Apple's A16 Bionic chip explained in 5 key specs

James Pero Sep. 10, 2022 Tech The iPhone 14 Pro comes with Apple's most powerful iPhone chip yet. Here's what you need to know.

Another year, another iPhone , and yet another new chip to power it. Since the dawn of Apple-made silicon, Apple’s A series chips have continued their steady march forward, and this year’s A16 (featured exclusively in the iPhone 14 Pro line) is no exception.

Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s A16 Bionic.

40% The A16's CPU is 40 percent faster than "competition."

There’s that word, “competition.” Apple says its A16’s CPU is up to 40 percent faster than competing chips, which in this case is likely a not-so-subtle side-eye at Qualcomm and its Snapdragon chips.

17T The A16's Neural Engine can handle a whopping 17 trillion operations per second.

Seventeen trillion may sound like a lot, and well... it is. The Neural Engine is responsible for handling tasks like video and image processing, so you can count on an iPhone with the A16 to handle pretty much ant media-related task you throw at it.

5 The A16 will use a five-core GPU.

A five-core GPU (and 50 percent more memory bandwidth) will make the A16 suited for graphic-intensive gaming — that is, if gaming on an iPhone is your thing.

4 nm The A16 is Apple's first chip using a 4-nanometer process.

Apple’s A16 will also set a precedent as being the company’s first chip with a 4-nanometer architecture (as opposed to the A15’s 5-nanometer). Believe it or not, a 3-nanometer process is already on the way.

4T Four trillion photo operations per second.

While this year’s iPhone gets an upgrade in megapixels, Apple has often relied on computational photography to keep its camera improving year-after-year. The A16 chip aids in that endeavor, enabling a whopping 4 trillion operations per photo.

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