Apple R1
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Apple silicon is a series of
system on a chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...
(SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
, mainly using the
ARM architecture ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configured ...
. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone,
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
,
iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...
,
Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
, and Apple Watch, and of products such as
AirPods AirPods are wireless Bluetooth earbuds designed by Apple Inc. They were first announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. Within two years, they became Apple's most popular accessory. The most recent model, AirPods (3rd generation ...
, HomePod, HomePod Mini, and
AirTag AirTag is a tracking device developed by Apple. AirTag is designed to act as a key finder, which helps people find personal objects (e.g. keys, bags, apparel, small electronic devices, vehicles). To locate lost items, AirTags use Apple's crowds ...
. Apple announced its plan to switch Mac computers from Intel processors to Apple silicon at
WWDC 2020 The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...
on June 22, 2020. The first Macs built with the Apple M1 processor were unveiled on November 10, 2020. In 2022, the newest Mac models were built with Apple silicon; only older models of the
Mac Mini Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor (desktop and motherboard), small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac (Intel-based), iMac and the profes ...
and the
Mac Pro Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of f ...
still use Intel Core and
Xeon Xeon ( ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same arc ...
processors respectively. Apple fully controls the integration of Apple silicon chips with the company's hardware and software products. Johny Srouji is in charge of Apple's silicon design. Manufacturing of the chips is outsourced to semiconductor contract manufacturers such as
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
and
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
.


A series

The "A" series is a family of
SoCs SOCS (suppressor of cytokine signaling proteins) refers to a family of genes involved in inhibiting the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Genes * CISH * SOCS1 * SOCS2 * SOCS3 * SOCS4 * SOCS5 * SOCS6 * SOCS7 Suppressor of cytokine signaling 7 is a pro ...
used in the iPhone, certain
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
models, and the
Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
. "A" series chips were also used in the discontinued
iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...
line and the original HomePod. They integrate one or more ARM-based processing cores (
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
), a graphics processing unit ( GPU), cache memory and other electronics necessary to provide mobile computing functions within a single physical package.


Apple A4

The Apple A4 is a PoP SoC manufactured by
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
, the first SoC Apple designed in-house. It combines an ARM
Cortex-A8 The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture. Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar design, achieving roughly twice the instructions per cycle. The Cort ...
CPU also used in Samsung's S5PC110A01 SoC and a PowerVR SGX 535
graphics processor A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
(GPU), all built on Samsung's 45-nanometer silicon chip fabrication process. The design emphasizes power efficiency. The A4 commercially debuted in 2010, in Apple's iPad
tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
, and was later used in the iPhone 4 smartphone, the fourth-generation iPod Touch, and the 2nd-generation
Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
. The Cortex-A8 core used in the A4, dubbed "
Hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...
", is thought to use performance improvements developed by Samsung in collaboration with chip designer Intrinsity, which was subsequently acquired by Apple It can run at far higher clock rates than other Cortex-A8 designs yet remains fully compatible with the design provided by ARM. The A4 runs at different speeds in different products: 1 GHz in the first iPads, 800 MHz in the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod Touch, and an undisclosed speed in the 2nd-generation Apple TV. The A4's SGX535 GPU could theoretically push 35 million polygons per second and 500 million pixels per second, although real-world performance may be considerably less. Other performance improvements include additional L2 cache. The A4 processor package does not contain RAM, but supports
PoP Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...
installation. The 1st-generation iPad, fourth-generation iPod Touch, and the 2nd-generation Apple TV have an A4 mounted with two low-power 128 MB DDR SDRAM chips (totaling 256 MB), while the iPhone 4 has two 256 MB packages for a total of 512 MB. The RAM is connected to the processor using ARM's
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
-wide AMBA 3 AXI bus. To give the iPad high graphics bandwidth, the width of the RAM data bus is double that used in previous ARM11- and ARM9-based Apple devices.


