Apple A18 Pro and A18 performance review: A new generation of chips for Apple Intelligence

Note: This feature was first published on 18 September 2024. Check out our review of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max here.

For 2024, Apple has given new chips to all of its latest iPhones. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max get the flagship A18 Pro, while the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus get the A18. The new chips are necessary to allow Apple’s newest phones to support Apple Intelligence to its fullest potential. 

I write this every year, but as usual, Apple is coy about the specifics of these chips, and would only say in broad terms that these chips are faster and more power efficient. Here’s what we know. 

A18 Pro vs A18

The A18 series chips are built on a second-generation 3nm process. Although Apple didn’t disclose the amount of memory that these chips have, we now know that both the A18 and A18 Pro have 8GB of memory. Apparently, eight is the magic number and having that 8GB of memory is crucial to running Apple Intelligence. The A16 Bionic chips in the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus only came with 6GB of memory and, therefore, cannot support Apple Intelligence.

Both the A18 Pro and A18 feature 6-core CPUs with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, and 16-core Neural Engines that are capable of performing 35 trillion operations a second and are optimised for running large generative AI models. Speaking of generative models, the chips also have 17% more system bandwidth so that they can run these models fast and efficiently. A18 Pro and A18 also have new image signal processors and GPUs that support will support hardware ray-tracing in games.

The A18 Pro won’t be a “Pro” chip if it doesn’t have something extra over the A18. To start, the 6-core CPU is backed by larger caches. But more importantly, the A18 Pro has better graphics performance thanks to a 6-core GPU – one GPU core more than the A18. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact these differences will have in terms of performance.

Performance analysis

Apple is claiming significant performance and efficiency improvements. It said the A18 chips in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus deliver up to:-

• 30% more CPU performance than the A16 Bionic chips in the iPhone 15.
• 40% faster GPU performance over the iPhone 15.
• More efficiency by delivering same CPU performance levels as the A16 Bionic while consuming 30% less power.

For the new A18 Pro chip, Apple has these following claims:-

• 15% faster CPU and 20% GPU performance over last year’s A17 Pro.
• When compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, users can expect up to 30% faster CPU performance and 40% GPU performance.
• More efficient: Uses 20% less energy to deliver the same performance as A17 Pro.

Let’s take a look at the A18 Pro and A18’s results below.

Apple’s claims appear to be mostly spot on. On Geekbench’s CPU benchmark, the A18 Pro’s single and multi-core performance was around 15% better than the A17 Pro. On the other hand, the A18’s single and multi-core performance was around 27% better than the A16 Bionic. 

On Geekbench’s GPU benchmark, the A18 Pro’s score was about 20% better than the A17 Pro, while the A18’s score was on par with the A17 Pro and about 21% better than the A16 Bionic.

On 3DMark’s more intensive Solar Bay benchmark which tests ray-tracing, the A18 Pro was about 22% faster than the A17 Pro. As for the A18, it was a whopping 70% faster than the A16 Bionic – the A16 Bionic doesn’t support hardware ray-tracing. In fact, the A18’s more modern GPU was about 7% faster than last year’s A17 Pro.

The A18 Pro and A18 chips are clearly fast, but what’s interesting to note is how close their performances come to Apple’s desktop-class M-series chips. The A18 Pro’s CPU scores on Geekbench are greater than the M1 chip, and its GPU scores were comparable with the M1’s too. And thanks to support for hardware ray-tracing, the A18 Pro and A18 scores on 3DMark’s Solar Bay were even greater than the M1. 

Against the fastest Android phones, the A18 Pro and A18 performed favourably too. The A18 Pro and A18’s CPU performance looks like it's still years ahead of the competition. However, the graphics performance of Qualcomm’s newest chips is competitive. Looking at the 3DMark benchmarks, the Android phones posted higher numbers on the Wild Life Unlimited benchmark and there was little to separate them on the newer Solar Bay benchmark.

The numbers show that Apple’s newest chips are performance beasts. CPU performance is class-leading and graphics performance is top-notch. In the real world, these phones feel fast, responsive and fluid. However, the same can be said for just about any relatively modern iPhone. We need more time to evaluate other aspects of the phone such as their camera performance, battery life, and new features such as the Camera Control button. 

Stay tuned here for our full review of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max and the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus.

Check out our review of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max.

For more on Apple’s latest iPhones, check out the following articles:

• Apple iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max hands-on
• Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Plus hands-on
• Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Pro series buying guide
• Apple iPhone 16 series and 16 Pro series telco price plans comparison

You can find the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max and the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus on Amazon, Lazada, Shopee, and the Apple Online Store.

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