Apple M1 vs Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU). Specifications, performance, tests

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

• CPU group
  Apple M1 Apple A15
• Family
  Apple M series Apple A series
• Generation
  1 15
• Segment
  Mobile Mobile

Core counts, threads, cache and clock modes describe the CPU configuration. Performance depends on the workload and comparable measured results.

• A-Core
  4x Firestorm 2x Avalanche
• B-Core
  4x Icestorm 4x Blizzard
• Base Frequency
  3.2 GHz 3.23 GHz
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• CPU Cores
  8 6
• CPU Threads
  8 6
• Hyperthreading / SMT
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• Turbo Frequency (1 Core)
  No turbo No turbo
• Turbo Frequency (8 Cores)
  No turbo -
• Turbo Frequency (6 Cores)
  - No turbo

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

• Execution units
  128 128
• Generation
  1 12
• GPU Frequency
  3200 MHz 600 MHz
• GPU name
  Apple M1 (8 Core) Apple A15 (4 GPU Cores)
• GPU Turbo
  No turbo No turbo
• Max. displays
  2 3
• Max. GPU Memory
  8 GB 8 GB
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q3/2021
• Shader
  0 1024
• Technology
  5 nm 5 nm

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

• AV1
  Decode No
• H.264 / AVC
  Conflicting source values: Decode | Decode / Encode Conflicting source values: Decode | Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• VP8
  Decode Decode / Encode
• VP9
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) and Apple M1. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

• ECC
  No No
• Max. Memory
  16 GB 8 GB
• Memory channels
  2 1
• Memory type
  LPDDR4X-4266 LPDDR4X-4266
• PCIe version
  4.0 -

• AES-NI
  Yes No

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Apple M1 and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU) Power specifications describe different manufacturer limits. TDP, base power and maximum turbo power are separate values; they do not establish measured system consumption.

• TDP (PL1, legacy label)
  15 W 8.5 W
• TDP down
  10 W -
• TDP up
  20 W -

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Apple M1 and Apple A15 Bionic (4-GPU), virtual machine technologies and process technology.

• Architecture
  M1 A15
• Instruction set (ISA)
  ARMv8-A64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
• ISA extensions
  Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation -
• L2-Cache
  16.00 MB 16.00 MB
• Release date
  Q4/2020 Q3/2021
• Technology
  5 nm 5 nm
• Virtualization
  None None