Apple A5

The Apple A5 is an SoC manufactured by
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
that replaced the A4. The chip commercially debuted with the release of Apple's iPad 2
tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
in March 2011, followed by its release in the
iPhone 4S The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iOS devices, fifth generation o ...
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
later that year. Compared to the A4, the A5
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
"can do twice the work" and the GPU has "up to nine times the graphics performance", according to Apple. The A5 contains a dual-core
ARM Cortex-A9 The ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore is a 32-bit multi-core processor that provides up to 4 cache-coherent cores, each implementing the ARM v7 architecture instruction set. It was introduced in 2007. Features Key features of the Cortex-A9 core are: * ...
CPU with ARM's advanced SIMD extension, marketed as
NEON Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
, and a dual core
PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
SGX543MP2 GPU. This GPU can push between 70 and 80 million polygons/second and has a pixel fill rate of 2 billion pixels/second. The iPad 2's technical specifications page says the A5 is clocked at 1 GHz, though it can adjust its frequency to save battery life. The clock speed of the unit used in the iPhone 4S is 800 MHz. Like the A4, the A5 process size is 45 nm. An updated
32 nm The 32 nm node is the step following the 45 nm process in CMOS (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication. "32-nanometre" refers to the average half-pitch (i.e., half the distance between identical features) of a memory cell (computing), memory cel ...
version of the A5 processor was used in the 3rd-generation Apple TV, the fifth-generation iPod Touch, the iPad Mini, and the new version of iPad 2 (version iPad2,4). The chip in the Apple TV has one core locked. Markings on the square package indicate that it is named ''APL2498'', and in software, the chip is called ''S5L8942''. The
32 nm The 32 nm node is the step following the 45 nm process in CMOS ( MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication. "32- nanometre" refers to the average half-pitch (i.e., half the distance between identical features) of a memory cell at this technology ...
variant of the A5 provides around 15% better battery life during web browsing, 30% better when playing 3D games and about 20% better battery life during video playback. In March 2013, Apple released an updated version of the 3rd-generation Apple TV (Rev A, model A1469) containing a smaller, single-core version of the A5 processor. Unlike the other A5 variants, this version of the A5 is not a PoP, having no stacked RAM. The chip is very small, just 6.1×6.2 mm, but as the decrease in size is not due to a decrease in feature size (it is still on a 32 nm fabrication process), this indicates that this A5 revision is of a new design. Markings tell that it is named ''APL7498'', and in software, the chip is called ''S5L8947''.


Apple A5X

The Apple A5X is an SoC announced on March 7, 2012, at the launch of the third-generation iPad. It is a high-performance variant of the Apple A5; Apple claims it has twice the graphics performance of the A5. It was superseded in the fourth-generation iPad by the Apple A6X processor. The A5X has a quad-core graphics unit (PowerVR SGX543MP4) instead of the previous dual-core as well as a quad-channel memory controller that provides a memory bandwidth of 12.8 GB/s, roughly three times more than in the A5. The added graphics cores and extra memory channels add up to a very large die size of 165 mm², for example twice the size of
Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
Tegra 3. This is mainly due to the large PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU. The clock frequency of the dual ARM Cortex-A9 cores have been shown to operate at the same 1 GHz frequency as in A5. The RAM in A5X is separate from the main CPU package.


Apple A6

The Apple A6 is a PoP SoC introduced on September 12, 2012, at the launch of the
iPhone 5 The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
, then a year later was inherited by its minor successor the
iPhone 5C The iPhone 5C (marketed as iPhone 5c) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the sixth generation of the iPhone. The device was unveiled on September 10, 2013, and released on September 20, 2013, alon ...
. Apple states that it is up to twice as fast and has up to twice the graphics power compared to its predecessor the Apple A5. It is 22% smaller and draws less power than the 45 nm A5. The A6 is said to use a 1.3 GHz custom Apple-designed ARMv7 based dual-core CPU, called Swift, rather than a licensed CPU from ARM like in previous designs, and an integrated 266 MHz triple-core
PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
SGX 543MP3
graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
(GPU). The Swift core in the A6 uses a new tweaked instruction set, ARMv7s, featuring some elements of the
ARM Cortex-A15 The ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture. It is a multicore processor with out-of-order superscalar pipeline running at up to 2.5 GHz. Overview ARM has claimed ...
such as support for the Advanced SIMD v2, and VFPv4. The A6 is manufactured by Samsung on a high-κ metal gate (HKMG) 32 nm process.


Apple A6X

Apple A6X is an SoC introduced at the launch of the fourth-generation iPad on October 23, 2012. It is a high-performance variant of the Apple A6. Apple claims the A6X has twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of its predecessor, the Apple A5X. Like the A6, this SoC continues to use the dual-core Swift CPU, but it has a new quad core GPU, quad channel memory and slightly higher 1.4 GHz CPU clock rate. It uses an integrated quad-core
PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
SGX 554MP4
graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
(GPU) running at 300 MHz and a quad-channel memory subsystem. Compared to the A6 the A6X is 30% larger, but it continues to be manufactured by Samsung on a high-κ metal gate (HKMG) 32 nm process.


Apple A7

The Apple A7 is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
PoP SoC whose first appearance was in the
iPhone 5S The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C. Th ...
, which was introduced on September 10, 2013. The chip would also be used in the iPad Air, iPad Mini 2 and iPad Mini 3. Apple states that it is up to twice as fast and has up to twice the graphics power compared to its predecessor the Apple A6. The Apple A7 chip is the first 64-bit chip to be used in a smartphone and later a tablet computer. The A7 features an Apple-designed 1.3–1.4 GHz 64-bit ARMv8-A dual-core CPU, called Cyclone, and an integrated PowerVR G6430 GPU in a four cluster configuration. The ARMv8-A architecture doubles the number of registers of the A7 compared to the A6. It now has 31 general-purpose registers that are each 64-bits wide and 32 floating-point/
NEON Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...
registers that are each 128-bits wide. The A7 is manufactured by Samsung on a high-κ metal gate (HKMG)
28 nm 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
process and the chip includes over 1 billion
transistors upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
on a die 102 mm2 in size.


