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Apple A12X

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20 views4 pages

Apple A12X

Uploaded by

irfanm
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Apple A12X

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Apple A12Z)

Apple A12X Bionic


Apple A12Z Bionic

General information

Launched A12X: October 30, 2018

A12Z: March 18, 2020


Discontinued A12X: March 18, 2020

A12Z: April 20, 2021

Designed by Apple Inc.

TSMC[1]
Common

manufacturer(s)

Product code APL1083[2]

Max. CPU clock rate to 2.49[3] GHz

Cache

L1 cache 128 KB instruction, 128 KB data

L2 cache 8 MB

Architecture and classification

Application Mobile

Technology node 7 nm[4]

Microarchitecture Vortex and Tempest

Instruction set A64 – ARMv8.3-A

Physical specifications

Cores 8 (ARM big.LITTLE: 4 "big" Vortex + 4

"little" Tempest)[1]

GPU(s) Apple-designed integrated graphics

A12X: 7 core GPU

A12Z: 8 core GPU

Products, models, variants

Variant(s) Apple A12

History
Predecessor(s) Apple A10X

Successor(s) Apple M1

A12Z Bionic
The Apple A12X Bionic is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It
first appeared in the iPad Pro (3rd generation), announced on October 30, 2018.
[4]
The A12X is an 8-core variant of the A12 (four big cores, four small cores) and
Apple states that it has 35 percent faster single-core CPU performance and 90
percent faster overall CPU performance than its predecessor, the Apple A10X.
[4]
The Apple A12Z Bionic is an updated version of the A12X, adding an additional
GPU core, and was unveiled on March 18, 2020 as part of the iPad Pro (4th
generation).[5][6]

Design[edit]
The A12X and A12Z feature an Apple-designed 64-bit ARMv8.3-A octa-core CPU,
with four high-performance cores called Vortex and four energy-efficient cores
called Tempest.[4][1] The Vortex cores are a 7-wide decode out-of-
order superscalar design, while the Tempest cores are a 3-wide decode out-of-
order superscalar design. The Tempest cores are based on Apple's Swift cores from
the Apple A6, and are similar in performance to ARM Cortex-A73 CPU cores.[7][8] It is
Apple's first SoC with an octa core CPU.[1]
The A12X integrates an Apple-designed 7-core graphics processing unit (GPU), with
twice the graphics performance of the A10X.[4] The A12Z has an 8-core GPU, one
more core than the A12X, enabling better performance in 4K video editing,
rendering, and augmented reality.[9][10] Embedded in the A12X and A12Z is the
M12 motion coprocessor.[11] The A12Z additionally features tuned performance
controllers and a better thermal architecture compared to the A12X, which potentially
allows for higher clock speeds.[12] The A12X and A12Z include dedicated neural
network hardware that Apple calls a "next-generation Neural Engine".[4] This neural
network hardware, which is the same as found in the A12,[1] can perform up to 5
trillion operations per second.[4]
The A12X and A12Z are manufactured by TSMC using a 7 nm FinFET process, and
it contains 10 billion transistors[1][4] vs. the 6.9 billion on the A12.[13] The A12X is paired
with 4 GB of LPDDR4X memory in the third-generation 12.9" iPad Pro and the first-
generation 11" iPad Pro, or 6 GB in the 1 TB storage configurations.[14][2] The A12Z is
paired with 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM in the fourth-generation 12.9" iPad Pro and the
second-generation 11" iPad Pro.[15]
The A12X has video codec encoding support for HEVC and H.264. It has decoding
support for HEVC, H.264, MPEG-4, and Motion JPEG.[16]
Developer Transition Kit (2020)[edit]
At its 2020 Worldwide Developer's Conference, Apple introduced the Developer
Transition Kit (2020), which uses the A12Z processor with 16 GB RAM in a Mac
mini enclosure, hence being the first Macintosh computer to use the Apple
silicon architecture.[17]
The A12Z would be used as the basis for the design of the M1, Apple's first in-house
processor designed for use in Mac computers. In an interview shortly after the
introduction of the DTK (2020), Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig
Federighi commented:
“Even that DTK hardware, which is running on an existing iPad chip that we don’t
intend to put in a Mac in the future – it’s just there for the transition – the Mac runs
awfully nice on that system. It’s not a basis on which to judge future Macs ... but it
gives you a sense of what our silicon team can do when they’re not even trying –
and they’re going to be trying.”[18]

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