How to read this page. Each section starts Simple, then goes to a Deep dive: stop wherever you have what you need. The small numbers are sources: click one to open the original document. Where the maker has not published a figure -- a price, a die size, a factory address -- this page says so rather than estimate it.
1.At a glance
SimpleStart here
A11 Bionic is the Apple chip that introduced the Neural Engine, Apple’s first dedicated silicon for machine learning. Announced 12 September 2017 alongside iPhone X 1.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own description at launch called A11 Bionic “the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone,” the first Apple chip to carry a component Apple named a “Neural Engine,” built specifically to run Face ID and Animoji on-device 1.
2.Launch and history
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A11 Bionic shipped the same year Apple introduced Face ID — and the two are directly connected. Face ID needs to compare a live face scan against a stored model in real time, entirely on the device, and Apple built the Neural Engine specifically to make that possible.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own words: the Neural Engine is a “dual-core design” capable of “up to 600 billion operations per second for real-time processing,” and the chip is described as “purpose-built for machine learning” 1. This is the first time the phrase “Neural Engine” appears in an Apple product announcement.
3.What’s inside it
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A six-core CPU (2 performance + 4 efficiency cores), a three-core GPU, and the new two-core Neural Engine 1.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own figures: performance cores “up to 25 percent faster” than the prior A10 Fusion, efficiency cores “up to 70 percent faster” than A10; a “second-generation performance controller can harness all six cores simultaneously, delivering up to 70 percent greater performance for multi-threaded workloads.” The three-core GPU is stated as “up to 30 percent faster” than A10’s graphics 1. Apple has not disclosed a transistor count or process node for A11 Bionic in any official source found; this page does not guess one.
4.Full spec table
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Six CPU cores, three GPU cores, a two-core Neural Engine rated at 600 billion operations per second 1.
Deep diveThe technical detail
| Spec | Apple A11 Bionic |
|---|
| CPU | 6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency |
|---|
| GPU | 3-core, Apple-designed |
|---|
| Neural Engine | 2-core, up to 600 billion operations/sec |
|---|
| Process node | Not disclosed by Apple |
|---|
| Transistor count | Not disclosed by Apple |
|---|
| Memory | Not disclosed by Apple |
|---|
Figures per Apple’s original iPhone X announcement 1. Apple’s tech-specs pages list device storage tiers only, never RAM or chip-level process node 2.
5.Where it’s made
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Apple has not disclosed who manufactures A11 Bionic or on what process node. No official Apple source names a foundry or a nanometer figure for this chip.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Unlike several later A-series chips, Apple’s A11 Bionic launch material contains no process-node claim at all — no “10-nanometer” or similar wording appears in either iPhone 8 or iPhone X’s announcement 13. This page reports that gap plainly rather than repeating the widely-assumed 10nm figure that circulates in secondary coverage but is not an Apple statement.
6.Which systems use it
SimpleStart here
A11 Bionic shipped in iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X — all announced 12 September 2017 13.
Deep diveThe technical detail
All three devices launched from the same September 2017 event, split across two separate Apple Newsroom releases: one covering iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus 3, the other covering iPhone X 1. Apple’s tech-specs page for iPhone 8 lists only its storage tiers (64GB, 128GB, 256GB) — no RAM figure is published 2.
7.Official pricing
SimpleStart here
Not applicable. Apple has never sold A11 Bionic as a separate, priced component — it is bundled into the price of the device.
Deep diveThe technical detail
No official Apple source lists a standalone chip price for any A-series chip, including A11 Bionic. This page reports that plainly rather than estimating a value.
9.What came before, what came next
SimpleStart here
Came before: A10 Fusion. Came after: A12 Bionic, announced September 2018.
Deep diveThe technical detail
A11 Bionic is the direct predecessor to A12 Bionic, which would go on to claim the industry’s first 7-nanometer smartphone chip — a process-node milestone A11 Bionic’s own announcement does not claim for itself.
10.Hidden in plain sight
SimpleStart here
Every Apple Neural Engine in every chip since — through the 2026 A20 Pro — traces back to the two-core block Apple built into this chip for Face ID.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own text frames the Neural Engine narrowly, as infrastructure for Face ID and Animoji 1 — not as the beginning of a company-wide AI strategy. Nine years and roughly a dozen chip generations later, every Apple Neural Engine — including the dual 16-core, 32-total-core design in 2026’s A20 Pro — is a direct architectural descendant of this first two-core block.