Apple A8

The Apple A8 is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
PoP SoC manufactured by TSMC. Its first appearance was in the iPhone 6 and
iPhone 6 Plus The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the List of iOS devices, eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and were announced on September ...
, which were introduced on September 9, 2014. A year later it would drive the iPad Mini 4. Apple states that it has 25% more CPU performance and 50% more graphics performance while drawing only 50% of the power compared to its predecessor, the
Apple A7 The Apple A7 is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPhone 5S, which was announced on September 10, 2013, and the iPad Air and iPad Mini 2, which were both announced on October 22, 2013. Apple states ...
. On February 9, 2018, Apple released the HomePod, which is powered by an Apple A8 with 1 GB of RAM. The A8 features an Apple-designed 1.4 GHz 64-bit ARMv8-A dual-core CPU, and an integrated custom PowerVR GX6450 GPU in a four cluster configuration. The GPU features custom shader cores and compiler. The A8 is manufactured on a 20 nm process by
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
, which replaced
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
as the manufacturer of Apple's mobile device processors. It contains 2 billion transistors. Despite that being double the number of transistors compared to the A7, its physical size has been reduced by 13% to 89 mm2 (consistent with a shrink only, not known to be a new microarchitecture).


Apple A8X

The Apple A8X is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
SoC introduced at the launch of the iPad Air 2 on October 16, 2014. It is a high performance variant of the Apple A8. Apple states that it has 40% more CPU performance and 2.5 times the graphics performance of its predecessor, the
Apple A7 The Apple A7 is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPhone 5S, which was announced on September 10, 2013, and the iPad Air and iPad Mini 2, which were both announced on October 22, 2013. Apple states ...
. Unlike the A8, this SoC uses a
triple-core A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
, a new
octa-core A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...
GPU, dual channel memory and slightly higher 1.5 GHz CPU clock rate. It uses an integrated custom octa-core
PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
GXA6850
graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
(GPU) running at 450 MHz and a dual-channel memory subsystem. It is manufactured by
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
on their 20 nm fabrication process, and consists of 3 billion
transistors upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...
.


Apple A9

The Apple A9 is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which were introduced on September 9, 2015. Apple states that it has 70% more CPU performance and 90% more graphics performance compared to its predecessor, the Apple A8. It is dual sourced, a first for an Apple SoC; it is manufactured by Samsung on their 14 nm FinFET LPE process and by TSMC on their 16 nm FinFET process. It was subsequently included in the first-generation iPhone SE, and the iPad (5th generation). The Apple A9 was the last CPU that Apple manufactured through a contract with Samsung, as all A-series chips after are manufactured by TSMC.


Apple A9X

The Apple A9X is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
SoC that was announced on September 9, 2015, and released on November 11, 2015, and first appeared in the iPad Pro. It offers 80% more CPU performance and two times the GPU performance of its predecessor, the Apple A8X. It is manufactured by
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
using a
16 nm Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * Sixteen (1943 film), ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 194 ...
FinFET A fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) is a multigate device, a MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) built on a substrate where the gate is placed on two, three, or four sides of the channel or wrapped around the channel, f ...
process.


Apple A10 Fusion

The Apple A10 Fusion is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which were introduced on September 7, 2016. The A10 is also featured in the sixth-generation iPad, seventh-generation iPad and seventh-generation iPod Touch. It has a new
ARM big.LITTLE ARM big.LITTLE is a heterogeneous computing architecture developed by ARM Holdings, coupling relatively battery-saving and slower processor cores (''LITTLE'') with relatively more powerful and power-hungry ones (''big''). Typically, only one "s ...
quad core design with two high performance cores, and two smaller highly efficient cores. It is 40% faster than the A9, with 50% faster graphics. It is manufactured by TSMC on their 16 nm FinFET process.


Apple A10X Fusion

The Apple A10X Fusion is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the 10.5" iPad Pro and the second generation of the 12.9" iPad Pro, which were both announced on June 5, 2017. It is a variant of the A10 and Apple claims that it has 30 percent faster CPU performance and 40 percent faster GPU performance than its predecessor, the A9X. On September 12, 2017, Apple announced that the
Apple TV 4K An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
would be powered by an A10X chip. It is made by TSMC on their 10 nm FinFET process.


Apple A11 Bionic

The Apple A11 Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, which were introduced on September 12, 2017. It has two high-performance cores, which are 25% faster than the A10 Fusion, four high-efficiency cores, which are 70% faster than the energy-efficient cores in the A10, and for the first time an Apple-designed three-core GPU with 30% faster graphics performance than the A10. It is also the first A-series chip to feature Apple's "Neural Engine," which enhances artificial intelligence and machine learning processes.


