Apple A12 Bionic vs Intel Core i7-870

Comparative analysis of Apple A12 Bionic and Intel Core i7-870 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Graphics, Compatibility, Peripherals, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

Apple A12 Bionic

Intel Core i7-870

Differences

Reasons to consider the Apple A12 Bionic

CPU is newer: launch date 9 year(s) 0 month(s) later
2 more cores, run more applications at once: 6 vs 4
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 7 nm vs 45 nm
8x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
15.8x lower typical power consumption: 6 Watt vs 95 Watt
Around 44% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1995 vs 1385
Around 59% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 5014 vs 3160

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	21 Sep 2018 vs September 2009
Number of cores	6 vs 4
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm vs 45 nm
L2 cache	8 MB (shared) vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	6 Watt vs 95 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1995 vs 1385
PassMark - CPU mark	5014 vs 3160

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-870

2 more threads: 8 vs 6
Around 45% higher clock speed: 3.60 GHz vs 2.49 GHz
341.3x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
4x more maximum memory size: 16 GB vs 4 GB

Number of threads	8 vs 6
Maximum frequency	3.60 GHz vs 2.49 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 128 KB instruction + 128 KB data (per core)
Maximum memory size	16 GB vs 4 GB

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Apple A12 Bionic
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-870

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1995

1385

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

5014

3160

Name	Apple A12 Bionic	Intel Core i7-870
PassMark - Single thread mark	1995	1385
PassMark - CPU mark	5014	3160
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		547
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		2032
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		2453
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		1.029
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		53.478
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.342
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		1.541
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		4.602

Compare specifications (specs)

	Apple A12 Bionic	Intel Core i7-870
Essentials
Architecture codename	Vortex/Tempest	Lynnfield
Launch date	21 Sep 2018	September 2009
OS Support	iOS 12.0, iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, tvOS 14.5, tvOS 16.2
Place in performance rating	1260	2680
Processor Number	APL1W81	i7-870
Vertical segment	Mobile	Desktop
Launch price (MSRP)		$197
Price now		$98.99
Series		Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		15.90
Performance
Base frequency	1.59 GHz	2.93 GHz
L1 cache	128 KB instruction + 128 KB data (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	8 MB (shared)	256 KB (per core)
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	45 nm
Maximum frequency	2.49 GHz	3.60 GHz
Number of cores	6	4
Number of threads	6	8
Transistor count	6.9 billion	774 million
64 bit support
Bus Speed		2.5 GT/s DMI
Die size		296 mm2
L3 cache		8192 KB (shared)
Maximum core temperature		72.7°C
VID voltage range		0.6500V-1.4000V
Memory
Max memory channels	1	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	34.1 GB/s	21 GB/s
Maximum memory size	4 GB	16 GB
Supported memory types	LPDDR4X-4266	DDR3 1066/1333
Graphics
Execution Units	16
Graphics base frequency	1125 MHz
iGPU core count	4
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	6 Watt	95 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		37.5mm x 37.5mm
Sockets supported		LGA1156
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes		16
PCI Express revision		2.0
PCIe configurations		1x16, 2x8
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		36-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)