Apple’s iPhone 16 lineup features two new chips: the A18 in the iPhone 16/ 16 Plus, and the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro/ Pro Max. While Apple highlighted their improvements over older models, they remained tight-lipped on the head-to-head comparison between these two new processors.
Here, we’ll break down the differences between the A18 and A18 Pro, exploring specifications, AnTuTu benchmark, Geekbench scores, and other benchmarks.
Note: This article has been updated with AnTuTu benchmark, Geekbench CPU and GPU scores, and Geekbench ML benchmark results based on testing on iPhone 16 (128GB) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (256GB) devices.
Table of Contents
A18 vs A18 Pro: Specs and Features
The A18 and A18 Pro are entirely new chipsets manufactured on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process. In fact, they share similar specifications for the most part.
Notably, both the A18 and A18 Pro support a new heat dissipation system and hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, enabling them to run AAA games. They also share the same modem and support both WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. Now, let’s delve into their specifications.
A18 Chip Specs:
- New 6-core CPU (two performance and four efficiency cores)
- New 5-core GPU
- New 16-core Neural Engine
A18 Pro Chip Specs:
- New 6-core CPU (two performance and four efficiency cores)
- New 6-core GPU
- New 16-core Neural Engine
A18 vs A18 Pro: What Are the Differences?
If you look closely, the A18 Pro has a 6-core GPU, while the A18 has a 5-core GPU. The A18 Pro also has larger caches than the A18. This translates to better performance in demanding apps and games, especially when playing those supported AAA titles like Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Resident Evil 4.
For the A18 Pro, Apple says it’s even faster and more efficient than the A18 and that it has advanced media features that are only available on the Pro model. These include a ProMotion display, Always-on display support, faster USB 3.0 speeds, and ProRes video recording. There’s also a new video encoder and a new image signal processor. These features are unavailable on the regular iPhones with the A18 chip.
Additionally, iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max also support dual-frequency GPS and ProRAW photos in DNG file format while the regular models do not. While Apple doesn’t directly compare the two chipsets, it cites the following:
A18 Pro vs. A17 Pro:
- The A18 Pro has a 15% faster CPU,
- a 20% faster GPU,
- 2x faster ray-tracing,
- and consumes 20% less power than the A17 Pro for the same workload.
A18 vs. A16 Bionic:
- The A18 has a 50% faster CPU,
- a 40% faster GPU than the A16 Bionic.
- and uses 30% less power than the A16 Bionic for the same workload.
A18 vs A18 Pro: AnTuTu Benchmark
We ran AnTuTu benchmark on both iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Max and here are the results. As you can see, A18 scored 14,43,691 points while A18 Pro scored 16,25,778 points.
That’s a difference of about 182,087 points, which translates to the A18 Pro being roughly 12.6% faster in AnTuTu benchmarks. The CPU scores are more or less the same; most of the difference comes from the GPU and Memory tests.
| AnTuTu Benchmark | A18 | A18 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 418,631 | 401,420 |
| GPU | 499,599 | 616,083 |
| Memory | 175,395 | 251,169 |
| UX | 350,066 | 357,106 |
| Total Score | 14,43,691 | 16,25,778 |
A18 vs A18 Pro: Geekbench CPU Benchmark
We also ran Geekbench benchmarks on both the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets. The iPhone 16 with the A18 chip scored 3053 in single-core and 7601 in multi-core tests. In contrast, the iPhone 16 Pro Max with the A18 Pro chip achieved scores of 3190 in single-core and 7818 in multi-core tests.
Based on this comparison, the A18 Pro is roughly 3-4% faster than the A18 in single-core performance and 5% faster in multi-core performance. This difference is much smaller than what we anticipated earlier.
| Geekbench CPU | Single-core | Multi-core |
|---|---|---|
| A18 | 3053 | 7601 |
| A18 Pro | 3158 | 7974 |
| Difference | 3.44% | 4.91% |
A18 vs A18 Pro: Geekbench GPU Benchmark
In the Geekbench GPU benchmark, the A18 scores 27,914, while the A18 Pro scores 32,870 points. That’s a difference of 17.75%, highlighting the significant impact of the extra GPU core in the A18 Pro.
| Geekbench GPU | |
|---|---|
| A18 | 27914 |
| A18 Pro | 32870 |
| Difference | 17.75% |
A18 vs A18 Pro: 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Test
3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme test measures a device’s GPU performance. It stresses the GPU (graphics processing unit) to see how well it can handle demanding 3D graphics rendering.
In this test, the iPhone 16 with the A18 chip scored 3810 points with an average of 22.8 fps. The iPhone 16 Pro Max scored higher, achieving 4445 points and a 26.6 fps average.
| Average Frame Rate | Overall Score | |
|---|---|---|
| A18 | 22.8 fps | 3810 |
| A18 Pro | 26.6 fps | 4445 |
| Difference | 16.67% | 16.67% |
A18 vs A18 Pro: Geekbench AI Test
All iPhone 16 models have the same NPU regardless of A18 or A18 Pro. When tested in Geekbench AI for NPU, they both score almost the same. Check the results:
| Geekbench AI (NPU) | Single Precision Score | Half Precision Score | Quantized Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| A18 | 4179 | 32374 | 44309 |
| A18 Pro | 4422 | 32095 | 44086 |
A18 vs A18 Pro: Comparison Table
| A18 | A18 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | 3nm (TSMC) | 3nm (TSMC) |
| CPU | New 6-core CPU 2x performance 4x efficiency cores | New 6-core CPU 2x performance 4x efficiency cores Larger cache size compared to A18. |
| Max Clock Speed | 4.04GHz | 4.04GHz |
| GPU | New 5-core GPU | New 6-core GPU. One extra GPU core compared to A18. |
| NPU | New 16-core Neural Engine | New 16-core Neural Engine |
| Advanced Media features | Not supported | ProMotion display, Always-on display, ProRes video recording, new video encoder, and new image signal processor. |
| USB Version | USB 2.0 (iPhone 16 and 16 Plus) | USB 3.0 (iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max) |
| Apple ProRAW | Not supported | Supported |
| GPS | Single-frequency GPS | Dual-frequency GPS |
| AnTuTu | 14,43,691 | 16,25,778 |
| Geekbench CPU | Single core: 3053 Multi core: 7601 | Single core: 3158 Multi core: 7974 |
| Geekbench GPU | 27914 | 32870 |
| Geekbench AI | SP: 4179 HP: 32374 Quantized: 44309 | SP: 4422 HP: 32095 Quantized: 44086 |
| Wildlife Extreme Stress Test | Average fps: 22.8 Score: 3810 | Average fps: 26.6 Score: 4445 |
A18 vs A18 Pro: Wrapping Up
In summary, there isn’t a substantial difference between the A18 and A18 Pro in terms of raw CPU performance, or even NPU performance for that matter. The A18 Pro is overall 5% better than the A18 in CPU performance based on our Geekbench benchmark tests and about 12% better based on the AnTuTu benchmark test (however, do remember that AnTuTu also factors in GPU performance).
In GPU-specific tests, the A18 Pro is about 17% better than the A18, and this difference is evident in both Geekbench GPU and 3DMark Wild Life Extreme stress tests.
So, if you’re into gaming, that’s a good reason to opt for one of the iPhone 16 Pro devices. It also offers those advanced media features and a superior image processing unit compared to the regular A18. That said, the A18 is still a very capable chip, also built from the ground up, and most people would be perfectly satisfied with either processor.