Apple A12 Bionic

The Apple A12 Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, which were introduced on September 12, 2018. It is also used in the third-generation iPad Air, fifth-generation iPad Mini, and the eighth-generation iPad. It has two high-performance cores, which are 15% faster than the A11 Bionic, and four high-efficiency cores, which have 50% lower power usage than the energy-efficient cores in the A11 Bionic. The A12 is manufactured by
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
using a
7 nm In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 7  nm process as the MOSFET technology node following the 10 nm node. It is based on FinFET (fin field-effect transistor) technology, a ...
FinFET A fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) is a multigate device, a MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) built on a substrate where the gate is placed on two, three, or four sides of the channel or wrapped around the channel, f ...
process, the first to ship in a smartphone. It is also used in the 6th generation
Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
.


Apple A12X Bionic

The Apple A12X Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the 11.0" iPad Pro and the third generation of the 12.9" iPad Pro, which were both announced on October 30, 2018. It offers 35% faster single-core and 90% faster multi-core CPU performance than its predecessor, the A10X. It has four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. The A12X is manufactured by
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
using a
7 nm In semiconductor manufacturing, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors defines the 7  nm process as the MOSFET technology node following the 10 nm node. It is based on FinFET (fin field-effect transistor) technology, a ...
FinFET A fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) is a multigate device, a MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor) built on a substrate where the gate is placed on two, three, or four sides of the channel or wrapped around the channel, f ...
process.


Apple A12Z Bionic

The Apple A12Z Bionic is an updated version of the A12X Bionic, first appearing in the fourth generation iPad Pro, which was announced on March 18, 2020. It adds an additional GPU core, compared to the A12X, for improved graphics performance. The A12Z is also used in the
Developer Transition Kit The Developer Transition Kit is the name of two prototype Mac computers made available to software developers by Apple Inc. The first Developer Transition Kit was made available in 2005 prior to the Mac transition to Intel processors to aid in t ...
prototype computer that helps developers prepare their software for Macs based on Apple silicon.


Apple A13 Bionic

The Apple A13 Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, which were introduced on September 10, 2019. It is also featured in the second-generation iPhone SE (released April 15, 2020), the 9th generation iPad (announced September 14, 2021) and in the Studio Display (announced March 8, 2022) The entire A13 SoC features a total of 18 cores – a six-core CPU, four-core GPU, and an eight-core Neural Engine processor, which is dedicated to handling on-board machine learning processes; four of the six cores on the CPU are low-powered cores that are dedicated to handling less CPU-intensive operations, such as voice calls, browsing the Web, and sending messages, while two higher-performance cores are used only for more CPU-intensive processes, such as recording 4K video or playing a video game.


Apple A14 Bionic

The Apple A14 Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the fourth-generation iPad Air and iPhone 12, released on October 23, 2020. It is the first commercially available 5 nm chipset and it contains 11.8 billion transistors and a 16-core AI processor. It includes Samsung LPDDR4X
DRAM Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...
, a 6-core CPU, and 4-Core GPU with real time machine learning capabilities. It was later used in the tenth-generation iPad, released on October 26, 2022.


Apple A15 Bionic

The Apple A15 Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the iPhone 13, unveiled on September 14, 2021. The A15 is built on a 5-nanometer manufacturing process with 15 billion transistors. It has 2 high-performance processing cores, 4 high-efficiency cores, a new 5-core graphics for iPhone 13 Pro series (4-core for iPhone 13 and 13 mini) processing unit, and a new 16-core Neural Engine capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second. It is also used in the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus and iPad Mini 6.


Apple A16 Bionic

The Apple A16 Bionic is a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit Integer (computer science), integers, memory addresses, or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing unit, CPUs and arithmetic logic unit, ALUs are those ...
ARM-based SoC that first appeared in the
iPhone 14 Pro The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the sixteenth-generation flagship iPhones, succeeding the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. The devices were unveiled alongs ...
, unveiled on September 7, 2022. The A16 has 16 billion transistors and is built on
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
's N4 fabrication process, being touted by Apple as the first 4 nm processor in a smartphone. However, N4 is an enhanced version of N5 technology, a
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
third-generation 5 nm manufacturing process. The chip has 2 high-performance processing cores, 4 high-efficiency cores and 5-core graphics for iPhone 14 Pro series. Memory is upgraded to LPDDR5 for 50% higher bandwidth and a 7% faster 16-core Neural Engine capable of 17 trillion operations per second.


List of processors


H series

The Apple "H" series is a family of
SoCs SOCS (suppressor of cytokine signaling proteins) refers to a family of genes involved in inhibiting the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Genes * CISH * SOCS1 * SOCS2 * SOCS3 * SOCS4 * SOCS5 * SOCS6 * SOCS7 Suppressor of cytokine signaling 7 is a pro ...
with low-power audio processing and wireless connectivity for use in headphones.


