Apple A9X
The Apple A9X is a 64-bit ARM architecture-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPad Pro, which was announced on September 9, 2015 and was released on November 11, 2015. The A9X has the M9 motion coprocessor embedded in it, something not seen in previous chip generations. It is a variant of the A9 and Apple claims that it has 80% more CPU performance and twice the GPU performance of its predecessor, the A8X.
Apple A9X chip | |
| General information | |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 9, 2015 |
| Discontinued | June 5, 2017 |
| Designed by | Apple Inc. |
| Common manufacturer(s) |
|
| Product code | APL1021 |
| Performance | |
| Max. CPU clock rate | 2.16 GHz to 2.26 GHz |
| Cache | |
| L1 cache | Per core: 64 KB instruction + 64 KB data |
| L2 cache | 3 MB shared |
| Architecture and classification | |
| Application | Mobile |
| Technology node | 16FF+ nm (TSMC) |
| Microarchitecture | Twister |
| Instruction set | ARMv8-A: A64, A32, T32 |
| Physical specifications | |
| Cores |
|
| GPU(s) | Custom PowerVR Series7XT (12 cores) |
| Products, models, variants | |
| Variant(s) | |
| History | |
| Predecessor(s) | Apple A8X |
| Successor(s) | Apple A10X |
The latest software update for the iPad Pro 12.9 1st generation & 9.7 using this chip was iPadOS 16.7.6, released on March 4, 2024, as it was discontinued with the release of iPadOS 17 in 2023 due to hardware limitations of the A9X. It is expected to continue receiving security updates for some period of time.