Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic: Apple iPhones are equipped with the best chipset/SoC in a smartphone. The A Bionic chipsets from Apple are recently popular for not only speed but power efficiency and energy consumption. While launching its iPhone 14 series, Apple also launched the A16 Bionic chipset in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
This new chipset (the A16 Bionic) is meant to succeed the older A15 Bionic chipset. But, are the new A16 Bionic use the same number of CPU and GPU cores? Are there any upgrades or improvements when compared to the A15 Bionic? In this Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic, we’ll explain the important upgrades made by Apple to the A16 Bionic chipset.
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Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic
Process Technology & Power Management
The Apple A16 Bionic chipset is built on a 4nm process technology while the Apple A15 Bionic chipset is built on a 5nm process technology. This is the first major and important difference between these two chipsets. The fabrication process plays a major role not just in performance but also in the power efficiency of the chipsets.
According to Apple, the A16 Bionic not have only faster CPU cores but is also more power efficient than the A15 Bionic chipset. The power efficiency of the A15 bionic chipset is already impressive, but that of the A16 Bioinch is about 15-20% better.
See Also: Apple A15 Bionic vs MediaTek Dimensity 9000: chipset comparison
Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic: CPU
| Core | A16 Bionic | A15 Bionic |
| Power Cores | 2x Avalanche (High-performance) | 2x Avalanche (High-performance) |
| Speed | 3.46 GHz | 3.23 GHz |
| Efficiency | 4x Blizzard (Energy-efficient) | 4x Blizzard (Energy-efficient) |
| Speed | 2.00GHz | 1.82GHz |
| Transistors | 16 Billion | 15 Billion |
| 5G MODEM | X65 MODEM | X60 MODEM |
The A16 Bionic uses the same number of CPU cores as the A15 Bionic. But, the A16 Bionic has a 7% increase in CPU speed when compared to the A15 bionic. The CPU speed increased from 3.23GHz to 3.46GHZ and this is why the A16 Bionic has better CPU performance than the A15 Bionic.
| Geekbench | A16 Bionic | A15 Bionic |
| Multi-core | 5455 | 4849 |
| Single-core | 1887 | 1748 |
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Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic: GPU
Both the Apple A16 Bionic and A15 Bionic feature the Apple GPU (5-core graphics). But the performance of this GPU in the A16 Bionic is better because of its better power efficiency and heat management. The GPU can perform longer at the optimum level in the A16 Bionic compared to the A15 Bionic. This is because the A16 Bionic is built on a 4nm process and has better power efficiency.
Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic: Connectivity
The connectivity options available on both chipsets are very similar. The Apple A16 Bionic chipset is equipped with the X65 5G MODEM which has a faster download and upload speed than the X60 5G MODEM of the A15 Bionic. Other connectivity options available on both chipsets are NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, Ultra Wideband (UWB) support, Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified), etc. But only the Apple A16 Bionic chipset has support for the Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving) connectivity feature.
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Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic: Verdict
The Apple A16 Bionic vs Apple A15 Bionic comparison has revealed that the A16 Bionic brings small but important upgrades to Apple iPhones. The A16 Bionic has faster CPU cores, better power efficiency, longer battery life, and the unique Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving).
