Apple A10X

The Apple A10X Fusion is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, and manufactured by TSMC. It first appeared in the 10.5" iPad Pro and the second-generation 12.9" iPad Pro which were both announced on June 5, 2017.^[6] The A10X is a variant of the A10 and Apple claims that it has 30 percent faster CPU performance and 40 percent faster GPU performance than its predecessor, the A9X.^[6]

Apple A10X Fusion

General information
Launched	June 13, 2017
Discontinued	April 20, 2021
Designed by	Apple Inc.
Common manufacturer	TSMC[1]
Product code	APL1071[2]
Max. CPU clock rate	to 2.38 GHz[3]
Cache
L1 cache	Per core: 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data[4]
L2 cache	8 MB shared[4]
Architecture and classification
Application	Mobile
Technology node	10FF nm[1]
Microarchitecture	Hurricane and Zephyr
Instruction set	ARMv8.1-A: A64, A32, T32
Physical specifications
Cores	6 (ARM big.LITTLE: 3× Hurricane + 3× Zephyr) [1]
GPU	12 core[5]
Products, models, variants
Variant	Apple A10 Fusion, Apple T2
History
Predecessor	Apple A9X
Successor	Apple A12X Bionic

Design

The A10X features an Apple-designed 64-bit 2.38 GHz^[3] ARMv8-A six-core CPU, with three high-performance Hurricane cores and three energy-efficient Zephyr cores.^[5][1] The A10X also integrates a twelve-core graphics processing unit (GPU)^[5] which appears to be the same Apple customized Imagination PowerVR cores used in the A10.^[7] Embedded in the A10X is the M10 motion coprocessor.^[8]

Built on TSMC's 10 nm FinFET process^[7] with a die size of 96.4mm², the A10X is 34% smaller than the A9X and was the smallest iPad SoC upon its release.^[1] The A10X is the first TSMC 10nm chip to be used by a consumer device.^[1]

The A10X is paired with 4 GB of LPDDR4 memory in the second-generation 12.9" iPad Pro^[9] and the 10.5" iPad Pro,^[2] and 3 GB in the 4K Apple TV.^[10]

The A10X has video codec encoding support for H.264. It has decoding support for HEVC,^[11] H.264, MPEG-4, and Motion JPEG.^[12]

Products that include the Apple A10X

• iPad Pro 10.5-inch (2017)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation, 2017)
• Apple TV 4K (2017)

See also

• Apple silicon, the series of ARM-based system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors designed by Apple.
• Apple A10 Fusion

References

1. Smith, Ryan (June 29, 2017). "TechInsights Confirms Apple's A10X SoC Is TSMC 10nm FF; 96.4mm2 Die Size". AnandTech. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
2. "iPad Pro 10.5" Teardown". iFixit. June 13, 2017. Archived from the original on June 17, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
3. Cunningham, Andrew (June 12, 2017). "Review: The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is much more "pro" than what it replaces". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
4. "iPad7,4". Geekbench Browser. Primate Labs. June 11, 2017. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
5. Humrick, Matt (June 6, 2017). "Apple Refreshes iPad Pro Lineup: A10X Fusion SoC for 10.5-inch, 12.9-inch Models". AnandTech. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
6. "iPad Pro, in 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch models, introduces the world's most advanced display and breakthrough performance" (Press release). Apple. June 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
7. Wei, Andy (June 29, 2017). "10 nm Process Rollout Marching Right Along". TechInsights. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
8. "iPad Pro Tech Specs". Apple. June 5, 2017. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
9. "10.5-inch and 12.9-inch 2017 iPad Pro FAQ: Everything you need to know!". iMore. Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
10. "Apple TV 4K Teardown". iFixit. September 25, 2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
11. Thomson, Gavin. "Introducing HEIF and HEVC". Apple. pp. Slide 71 of presentation. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
12. "iPad Pro (10.5-inch) - Technical Specifications". support.apple.com. Retrieved 2022-11-05.