New Apple TV Reportedly Equipped With Binned A15 Chip With 5-Core CPU

The third-generation Apple TV 4K released earlier this month is equipped with a binned version of the A15 Bionic chip with one CPU core disabled, according to the website FlatpanelsHD, citing information from the TV Info app for tvOS.

apple tv 4k yellow bg feature
The review claims the A15 Bionic has a five-core CPU in the new Apple TV, whereas the chip has a six-core CPU in iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models.

Despite having a binned CPU and a fanless design, the website found the new Apple TV to be roughly 40% faster and throttle less than the previous Apple TV 4K with the A12 Bionic chip. The review said the new Apple TV is much faster than previous-generation consoles like the Xbox One, but the PS5 still pulls ahead in multi-core benchmark testing.

While not confirmed, the report also suspects that the Apple TV uses a version of the A15 Bionic with a four-core GPU, compared to a five-core GPU in iPhone 13 Pro models. Apple's streaming box still lags behind popular consoles in graphics performance, but the review said it is "starting to get to a point where Xbox One and PS4 games should, in theory, be playable on Apple TV without too many compromises."

Apple says GPU performance is up to 30% faster on the new Apple TV compared to the previous generation, but there are no GPU benchmark apps for tvOS.

The review pointed out that the Apple TV only offers a limited number of games that take full advantage of the A15 Bionic's capabilities, so the device remains far from a "console killer," but the performance boosts could set the stage for a bigger gaming push.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...

Top Rated Comments

Nozuka Avatar
39 months ago
Personally, i found the efficiency gains pretty interesting.



Attachment Image
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
39 months ago
Apple needs to get more serious about gaming, all that power and not a ton to show with it.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Villarrealadrian Avatar
39 months ago
Doesn’t matter if there are no AAA games…
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thejadedmonkey Avatar
39 months ago
The PS4 and Xbox One are 9 years old. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be impressive, or not.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
39 months ago
Makes sense, without a much bigger commitment to games how much power does ATV need? Good use for those chips.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ashbash75 Avatar
39 months ago
Apple TV and Bionic in the same sentence makes my mind think of a gimped Steve Austin.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)