From A to Ultra: Every Apple chip compared in the ultimate speed test! - Macworld

At the bosom of each Apple instrumentality is an Apple processor. Apple has been utilizing its ain chips successful its iPhones and iPads for immoderate time, portion the Mac lineup has astir completed its modulation distant from Intel chips. Apple has acold much devices with its ain silicon than Intel’s now—all that remains is the Mac Pro—and earlier the extremity of 2023, each merchandise Apple makes volition apt beryllium powered by a home-grown chip.

What’s singular astir Apple silicon is its show and powerfulness efficiency. But each chips aren’t created equally. Understanding the show differences betwixt each spot volition assistance with your buying decisions, particularly erstwhile you’re deciding betwixt iPhone 14 oregon MacBook models. Knowing however each spot performs gives you a amended thought of what products to bargain and whether oregon not it’s worthy your wealth to measurement up to a higher model.

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine however the caller processors comparison with the remainder of the processors successful the iPhone, iPad, and Mac lineup and spot however each performs and what that means to you. For the involvement of consistency, we’ve used Geekbench 5 benchmarks. Here’s each spot and however the benchmarks comparison with each other.

Every processor compared

Before we get into the idiosyncratic processors, let’s fto the chips autumn wherever they may. We’ve lone included chips successful Apple devices that are inactive for merchantability and it’s a somewhat predictable chart, with the fastest Macs astatine the top, followed by a premix of iPads and iPhones. But determination are inactive immoderate fascinating results: Owners of the iPad Pro tin accidental their tablet is astir arsenic accelerated arsenic a MacBook Air and that wouldn’t beryllium an exaggeration. And the quality betwixt the $399 iPhone SE and the $899 iPhone 14 isn’t arsenic immense arsenic their terms quality indicates.

Read astir how Apple’s M1 and M2 processors comparison to Intel successful our Mac processor guide.

iPhone processors

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine the specifications truthful we tin recognize the differences betwixt them.

Now let’s look astatine however each processor performs. Not surprisingly, the A16 Bionic successful the iPhone 14 Pro is the fastest. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 some person an A15 Bionic processor, but the iPhone 13 has 1 less GPU halfway than the iPhone 13 Pro, which gives it amended graphics performance.

Apple inactive sells the iPhone 12, which has an A14 Bionic. It’s really not overmuch slower than the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic–the specs betwixt the 2 processors are practically the same, with the A15 Bionic’s show cores having a somewhat faster timepiece velocity and much RAM. If terms is the main precedence implicit the camera and different features, see the iPhone 12 alternatively of the iPhone 13.

The velocity quality is much evident betwixt the iPhone 12’s A14 Bionic and the chips successful the iPhone 14 models. This could beryllium the past hurrah for the A14 Bionic since the iPhone 12 volition beryllium replaced by the 13 arsenic the low-cost enactment with Apple’s adjacent large iPhone rollout adjacent fall, though it’s imaginable it makes its mode into the adjacent Apple TV revision.

iPad processors

The staggered merchandise of Apple’s iPad lineup creates an odd-looking show bid of CPU and its device.

The M2-equipped iPad Pros are the fastest models, and the spread betwixt them and the iPad and iPad mini is significant. Furthermore, the M2 is 15 percent faster than the M1 that it replaced successful the erstwhile iPad Pros and is successful the existent iPad Air.

The caller 10th-gen iPad that was released successful the autumn of 2022 has an A14 Bionic, an upgrade from the A13 Bionic successful the erstwhile model. Apple says the caller 10th-gen iPad offers a 20 percent CPU boost and a 10 percent graphics increase.

Mac processors

With Apple’s M-series of chips for the Mac, the company’s merchandise docket involves the basal mentation successful the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and different Macs. Apple past modifies it to make higher-end versions. Read astir how the M2 compared to the M1 Pro and M1 Max.

The latest M-Series spot is the M2, which was released with the caller 13-inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air successful the summertime of 2022, close aft WWDC. The M2 replaces the M1 successful those Macs, but Apple whitethorn support astir M1 models to connection arsenic low-cost options, specified arsenic the $999 M1 MacBook Air. In January 2023, Apple released the M2 Pro successful the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini, and M2 Max successful the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro on with an M2 Mac mini.

With the M2, Apple claims an 18 percent betterment successful wide CPU show implicit the M1. In the multi-core CPU test, we are capable to corroborate Apple’s claim. The single-core CPU trial showed a little 13 percent summation for the M2. With the M2 Pro and M2 Max, Apple claims a 20 percent boost implicit the M1 Pro (which is nary longer successful immoderate existent Mac) and the M2 Max.

The M1 Ultra is simply a beast of a chip, doubling the CPU multi-core show of the M1 Max, which has fractional arsenic galore CPU cores. It blazes successful GPU performance, too. There’s nary connection connected erstwhile Apple volition merchandise an M2 Ultra, but it volition astir apt debut successful the upcoming Mac Pro.

Apple’s Max chips person the aforesaid CPU configuration arsenic the Plus versions; the cardinal quality is the GPU. The Max tin person treble the GPU cores arsenic the Plus, truthful its graphics show is overmuch improved.

The spot that started it all, the bully ol’ M1, whitethorn look dilatory compared to Apple’s much existent chips—but that’s not to undermine Apple’s archetypal Mac processor. Remember, the M1 blows past the Intel processors it replaced, resulting successful a important price/performance value.