An ARM-based system-on-chip (SoC) family from Apple that was introduced in 2007. Designed by Apple and made by TSMC, the Apple A series provided the processing in iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch until 2021, when Apple began using its M chips in the iPad (see
Apple M series). The iPod touch is discontinued, but the iPhone continues to use the A series chips. See
TSMC.
Using the RISC-based ARM CPU architecture, the Apple A series chips provide the equivalent processing power of desktop computers launched only a year or so earlier than the mobile product. Following are all the A series SoCs Apple has used, including models prior to A. The "X" suffix denotes a higher-performance version of the chip. See
Bionic chip,
process technology,
SoC and
ARM.
Other Apple Chips: S, W and T
The S chips are dual-core processors in Apple Watch. The W series refers to wireless chips in AirPods and the Apple Watch. The T series deals with Touch ID and security in Macs (see
Apple T series).
Apple A Series
Process
Year Max Tech ARM
(20xx) Model Clock nm bits CPU Cores
24 A18 2.4 GHz 3 64 Pro 6
23 A17 2.4 GHz 3 64 Pro 6
22 A16 2.4 GHz 4 64 Bionic 6
21 A15 2.4 GHz 5 64 Bionic 6
20 A14 2.4 GHz 5 64 Bionic 6
19 A13 2.4 GHz 7 64 Bionic 6
18 A12 2.4 GHz 7 64 Bionic 6
17 A11 2.4 GHz 10 64 Bionic 6
16 A10 2.4 GHz 10 64 Fusion 4
15 A9 1.8 GHz 14 64 Twister 2
15 A9X 2.3 GHz 16 64 Twister 2
14 A8 1.5 GHz 20 64 Typhoon 2
14 A8X 1.5 GHz 20 64 Typhoon 3
13 A7 1.3 GHz 28 64 Cyclone 2
12 A6 1.3 GHz 32 32 Swift 2
12 A6X 1.4 GHz 32 32 Swift 2
11 A5 1.0 GHz 32 32 CortexA9 2
12 A5X 1.0 GHz 45 32 CortexA9 2
10 A4 1.0 GHz 45 32 CortexA8 1
09 APL0298 600 MHz 65 32 CortexA8 1
09 APL2298 800 MHz 45 32 CortexA8 1
08 APL0278 533 MHz 36 32 ARM11 1
07 APL0098 412 MHz 90 16 ARM11 1
See process technology.