Apple A12Z

The Apple A12Z Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

History
The chip was unveiled on March 18, 2020 with the announcement of the 4th generation iPad Pro, the first device to use it. Apple officials touted the chip as faster than most Windows laptops of the time. The chip has an 8-core GPU, one more core than its predecessor, the Apple A12X, which enables better and faster 4K video editing, rendering, and augmented reality. The chip also features tuned performance controllers and a better thermal architecture, which may allow for higher clock speeds. On the iPad Pro it is paired with 6 GB of RAM. Both the A12Z and A12X are the same, with the A12Z having all 8 GPU cores enabled instead of just 7.

According to an analysis of the processor by technology patents firm TechInsights, the A12Z Bionic is the same as the A12X chip, but with an extra GPU core enabled. theorized that the A12Z is a variant of the A12X, which is a common practice in semiconductor manufacturing, allowing finished units of the same design to be set to higher specifications as the quality and quantity of manufacturing yields improve over time.

At its 2020 Worldwide_Developers_Conference, Apple introduced a prototype ARM-based Mac based on the A12Z with 16 GB RAM in a Mac mini enclosure, the first Macintosh computer to use an Apple in-house processor, and the only one to use an A-series processor.

Products that include the Apple A12Z Bionic

 * Developer Transition Kit (2020)
 * iPad Pro (4th generation) 11 and 12.9-inch