[9][failed verification] The A11 uses a new second-generation performance controller, which permits the A11 to use all six cores simultaneously,[10] unlike its predecessor the A10.

[11] The A11 includes a new image processor which supports computational photography functions such as lighting estimation, wide color capture, and advanced pixel processing.

[6] The A11 is manufactured by TSMC using a 10 nm FinFET process[1] and contains 4.3 billion transistors[7] on a die 87.66 mm2 in size, 30% smaller than the A10.

This neural network hardware can perform up to 600 billion operations per second and is used for Face ID, Animoji and other machine learning tasks.

[9] Bloomberg says that the neural engine is the fruit of Apple's efforts to improve its AI team, since the 2015 report by Bloomberg that Apple's secretive nature made it difficult to attract AI research scientists.