A system-on-chip (SoC) family from Apple that provides most of the processing in iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices until 2021, when Apple began switching to its M1 chip (see
Apple M1). 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 two earlier than the mobile product. Following are all the SoCs Apple has used since 2007, including models prior to the A series. The "X" suffix denotes a higher-performance version of the chip. See
Bionic chip,
process technology,
SoC and
ARM.
Apple S, W and T series
The S chips are dual-core processors in Apple Watch. The W series refers to wireless chips in AirPods and Apple Watch, and the T series deals with Touch ID and security in MacBooks and iMacs.
Apple A Series
Process
Year Max Technology ARM CPU
(20xx) Model Clock (nm) Bits #Cores
07 APL0098 412 MHz 90 16 ARM11 1
08 APL0278 533 MHz 36 32 ARM11 1
09 APL0298 600 MHz 65 32 CortexA8 1
09 APL2298 800 MHz 45 32 CortexA8 1
10 A4 1.0 GHz 45 32 CortexA8 1
11 A5 1.0 GHz 32 32 CortexA9 2
12 A5X 1.0 GHz 45 32 CortexA9 2
12 A6 1.3 GHz 32 32 Swift 2
12 A6X 1.4 GHz 32 32 Swift 2
13 A7 1.3 GHz 28 64 Cyclone 2
14 A8 1.5 GHz 20 64 Typhoon 2
14 A8X 1.5 GHz 20 64 Typhoon 3
15 A9 1.8 GHz 14 64 Twister 2
15 A9X 2.3 GHz 16 64 Twister 2
16 A10 2.4 GHz 10 64 Fusion 4
17 A11 2.4 GHz 10 64 Bionic 6
18 A12 2.4 GHz 7 64 Bionic 6
19 A13 2.4 GHz 7 64 Bionic 6
20 A14 2.4 GHz 5 64 Bionic 6