
Apple's iPhone 12 is all about 5G, but the upgrade may be justified by its new A14 Bionic processor, which sheds light on where the company is headed with its own silicon coming to the Mac.
During the iPhone launch event, Apple outlined the A14, which is its first built with 5 nanometer processor technology, and how it is being used in the iPhone 12. The chip also boasts a 4-core GPU, faster machine learning accelerators and a 6-core CPU.
Apple announced the A14 Bionic when it launched its latest iPad Air.
With its 11.8 billion transistors the A14 is looking to attract more workload intensive gaming and photography features. Apple talked about computational photography about as much as Google does at its Pixel launches.
Apple is also adding the following:
- An 80% faster neural engine;
- New image signal processor;
- 70% faster machine learning accelerators;
- Improved memory compression;
- And performance enhancements across the board.
The processor means that League of Legends, a game typically used on desktops, will be coming to the iPhone.
Bottom line: Apple is using the A14 Bionic to power all of its screens from the iPhone to the iPad. The bet is that it can put a lot of power in your palm and use it as a selling point.
More on Apple silicon:
- Apple Silicon MacBooks will be the laptops that iPads were never supposed to be
- Apple Silicon: Meet the new Mac, PC of the future
- Beyond the benchmarks: How Apple Silicon Macs could change the game
- With Silicon Macs, Apple leaves the PC industry behind
- Apple Silicon promises more powerful Macs, but developers face growing pains
iPhone 12 Mini
- Starting price: $699
- Colors: Black, white, red, blue, and green
- Display size: 5.4 inches
iPhone 12
- Starting price: $799
- Colors: Black, white, red, blue, and green
- Display size: 6.1 inches
iPhone 12 Pro
- Starting price: $999
- Colors: Gold, silver, graphite, and blue
- Display size: 6.1 inches
iPhone 12 Pro Max
- Starting price: $1,099
- Colors: Gold, silver, graphite, and blue
- Display size: 6.7 inches
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