Apple A16 Bionic System-on-Chip

Application Processing Unit (APU) market revenue is expected to reach $57B in 2022, 5% growth from 2021.  Qualcomm, MediaTek and Apple have maintained their top positions in the APU market. Apple held 24% of the APU market through the first three quarters of 2022.

The A16 Bionic is Apple’s latest smartphone processor chip, designed to power the high-end iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max smartphones. TSMC manufactures the chip using its 4nm process technology. Each A16 chip is estimated to have 16 billion transistors, which are responsible for improved performance. The A16 application processor System-on-Chip (SoC) is a six-core design with a Graphics Processing Unit and Neural Engine or Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for machine learning tasks. The 64-bit ARM-based SoC architecture provides faster speeds and higher performance. Apple claims that the six-core Central Processing Unit has four high-performance cores that are faster than the ones in the Apple A15. To maximize device battery life, the A16 utilizes an efficient quad-core complex.

To reduce distance between the Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and the processor, a package-on-package configuration joins the RAM to the processor package with electrical interconnections running vertically. TSMC provides both front-end foundry and back-end services for Apple.

This full reverse costing study provides insights regarding the technology data, manufacturing cost, and selling price of the Apple A16 SoC.

Multiple analyses reveal all the details of A16 chip. This includes the front-end construction with TSMC’s 4nm process. Back-end construction analysis shows the chip integration in the package. Additionally, Computed Tomography (CT) scan 3D X-ray shows the layout structure of the A16 package, including the DRAM. The complete physical analysis of the A16 package uncovers TSMC’s InFO package that features high density redistribution layers and through-InFO copper vias. We provide complete analysis by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of the die cross-sections, material analyses, and delayering. Also, we show a high-resolution Tunnelling Electron Microscope (TEM) cross-section of TSMC’s 4nm technology. In the report, the A16 bionic chip is compared to its predecessor, the A15 Bionic. Moreover, the floorplan analysis reveals the chip design and details of the main Intellectual Property (IP) blocks used in Apple’s A16 chip. Lastly, this report furnishes a complete cost analysis of Apple’s A16 SoC.

• Apple
• TSMC

Key Features

• Detailed photos
• Precise measurements
• Front-end structural analysis with TEM
• Back-end structural analysis with CT scan
• Materials analysis
• Comparison of A16 Bionic and A15 Bionic package and die
• Manufacturing process flow
• Supply chain evaluation
• Manufacturing cost analysis

What's new

• Apple’s latest smartphone processor
• Improved version of Apple’s A15 chip
• Higher performance compared to the A15
• Higher density of transistors, 16 billion transistors per chip compared to 15 billion in the Apple A15
• TSMC 4nm process node
• Apple’s first 4nm chip

Overview / Introduction

• Executive Summary
• Product Specification
• Reverse Costing Methodology
• Glossary

Company Profile

• Company Profile
• Apple Products
• Market Analysis

Physical Analysis

• Summary
• Smartphone Dismantle
• Package Analysis (CT Scan/Opening/Cross section)
• DRAM Analysis (Dimensions & Opening)
• SoC Die (Dimensions/Delayering/Cross section)
• FEOL (TEM)
• Floorplan

Physical Comparison

Manufacturing Process Flow Analysis

• Global View
• A16 Die Process
• A16 Fab unit
• InFO Packaging Process
• Final Assembly Process

Cost Analysis

• Summary & Supply Chain
• Yields Explanation & Hypotheses
• Front-End Wafer Cost
• Die Cost
• Packaging Cost
• Component Cost

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