Apple H1

The Apple H1 chip was first used in the 2019 version of AirPods, and was later used in the Powerbeats Pro, the Beats Solo Pro, Beat Fit Pro, the
AirPods Pro AirPods Pro are wireless Bluetooth in-ear headphones designed by Apple, initially released on October 30, 2019. They are Apple's mid-range wireless headphones, sold alongside the base-level AirPods and highest-end AirPods Max. The first-genera ...
, the 2020 Powerbeats,
AirPods Max AirPods Max are wireless Bluetooth over-ear headphones designed by Apple, and released on December 15, 2020. They are Apple’s highest-end option in the AirPods lineup, sold alongside the base model AirPods and mid-range AirPods Pro. The mai ...
, and the AirPods (3rd generation). Specifically designed for headphones, it has Bluetooth 5.0, supports hands-free "Hey Siri" commands, and offers 30 percent lower latency than the W1 chip used in earlier AirPods.


Apple H2

The Apple H2 chip was first used in the 2022 version of AirPods Pro. It has Bluetooth 5.3, and implements 48 kHz
noise reduction Noise reduction is the process of removing noise from a signal. Noise reduction techniques exist for audio and images. Noise reduction algorithms may distort the signal to some degree. Noise rejection is the ability of a circuit to isolate an und ...
in hardware.


List of processors


M series

The Apple "M" series is a family of systems on a chip (SoC) used in
Mac computers The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
from November 2020 or later, iPad Pro tablets from April 2021 or later, and iPad Air tablets from March 2022 or later. The "M" designation was previously used for
Apple motion coprocessors The Apple M-series coprocessors are motion coprocessors used by Apple Inc. in their mobile devices. First released in 2013, their function is to collect sensor data from integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses and offload the collecti ...
.


Apple M1


Apple M1

The M1, Apple's first system on a chip designed for use in Macs, is manufactured using
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
's 5 nm process. Announced on November 10, 2020, it is used in the MacBook Air (M1, 2020), Mac mini (M1, 2020), MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020), iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021), iPad Pro (5th generation) and
iPad Air (5th generation) The iPad Air (5th generation), colloquially known as the iPad Air 5, is a tablet computer designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced by Apple on March 8, 2022. Pre-orders began on March 11, 2022, and shipping began on Marc ...
. It comes with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, for a total of 8 CPU cores. It comes with up to 8 GPU cores, with the entry level MacBook Air having only 7 GPU cores. The M1 has 16 billion transistors.


Apple M1 Pro

The M1 Pro is a more powerful version of the M1, with six to eight performance cores, two efficiency cores, 14 to 16 GPU cores, 16 Neural Engine cores, up to 32 GB unified RAM with up to 200 GB/s memory bandwidth, and more than double the transistors. It was announced on October 18, 2021, and is used in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Apple said the CPU performance is about 70% faster than the M1, and that its GPU performance is about double. Apple claims the M1 Pro can deliver up to 20 streams of 4K or 7 streams of 8K ProRes video playback (up from 6 offered by Afterburner card for 2019 Mac Pro).


Apple M1 Max

The M1 Max is a larger version of the M1 Pro chip, with eight performance cores, two efficiency cores, 24 to 32 GPU cores, 16 Neural Engine cores, up to 64 GB unified RAM with up to 400 GB/s memory bandwidth, and more than double the number of transistors. It was announced on October 18, 2021, and is used in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, as well as the Mac Studio. Apple says it has 57 billion transistors. Apple claims the M1 Max can deliver up to 30 streams of 4K (up from 23 offered by Afterburner card for 2019 Mac Pro) or 7 streams of 8K ProRes video playback.


Apple M1 Ultra

The M1 Ultra consists of two M1 Max dies connected together by a silicon interposer through Apple's UltraFusion technology. It has 114 billion transistors, 16 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores, 48 to 64 GPU cores and 32 Neural Engine cores; it can be configured with up to 128 GB unified RAM of 800 GB/s memory bandwidth. It was announced on March 8, 2022, as an optional upgrade for the Mac Studio. Apple claims the M1 Ultra can deliver up to 18 streams of 8K ProRes video playback.


Apple M2

Apple announced the M2 SoC on June 6, 2022, at WWDC, along with the new MacBook Air and the new 13-inch MacBook Pro and later the
iPad Pro (6th generation) The sixth-generation iPad Pro, colloquially known as the M2 iPad Pro, is a line of iPad tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on October 18, 2022 and was released on October 26, 2022. It is available with the ...
. It is the successor to the Apple M1. The M2 is made with TSMC's "Enhanced 5-nanometer technology" N5P process and contains 20 billion transistors, a 25% increase from the previous generation M1. The M2 can be configured with up to 24 gigabytes of RAM and 2 terabytes of storage. It has 8 CPU cores (4 performance and 4 efficiency) and up to 10 GPU cores. The M2 also increases the memory bandwidth to . Apple claims CPU improvements up to 18% and GPU improvements up to 35% compared to the previous M1.


