The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max come equipped with the A18 Pro chip, the most powerful processor ever featured in an iPhone. But how does it stack up against last year’s A17 Pro processor found in the iPhone 15 Pro models? If you’re unsure which iPhone to buy or how significant an upgrade the newer A18 Pro offers over the A17 Pro, here’s our detailed comparison, putting both chips through various benchmark tests.
Note: Here, we’ve benchmarked the A18 Pro chip on the iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB and the A17 Pro chip on the iPhone 15 Pro Max 256GB.
Table of Contents
A18 Pro vs A17 Pro: Specifications
Here’s a specification-based comparison between A18 Pro and A17 Pro:
| A18 Pro | A17 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | TSMC | TSMC |
| Fabrication Process | Enhanced 2nd-gen 3nm (N3E) | First-gen 3nm (N3B) |
| No. of CPU Cores | 6 | 6 |
| CPU Structure | 2x performance cores 4x efficiency cores 15% faster 20% less power usage Next-gen ML accelerators | 2x performance cores 4x efficiency cores |
| Max. Clock Speed | 4.04 GHz | 3.78 GHz (performance cores) 2.11 GHz (efficiency cores) |
| GPU | New Six-core GPU 20% faster 2x faster ray tracing | Six-core GPU Hardware-accelerated ray tracing |
| Machine Learning and AI | New 16-core Neural Engine 35 TOPS (trillion operations/ sec) | 16-core Neural Engine 35 TOPS (trillion operations/ sec) |
| Memory | LPDDR5X 17% more memory bandwidth | LPDDR5 |
| Modem | Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 5G modem (likely) | Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G modem |
| Connectivity | WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 | WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| USB Support | USB 3 | USB 3 |
| Other features | 2x faster processing for video encoding | – |
A18 Pro vs A17 Pro: CPU
For starters, the A18 Pro is built on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm fabrication process (known as N3E). It has a total of six cores, including 2x performance cores reaching a maximum clock speed of 4.04 GHz, followed by 4x efficiency cores.
Apple has integrated two SME units, also known as ML accelerators, into the A18 Pro chip. These Scalable Matrix Extension units significantly speed up AI tasks and make your phone quicker at things like understanding your voice or recognizing objects in photos.
On the other hand, the A17 Pro, released last year, is built on TSMC’s first-generation 3nm fabrication process (known as N3B). It has six cores, with 2x performance cores having a maximum clock speed of 3.78 GHz and 4x efficiency cores clocked at 2.11 GHz.
Apple claims the A18 Pro’s CPU is 15% faster and 20% more power-efficient than the A17 Pro. Additionally, the A18 Pro features the newer Armv9.2 architecture compared to the ARMv8.6-A on the A17 Pro. We’ll put these claims to the test through various benchmarks below.
A18 Pro vs A17 Pro: GPU
Both the A18 Pro and A17 Pro have 6-core GPUs. The A18 Pro’s GPU seems very similar to the A17 Pro’s, but Apple says it comes with 20% faster graphics performance. The hardware-accelerated ray-tracing is also 2x faster this time around and it should help with AAA gaming.
The new GPU is a substantial upgrade this time. In fact, when we compared the A18 with the A18 Pro, it was the GPU that made the majority of the difference.
Plus, Apple has improved internal design, including a 100% recycled aluminum thermal substructure and back glass optimizations that further dissipate heat. This enables up to 20% better sustained performance than the iPhone 15 Pro.
A18 Pro vs A17 Pro: NPU
Both the A17 Pro and A18 Pro boast a Neural Engine capable of 35 TOPS (trillion operations per second). However, Apple has enhanced the A18 Pro’s Neural Engine for improved efficiency and paired it with a 17% higher memory bandwidth.
This translates to faster performance in AI and machine learning tasks, particularly those involving generative AI.
Overall, while both chips have powerful Neural Engines, the A18 Pro’s enhancements give it a clear advantage in AI performance, particularly for tasks related to Apple Intelligence features.
