Il Apple A18 chip (the one built into the iPhone 16 and not the A18 Pro built into the iPhone 16 Pro) in single-threaded workloads is able to compete with the Ryzen 9 9950X on AMD and also Apple Silicon Apple’s M4and can beat the performance of many previous-generation CPUs built into desktops and laptops.
The A18 boasts two high-performance cores that arrive fino a 4 GHz (this is the first time we’ve seen these frequencies on an Apple smartphone processor), and quattro efficiency core capable of running the same workload as the previous generation at 15% faster while consuming 20% less energy.
The A18 scores 3,409 points in single-thread and 8,492 points in Geekbench 6’s multi-threaded tests. In fact, reports the US site Toms’Hardwarecompared to the A16 Pro (direct predecessor) are 15.5% faster in single thread and 16.6% in multi-thread. Apple’s new chip is also significantly faster than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (always compared with the same tests).
Compared to desktop processors, the A18 holds its own quite well: in single-thread tests with Geekbench 6 Beats Apple’s M3il Ryzen 9 7950X di AMD and the Core i9-14900KS di Intel. It is able to beat even the Ryzen 9 9950X on AMDbut it lags behind Apple’s own M4 (which can run at a clock speed of 400 MHz).
Results change with performance multi-thread (support for multiple processes running simultaneously): The 6-cores lag behind PC-class processors but it’s still interesting to note that the A18 Pro’s 8-cores can give Apple’s M3 a run for its money.
Many of the improvements Apple achieved with the A18 are potentially due to the microarchitecture. Apple’s latest SoCs are built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology and feature a new architecture with smaller, faster transistors, capable of ensuring highly optimized power efficiency.
Image from Apple Keynote
The new 16-core Neural Engine is also faster and more efficient than the previous generation and promises top-level on-device performance. With a 17 percent increase in total system memory bandwidth, benefits are also achieved for the Neural Engine and the 6-core GPU, which Apple claims is up to 20 percent faster than the previous generation, and consequent advantages in gaming. Hardware-accelerated ray tracing is also claimed to be up to twice as fast.
Given the remarkable performance of the A18 for iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, we can expect even greater results with the A18 Pro chip used in iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. In addition to the leap in performance, the efficiency and optimization of the Apple A18 also translates into lower power consumption and longer battery life: more details in this article.
All the Apple news for September 2024
On September 9, the new iPhone 16/Plus, iPhone 16 Pro/Max, AirPods 4, and Apple Watch 10 were announced: by clicking on the product names you can read the in-depth analysis. For a summary of everything that was presented on this occasion, we invite you to consult this article instead.