List of processors


S series

The Apple "S" series is a family of systems in a package (SiP) used in the Apple Watch. It uses a customized
application processor Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...
that together with
memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
,
storage Storage may refer to: Goods Containers * Dry cask storage, for storing high-level radioactive waste * Food storage * Intermodal container, cargo shipping * Storage tank Facilities * Garage (residential), a storage space normally used to store car ...
and support processors for wireless connectivity, sensors, and I/O form a complete computer in a single package. They are designed by Apple and manufactured by contract manufacturers such as
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
.


Apple S1

The Apple S1 is an integrated computer. It includes memory, storage and support circuits like wireless modems and I/O controllers in a sealed integrated package. It was announced on September 9, 2014, as part of the "Wish we could say more" event. It was used in the first-generation Apple Watch.


Apple S1P

Used in
Apple Watch Series 1 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates activity tracker, fitness tracking, Health (Apple), health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and s ...
. It has a dual-core processor identical to the S2, with the exception of the built-in GPS receiver. It contains the same dual-core CPU with the same new GPU capabilities as the S2, making it about 50% faster than the S1.


Apple S2

Used in the
Apple Watch Series 2 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates activity tracker, fitness tracking, Health (Apple), health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and s ...
. It has a dual-core processor and a built-in GPS receiver. The S2's two cores deliver 50% higher performance and the GPU delivers twice as much as the predecessor, and is similar in performance to the Apple S1P.


Apple S3

Used in the
Apple Watch Series 3 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
. It has a dual-core processor that is 70% faster than the Apple S2 and a built-in GPS receiver. There is also an option for a cellular modem and an internal eSIM module. It also includes the W2 chip. The S3 also contains a barometric altimeter, the W2 wireless connectivity processor, and in some models
UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...
(3G) and
LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a telephone and mobile broadband standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement *** LTE Advanced Pro * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers produced by Compaq * ...
(4G) cellular modems served by a built-in eSIM.


Apple S4

Used in the
Apple Watch Series 4 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
. It has a custom 64-bit dual-core processor based on the A12 with up to 2× faster performance. It also contains the W3 wireless chip, which supports Bluetooth 5. The S4 introduced 64-bit ARMv8 cores to the Apple Watch. The chip contains two Tempest cores, which are the energy-efficient cores found in the A12. Despite the small size, Tempest still uses a 3-wide decode out-of-order
superscalar A superscalar processor is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a sup ...
design, which make them much more powerful than previous in-order cores. The S4 contains a Neural Engine that is able to run
Core ML iOS 11 is the iOS version history, eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers C ...
. Third-party apps can use it starting from watchOS 6. The SiP also includes new accelerometer and gyroscope functionality that has twice the dynamic range in measurable values of its predecessor, as well as being able to sample data at 8 times the speed. It also contains a new custom GPU, which can use the
Metal API Metal is a low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated 3D graphic and compute shader API created by Apple. It debuted in iOS 8. Metal combines functions similar to OpenGL and OpenCL in one API. It is intended to improve performance by offering ...
.


Apple S5

Used in the Apple Watch Series 5, Watch SE, and HomePod mini. It adds a built-in
magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, o ...
to the custom 64-bit dual-core processor and GPU of the S4.


Apple S6

Used in the
Apple Watch Series 6 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
. It has a custom 64-bit dual-core processor that runs up to 20 percent faster than the S5. The dual cores in the S6 are based on the A13's energy-efficient "
little Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
" Thunder cores at 1.8 GHz. Like the S4 and S5, it also contains the W3 wireless chip. The S6 adds the new U1 ultra wideband chip, an always-on altimeter, and 5 GHz WiFi.


Apple S7

Used in the Apple Watch Series 7. The S7 has the same T8301 identifier and quoted performance as the S6.


Apple S8

Used in the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), Watch Series 8, and Watch Ultra. The S8 adds a new three-axis gyroscope and high g-force accelerometer. It has the same T8301 identifier and quoted performance as the S6 and S7.


List of processors


T series

The T series chip operates as a secure enclave on Intel-based MacBook and iMac computers released from 2016 onwards. The chip processes and encrypts biometric information (
Touch ID Touch ID is an electronic fingerprint recognition feature designed and released by Apple Inc. that allows users to unlock devices, make purchases in the various Apple digital media stores (iTunes Store, App Store, and Apple Books Store), and aut ...
) and acts as a gatekeeper to the microphone and FaceTime HD camera, protecting them from hacking. The chip runs
bridgeOS bridgeOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. for use exclusively with its hardware. bridgeOS runs on the T series Apple silicon processors and operates the OLED touchscreen strip called the " Touch Bar" as well as ...
, a purported variant of watchOS. The functions of the T series processor were built into the M series CPUs, thus ending the need for the T series.


Apple T1

The Apple T1 chip is an ARMv7 SoC (derived from the processor in the Apple Watch's S2) that drives the System Management Controller (SMC) and
Touch ID Touch ID is an electronic fingerprint recognition feature designed and released by Apple Inc. that allows users to unlock devices, make purchases in the various Apple digital media stores (iTunes Store, App Store, and Apple Books Store), and aut ...
sensor of the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.


