Apple A11 Bionic vs Apple M1. Specifications, performance, tests

Comprehensive background on the processors being compared, detailing their series, generation, and targeted market segment.

• Segment
  Mobile Mobile
• Family
  Apple A series Apple M series
• Generation
  11 1
• CPU group
  Apple A11 Apple M1
• Predecessor
  Apple A10 Fusion --
• Successor
  Apple A12 Bionic --

Essential parameters including the number of cores, threads, base and turbo frequencies, and cache size. These metrics provide insight into the processor’s speed—higher values generally indicate better performance.

• Frequency
  1.42 GHz 3.20 GHz
• CPU Cores
  6 8
• Turbo (1 Core)
  2.39 GHz No turbo
• CPU Threads
  6 8
• Hyperthreading
  No No
• Overclocking
  No No
• Core architecture
  hybrid (big.LITTLE) hybrid (big.LITTLE)
• A core
  2x Monsoon 4x Firestorm
• B core
  4x Mistral 4x Icestorm

The integrated graphics (iGPU) do not influence the CPU performance significantly; they serve as a substitute for a dedicated graphics card in the absence of one or are utilized in mobile devices.

• GPU name
  Apple A11 Apple M1 (8 Core)
• GPU frequency
  1.42 GHz 3.20 GHz
• GPU (Turbo)
  2.39 GHz No turbo
• Execution units
  3 128
• Max. GPU Memory
  3 GB 8 GB
• Max. displays
  1 2
• Generation
  8 1
• Technology
  10 nm 5 nm
• Release date
  Q3/2017 Q4/2020

This section details the built-in codecs used for encoding and decoding media content, which significantly enhance processing speed and efficiency.

• h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
  Decode Decode / Encode
• h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
  Decode Decode / Encode
• h264
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode
• VP9
  Decode Decode / Encode
• VP8
  Decode / Encode Decode
• AV1
  No Decode
• AVC
  Decode Decode
• VC-1
  Decode Decode
• JPEG
  Decode / Encode Decode / Encode

Overview of the types and quantities of RAM supported by Apple M1 and Apple A11 Bionic. The supported memory frequencies may vary depending on the motherboard configuration.

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

• AES-NI
  No Yes

Analyze the TDP (Thermal Design Power) requirements of Apple A11 Bionic and Apple M1 to make an informed decision on the appropriate cooling system. Remember that TDP refers to thermal watts, not electrical watts.

• TDP (PL1)
  8 W 15 W
• TDP up
  -- 20 W
• TDP down
  -- 10 W

Information on architecture, interfaces, and additional instructions supported by Apple A11 Bionic and Apple M1, including virtual machine technologies and fabrication processes.

• Instruction set (ISA)
  x86-64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
• Virtualization
  None None
• ISA extensions
  Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
• L2-Cache
  8.00 MB 16.00 MB
• Architecture
  A11 M1
• Technology
  10 nm 5 nm
• Socket
  N/A N/A
• Release date
  Q3/2017 Q4/2020