An apparatus and method for a converting tensor data. For example, one embodiment of a method comprises: fetching source tensor blocks of a source tensor data structure, each source tensor block comprising a plurality of source tensor data elements having a first numeric representation, wherein the source tensor data structure comprises a predefined structural arrangement of source tensor blocks; converting the one or more source tensor blocks into one or more destination tensor blocks comprising a plurality of destination tensor data elements having a second numeric representation different from the first numeric representation, wherein the sets of one or more source tensor blocks are converted to one or more corresponding destination tensor blocks in a specified order based on the first and second numeric representations; and storing each individual destination tensor block in a designated memory region to maintain coherency with the predefined structural arrangement of the source tensor blocks.