Apple T2

The Apple T2 security chip is a SoC first released in the
iMac Pro The iMac Pro is a discontinued all-in-one personal computer and workstation designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc. It was released on December 14, 2017. While it was sold, it was one of four desktop computers in the Macintosh lineup, si ...
. It is a 64-bit ARMv8 chip (a variant of the A10 Fusion, or T8010), and runs
bridgeOS bridgeOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. for use exclusively with its hardware. bridgeOS runs on the T series Apple silicon processors and operates the OLED touchscreen strip called the " Touch Bar" as well as ...
. It provides a secure enclave for encrypted keys, enables users to lock down the computer's boot process, handles system functions like the camera and audio control, and handles on-the-fly encryption and decryption for the
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...
. T2 also delivers "enhanced imaging processing" for the iMac Pro's
FaceTime FaceTime is a Proprietary software, proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS devic ...
HD camera.


List of processors


U series

The Apple "U" series is a family of systems in a package (SiP) implementing ultra-wideband (UWB) radio.


Apple U1

The Apple U1 is used in the iPhone 11 series and later (excluding the
second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
and
third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...
generation iPhone SE), Apple Watch Series 6 and newer, HomePod Mini,
AirTag AirTag is a tracking device developed by Apple. AirTag is designed to act as a key finder, which helps people find personal objects (e.g. keys, bags, apparel, small electronic devices, vehicles). To locate lost items, AirTags use Apple's crowds ...
trackers and the charging case for
AirPods Pro AirPods Pro are wireless Bluetooth in-ear headphones designed by Apple, initially released on October 30, 2019. They are Apple's mid-range wireless headphones, sold alongside the base-level AirPods and highest-end AirPods Max. The first-genera ...
(2nd generation).


List of processors


W series

The Apple "W" series is a family of RF
SoCs SOCS (suppressor of cytokine signaling proteins) refers to a family of genes involved in inhibiting the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Genes * CISH * SOCS1 * SOCS2 * SOCS3 * SOCS4 * SOCS5 * SOCS6 * SOCS7 Suppressor of cytokine signaling 7 is a pro ...
used for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.


Apple W1

The Apple W1 is a SoC used in the 2016
AirPods AirPods are wireless Bluetooth earbuds designed by Apple Inc. They were first announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. Within two years, they became Apple's most popular accessory. The most recent model, AirPods (3rd generation ...
and select Beats headphones. It maintains a
Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
Class 1 connection with a computer device and decodes the audio stream that is sent to it.


Apple W2

The Apple W2, used in the
Apple Watch Series 3 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
, is integrated into the
Apple S3 Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, a ...
SiP. Apple said the chip makes Wi-Fi 85% faster and allows Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to use half the power of the W1 implementation.


Apple W3

The Apple W3 is used in the
Apple Watch Series 4 Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
, Series 5, Series 6, SE (1st generation),
Series 7 Series 7 may refer to: *The seventh season of any of many shows or series; see and *Series 7 exam, officially the General Securities Representative Exam, the most comprehensive financial securities exam offered by the FINRA *'' Series 7: The Conte ...
,
Series 8 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...
, SE (2nd generation), and
Ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...
. It is integrated into the
Apple S4 Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, a ...
, S5, S6, S7 and S8 SiPs. It supports Bluetooth 5.0/5.3.


List of processors


M-series coprocessors

The Apple M-series coprocessors are motion coprocessors used by Apple Inc. in their mobile devices. First released in 2013, their function is to collect sensor data from integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses and offload the collecting and processing of sensor data from the main central processing unit (CPU).


List of coprocessors


Miscellaneous devices

This segment is about Apple-designed processors that are not easily sorted into another section.


