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Apple A18 vs A18 Pro: AnTuTu Benchmark, Geekbench, and Other Differences

by Ritik Singh
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Apple A18 vs A18 Pro: What's the Difference?

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.

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 BenchmarkA18A18 Pro
CPU418,631401,420
GPU499,599616,083
Memory175,395251,169
UX350,066357,106
Total Score14,43,69116,25,778

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 CPUSingle-coreMulti-core
A1830537601
A18 Pro31587974
Difference3.44%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
A1827914
A18 Pro32870
Difference17.75%

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 RateOverall Score
A1822.8 fps3810
A18 Pro26.6 fps4445
Difference16.67%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 ScoreHalf Precision ScoreQuantized Score
A1841793237444309
A18 Pro44223209544086

A18 vs A18 Pro: Comparison Table

A18A18 Pro
Process Node3nm (TSMC)3nm (TSMC)
CPUNew 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 Speed4.04GHz4.04GHz
GPUNew 5-core GPUNew 6-core GPU.
One extra GPU core compared to A18.
NPUNew 16-core Neural EngineNew 16-core Neural Engine
Advanced Media featuresNot supportedProMotion display, Always-on display, ProRes video recording, new video encoder, and new image signal processor.
USB VersionUSB 2.0 (iPhone 16 and 16 Plus)USB 3.0 (iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max)
Apple ProRAWNot supportedSupported
GPSSingle-frequency GPSDual-frequency GPS
AnTuTu14,43,69116,25,778
Geekbench CPU Single core: 3053
Multi core: 7601
Single core: 3158
Multi core: 7974
Geekbench GPU2791432870
Geekbench AISP: 4179
HP: 32374
Quantized: 44309
SP: 4422
HP: 32095
Quantized: 44086
Wildlife Extreme Stress TestAverage 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.

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