A18 Pro vs A17 Pro: Benchmarks
We put the iPhone 16 Pro Max with the A18 Pro chip and the iPhone 15 Pro Max with the A17 Pro, both running the latest iOS 18 (at the time of writing), through various benchmarks. Check out the results below.
AnTuTu Benchmark
The A18 Pro scores a total of 17,97,197 points. On the other hand, last year’s A17 Pro scored a net 1,400,970 points in AnTuTu, which is in fact similar to the regular A18 chip.
A18 Pro has a 28% higher overall score, mainly due to better GPU performance.
| AnTuTu Benchmark | A18 Pro (iPhone 16 Pro Max) | A17 Pro (iPhone 15 Pro Max) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 447,064 | 360,214 |
| GPU | 732,871 | 427,373 |
| Memory | 258,993 | 273,853 |
| UX | 358,269 | 339,530 |
| Total Score | 17,97,197 | 14,00,970 |
Geekbench 6 CPU
In Geekbench 6 CPU benchmarks, the A18 Pro scores 3158 in single-core and 7974 in multi-core tests. In comparison, the A17 Pro scored 2710 in single-core and 6676 in multi-core tests.
This results in a 16% difference in single-core performance and a 19% difference in multi-core performance, which is close to Apple’s 15% claim.
| Geekbench | Single-core | Multi-core |
|---|---|---|
| A18 Pro (iPhone 16 Pro Max) | 3158 | 7974 |
| A17 Pro (iPhone 15 Pro Max) | 2710 | 6676 |
| Difference | 16.53% | 19.44% |
We’ve also compared these scores with the regular A18 chip in our A18 vs A18 Pro comparison.
Geekbench 6 GPU
As evident in the AnTuTu benchmark, there’s a significant difference in the GPU scores of the two processors. The same is visible in Geekbench GPU tests, where the A18 Pro scores 32,870, which is about 16% higher than the A17 Pro’s score of 28,356. Check the detailed results below:
| Geekbench GPU | |
|---|---|
| A18 Pro (iPhone 16 Pro Max) | 32870 |
| A17 Pro (iPhone 15 Pro Max) | 28356 |
| Difference | 14.74% |
Geekbench AI
Lastly, we compared the Geekbench ML benchmark results for the NPU on both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, as it’s the NPU that’s responsible for handling machine learning and AI tasks. Here are the results.
| Geekbench AI (NPU) | Single Precision Score | Half Precision Score | Quantized Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| A18 Pro | 4422 | 32095 | 44086 |
| A17 Pro | 4009 | 24625 | 33015 |
A18 Pro vs A17 Pro: Connectivity
The older A17 Pro came with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem, allowing peak download and upload speeds of up to 10 Gbps and 3.5 Gbps, respectively. It also supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
The newer A18 Pro is reportedly using Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 modem, which supports the same 10 Gbps peak download and 3.5 Gbps upload speeds but has better carrier aggregation support. It’s also the more efficient of the two.
Also, the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets bring Wi-Fi 7 support to the iPhone 16 series. Both the A17 Pro and A18 Pro chips have extensive support for sub-6 GHz and mmWave bands.
The Most Powerful iPhone Processor Yet
While the A18 Pro may not be a revolutionary leap from last year’s iPhone, it solidifies its position as a top performer with marked improvements in CPU and GPU performance.
AnTuTu benchmarks show it’s about 28% overall better than the A17 Pro, while Geekbench CPU tests indicate improvements of around 16-19%. Additionally, the Geekbench GPU test reveals a roughly 15% performance boost.
So yes, Apple has delivered significant performance enhancements this time around, even on an already impressive chip. Furthermore, their focus on improved efficiency is commendable and likely points to the future direction of smartphone chip development.
Now, if you’re already using an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, the chipset alone might not be a compelling reason to upgrade unless you’re a hardcore gamer who plays demanding AAA titles on your iPhone. The A17 Pro is still a very capable chip, and most people wouldn’t notice a significant difference in everyday use.