Early series

Apple first used SoCs in early versions of the iPhone and
iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...
. They combine in one package a single ARM-based processing core (
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
), a graphics processing unit ( GPU), and other electronics necessary for mobile computing. The APL0098 (also 8900B or S5L8900) is a
package on package Package on a package (PoP) is an integrated circuit packaging method to vertically combine discrete logic and memory ball grid array (BGA) packages. Two or more packages are installed atop each other, i.e. stacked, with a standard interface to rout ...
(PoP) system on a chip (SoC) that was introduced on June 29, 2007, at the launch of the
original iPhone The iPhone (retrospectively referred to unofficially as the iPhone 2G, iPhone 1 or original iPhone) is the first iPhone model and the first smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. After years of rumors and speculation, it was official ...
. It includes a 412 MHz single-core ARM11 CPU and a PowerVR MBX Lite GPU. It was manufactured by Samsung on a 90 nm
process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...
. The
iPhone 3G The iPhone 3G (also known as iPhone 2) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc.; it is the second generation of iPhone, successor to the original iPhone, and was introduced on June 9, 2008, at the WWDC 2008 at the Moscon ...
and the first-generation iPod Touch also use it. The APL0278 (also S5L8720) is a PoP SoC introduced on September 9, 2008, at the launch of the second-generation iPod Touch. It includes a 533 MHz single-core ARM11 CPU and a
PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
MBX Lite GPU. It was manufactured by Samsung on a
65 nm The 65  nm process is an advanced lithographic node used in volume CMOS ( MOSFET) semiconductor fabrication. Printed linewidths (i.e. transistor gate lengths) can reach as low as 25 nm on a nominally 65 nm process, while the pitc ...
process. The APL0298 (also S5L8920) is a PoP SoC introduced on June 8, 2009, at the launch of the
iPhone 3GS The iPhone 3GS (originally styled iPhone 3G S) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the third generation iPhone and the successor to the iPhone 3G. It was unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the WWDC 2009 which took pla ...
. It includes a 600 MHz single-core
Cortex-A8 The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture. Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar design, achieving roughly twice the instructions per cycle. The Cort ...
CPU and a PowerVR SGX535 GPU. It was manufactured by Samsung on a 65 nm process. The APL2298 (also S5L8922) is a
45 nm Per the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the 45 nm process is a MOSFET technology node referring to the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2007–2008 time frame. Matsushita and Intel started mass ...
die shrunk version of the iPhone 3GS SoC and was introduced on September 9, 2009, at the launch of the third-generation iPod Touch.


Other

The Samsung S5L8747 is an ARM-based
microcontroller A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...
used in Apple's ''Lightning Digital AV Adapter'', a
Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
-to-
HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, ...
adapter. This is a miniature computer with 256 MB RAM, running an
XNU XNU is the computer operating system (OS) kernel developed at Apple Inc. since December 1996 for use in the Mac OS X (now macOS) operating system and released as free and open-source software as part of the Darwin OS, which in addition to macOS ...
kernel loaded from the connected
iOS device Apple Inc. has developed four Unix-like operating systems, namely iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Devices using these systems include the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, which are mobile devices; the Apple TV, which is a digital media player; an ...
, then taking a serial signal from the iOS device translating that into a proper HDMI signal.


See also

*
Apple motion coprocessors The Apple M-series coprocessors are motion coprocessors used by Apple Inc. in their mobile devices. First released in 2013, their function is to collect sensor data from integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses and offload the collecti ...
* ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore *
List of iOS and iPadOS devices Apple Inc. has developed four Unix-like operating systems, namely iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Devices using these systems include the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, which are mobile devices; the Apple TV, which is a digital media player; an ...
*
List of Mac models grouped by CPU type This list of Mac models grouped by CPU type contains all central processing units (CPUs) used by Apple Inc. for their Mac computers. It is grouped by processor family, processor model, and then chronologically by Mac models. Motorola 68k Motoro ...
* List of Samsung platforms (SoCs): ** Exynos (none have been used by Apple) **
historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
(some were used in Apple products) *
PowerVR SGX PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...
GPUs were also used in the
iPhone 3GS The iPhone 3GS (originally styled iPhone 3G S) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the third generation iPhone and the successor to the iPhone 3G. It was unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the WWDC 2009 which took pla ...
and the third-generation iPod Touch *
PWRficient PWRficient is a microprocessor series by P.A. Semi where the PA6T-1682M was the only one that became an actual product. PWRficient processors comply with the 64-bit Power ISA, and are designed for high performance and extreme power efficiency. T ...
, a processor designed by P.A. Semi, a company Apple acquired to form an in-house custom chip design department


Similar platforms

* A31 by AllWinner *
Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...
by
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
* BCM2xxxx by Broadcom * eMAG and Altra by
Ampere Computing Ampere Computing LLC is an American fabless semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California that develops cloud native server microprocessors (CNPs). Ampere also has offices in: Portland, Oregon; Taipei, Taiwan; Raleigh, North Carolina; B ...
* Exynos by
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
*
i.MX The i.MX range is a family of Freescale Semiconductor (now part of NXP) proprietary microcontrollers for multimedia applications based on the ARM architecture and focused on low-power consumption. The i.MX application processors are SoCs (System ...
by
Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embed ...
*
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
and
Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...
by
AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...
* Kirin by HiSilicon * MTxxxx by MediaTek * NovaThor by ST-Ericsson *
OMAP The OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) family, developed by Texas Instruments, was a series of image/video processors. They are proprietary system on chips (SoCs) for portable and mobile multimedia applications. OMAP devices generally i ...
by
Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globall ...
* RK3xxx by Rockchip * Snapdragon by
Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...
*
Tegra Tegra is a system on a chip (SoC) series developed by Nvidia for mobile devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, and mobile Internet devices. The Tegra integrates an ARM architecture central processing unit (CPU), graphics proc ...
by
Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* {{ARM-based chips ARM architecture Computer-related introductions in 2011 System on a chip 32-bit microprocessors 64-bit microprocessors