 GPU Cores)
GPU frequency	1.30 GHz 0.60 GHz
GPU (Turbo)	No turbo No turbo
Execution units	112 128
Shader	896 1024
Max. GPU Memory	8 GB 8 GB
Max. displays	2 3
Generation	1 12
Technology	5 nm 5 nm
Release date	Q4/2020 Q3/2021

Hardware codec support

Let's compare the support of video codecs between Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU). Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

Specification	Value
h265 / HEVC (8 bit)	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit)	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
h264	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
VP8	Decode Decode / Encode
VP9	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
AV1	No No
AVC	Decode Decode
VC-1	Decode Decode
JPEG	Decode / Encode Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

To choose the best model between Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) you need to pay special attention to memory type, clock frequency, multi-channel features, and PCIe version. The higher these numbers are, the better your CPU will be. Keep in mind that the maximum memory and frequency may also depend on the model of the motherboard.

Specification	Value
Memory type	LPDDR4X-4266 LPDDR4X-4266
Max. Memory	16 GB 6 GB
Memory channels	2 (Dual Channel) 1 (Single Channel)
Bandwidth	68.2 GB/s 34.1 GB/s
ECC	No No
PCIe	4.0
AES-NI	Yes No

Thermal Management

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for Apple M1 (7-GPU) or Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU)? The Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicates the maximum amount of heat that should be dissipated by the chip cooling system. However, the value of TDP gives only a rough indication of the real power consumption of the CPU.

Specification	Value
TDP up	20 W --
TDP down	10 W --

Technical details

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for Apple M1 (7-GPU) and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

Specification	Value
Technology	5 nm 5 nm
Chip design	Chiplet Chiplet
Socket	N/A N/A
L2-Cache	16.00 MB 16.00 MB
L3-Cache	-- 32.00 MB
Architecture	M1 A15
Operating systems	macOS iOS
Virtualization	Apple Virtualization Framework None
Instruction set (ISA)	ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
ISA extensions	Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
Release date	Q4/2020 Q3/2021
Part Number	APL 1102 --