Benchmarks Suggest Apple’s A12 Bionic Is Close To Desktop Performance

Our smartphones have often been described as powerful computers that can fit in our pockets, but yet despite the popularity of smartphones, seeing computers powered by ARM chips aren’t as popular or common as you might think, however the advantages to the ARM design are obvious which is why there have been rumors that Apple could eventually make the shift.

It seems that the shift to ARM chips might not be too far off, at least according to AnandTech who recently reviewed Apple’s iPhone Xs and Xs Max, where they found that based on benchmark scores, the new A12 Bionic chipset in the new iPhones are actually not too far off from desktop-level CPU performance.

According to AnandTech’s Andrei Frumusanu, “What is quite astonishing, is just how close Apple’s A11 and A12 are to current desktop CPUs. I haven’t had the opportunity to run things in a more comparable manner, but taking our server editor, Johan De Gelas’ recent figures from earlier this summer, we see that the A12 outperforms a moderately-clocked Skylake CPU in single-threaded performance.”

This isn’t to say that the A12 can power a PC or is as good as a desktop-level CPU. Frumusanu admits that these benchmarks weren’t run in a comparable manner, and there are other factors such as compiler complications and frequency concerns to take into consideration. However based purely on the numbers, it seems that the concept of an ARM-powered MacBook might not be too far off from being made a reality.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones, Computers
Tags: iphone xs, SoC, Social Hit