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
A14 Bionic is the chip Apple built to be the first in the smartphone industry on a 5-nanometer process. It debuted 15 September 2020 — inside the iPad Air, not an iPhone 1.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own framing calls it “Apple’s most advanced chip” in the iPad Air’s own product name 1. A14 Bionic reached iPhone a month later, with iPhone 12 and 12 mini on 13 October 2020 2.
2.Launch and history
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A14 Bionic is notable for launching in a tablet before a phone — the reverse of Apple’s usual order, and a signal that the iPad Air had become a genuine flagship-silicon showcase in its own right.
Deep diveThe technical detail
The iPad Air release predates the iPhone 12 announcement by nearly a month (15 September vs. 13 October 2020) 12. Both releases describe the same chip, but with different comparison baselines — the iPad Air compares to A12 (its own direct predecessor, since the prior iPad Air used A12, not A13), while iPhone 12’s release compares instead to rival smartphone chips rather than to A13.
3.What’s inside it
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A new six-core CPU design, a new four-core GPU architecture, and a 16-core Neural Engine — twice the core count of A13’s 1.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own figures (iPad Air release, versus A12): “new 6-core design for a 40 percent boost in CPU performance,” “new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics” 1. The Neural Engine gained “second-generation machine learning accelerators in the CPU for 10 times faster machine learning calculations” 1. Apple explicitly states: “packed with 11.8 billion transistors” 1 — the first A-series chip since A11 where this site found an official transistor count.
4.Full spec table
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Six CPU cores, four GPU cores, a 16-core Neural Engine at 11 trillion operations per second, 11.8 billion transistors, built on 5-nanometer process 1.
Deep diveThe technical detail
| Spec | Apple A14 Bionic |
|---|
| CPU | 6-core, new design |
|---|
| GPU | 4-core, new architecture |
|---|
| Neural Engine | 16-core, up to 11 trillion operations/sec |
|---|
| Transistor count | 11.8 billion |
|---|
| Process node | 5 nanometer (Apple’s claim: first in the smartphone industry) |
|---|
| Memory | Not disclosed by Apple |
|---|
Figures per Apple’s iPad Air launch material 1, corroborated by the iPhone 12 release 2.
5.Where it’s made
SimpleStart here
Apple states A14 Bionic uses 5-nanometer process technology — the first in the smartphone industry — but does not name a manufacturer.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own words: “Using breakthrough 5-nanometer process technology” (iPad Air release) 1, and separately, “the first chip in the smartphone industry built on 5-nanometer process” (iPhone 12 release) 2. Neither release names TSMC or any other foundry.
6.Which systems use it
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A14 Bionic shipped in iPad Air (4th generation, 2020) and iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max (2020) 123.
Deep diveThe technical detail
This is the first time a single A-series chip launched simultaneously as the flagship for both an iPad line and the full iPhone Pro lineup in the same calendar year.
7.Official pricing
SimpleStart here
Not applicable. A14 Bionic was never sold as a separate, priced component.
Deep diveThe technical detail
No official Apple source lists a standalone chip price for A14 Bionic.
9.What came before, what came next
SimpleStart here
Came before: A13 Bionic. Came after: A15 Bionic, announced September 2021.
Deep diveThe technical detail
A14 Bionic’s 5-nanometer claim set a process-node record that stood through two more full generations (A15 also shipped on 5nm) before A16 and A17 Pro moved the family to smaller nodes.
10.Hidden in plain sight
SimpleStart here
The chip Apple built to be its most advanced ever debuted in a tablet, not the iPhone everyone was waiting for.
Deep diveThe technical detail
Apple’s own iPad Air product naming for this launch — “iPad Air with A14 Bionic, Apple’s most advanced chip” 1 — put the superlative claim directly in a tablet’s headline, a full month before the iPhone 12 family, the device most people associate with A14 Bionic, was even announced.