Every Apple chip is compared in the ultimate speed test!

At the heart of every Apple device is the Apple processor. Apple has been using its own chips in its iPhones and iPads for some time, while the Mac lineup is about to complete its transition from Intel chips. Apple has more devices with its own silicon than Intel today—the only one remaining is the Mac Pro—and before the end of 2023, every product Apple makes is likely to be powered by a home-grown chip.

What makes Apple silicon unique is its performance and power efficiency. But all chips are not created equal. Understanding the performance differences between each chip will help your purchasing decisions, especially if you’re deciding between the iPhone 14 or MacBook models. Knowing how each chip works gives you a better idea of ​​which products to buy and whether or not it’s worth your money to step up to a higher model.

Let’s take a look at how the new processors compare to other processors in the iPhone, iPad, and Mac lineup and see how each one fares and what it means to you. For consistency, we use Geekbench 5 benchmarks. Here’s each chip and how the benchmarks compare to each other.

Updated 3/3/23 with Geekbench 6 scores. To view these scores, click the pop-up menu under the heading of each chart.

Each processor is compared

Before we get into the individual processors, let’s let the chips fall where they may. We’ve only included chips in Apple devices that are still on sale and it’s a fairly predictable chart, with the fastest Mac chips at the top, followed by a mix of iPads and iPhones. But there are still some interesting results: iPad Pro owners can say that their tablet is almost as fast as MacBook Air and that is not an exaggeration. And the difference between the $399 iPhone SE and $899 iPhone 14 isn’t as big as their price difference suggests.

Read about how Apple’s M1 and M2 processors compare to Intel in our Mac processor guide.

iPhone processors

Let’s look at the details so that we can understand the differences between them.

Now let’s see how each processor works. Unsurprisingly, the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 14 Pro is the fastest. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 both have an A15 Bionic processor, but the iPhone 13 has a smaller GPU core than the iPhone 13 Pro, giving it better graphics performance.

Apple is still selling the iPhone 12, which has the A14 Bionic. In fact, it is not much slower than the A15 Bionic in the iPhone 13 – the specs between the two processors are almost the same, with the performance cores of the A15 Bionic having a slightly faster clock speed and more RAM. If price is the main priority over the camera and other features, consider the iPhone 12 instead of the iPhone 13.

The difference in speed is more obvious between the A14 Bionic in the iPhone 12 and the chips in the iPhone 14 models. This may be the last hurray for the A14 Bionic because the iPhone 12 will be replaced by the 13 as the low-cost option in Apple’s next development of the iPhone next fall, although it is possible that it will go to the next revision of the Apple TV.

iPad processors

The staggered release of Apple’s iPad lineup creates a unique performance order for the CPU and its device.

The M2-equipped iPad Pros are the fastest models, and the gap between them and the iPad and iPad mini is significant. In addition, the M2 is 15 percent faster than the M1 it replaced in previous iPad Pros and is in the current iPad Air.

The new 10th-gen iPad released in the fall of 2022 will have an A14 Bionic, an upgrade from the A13 Bionic in the previous model. Apple says the new 10th-gen iPad offers a 20 percent increase in CPU and a 10 percent increase in graphics.

Mac processors

With Apple’s M-series of chips for Mac, the company’s release schedule includes the base version of the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and other Macs. Apple has modified it to produce higher versions. Read how the M2 compares to the M1 Pro and M1 Max.

The latest M-Series chip is the M2, which will be released together with the new 13-inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air in the summer of 2022, after WWDC. The M2 replaces the M1 in Macs, but Apple may stick around with M1 models to offer as affordable options, such as the $999 M1 MacBook Air. In January 2023, Apple released the M2 Pro on the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini, and M2 Max on the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro along with the M2 Mac mini.

With the M2, Apple claims an 18 percent improvement in overall CPU performance over the M1. In the multi-core CPU test, we can confirm Apple’s claim. The single-core CPU test showed a low 13 percent increase for the M2. With the M2 Pro and M2 Max, Apple claimed a 20 percent increase over the M1 Pro (which is no longer available on any current Mac) and the M2 Max.

The M1 Ultra is a beast of a chip, doubling the CPU multi-core performance of the M1 Max, with half the number of CPU cores. This fires up GPU performance, too. There’s no word on when Apple will release an M2 Ultra, but it’s likely to debut with the upcoming Mac Pro.

Apple’s Max chips have the same CPU configuration as the Plus versions; the key difference is the GPU. Max can double the GPU cores as a Plus, so its graphics performance is better.

The chip that started it all, the great M1, may seem slow compared to Apple’s more recent chips—but that’s not to discredit Apple’s original Mac processor. Remember, the M1 outperforms the Intel processors it replaces, resulting in a significant price/performance value.