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When Apple announced that only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max can run its AI-powered suite of features called Apple Intelligence, the immediate assumption was that it is because the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are powered by an older and slower processor.
That turned out not to be the case, as even Apple's M1 AI coprocessor with its 11 TOPS count can run Apple Intelligence, let alone the A16 Bionic in the iPhone 15 with its 17 TOPS. According to Apple's Craig Federighi, the constraints were rather in the iPhone 15's 6GB RAM count.
Still, ever since Apple released the iPhone 14 series, the two cheaper iPhones got the Pro models' system chip from the previous year, while the current iPhone Pro versions got a newer, faster processor. The iPhone 15 models, for instance, are powered by a 4nm Apple A16 Bionic chipset, while the iPhone 15 Pros run on the 3nm A17 Pro system chip.
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Both the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro will have 8GB RAM, though, and will be powered by the newest Apple A18 processor series, so at least the iPhone's processor fragmentation must be over, right? Not so fast...
Apple A18 Pro processor specs and features
2x 4.05 GHz cores
4x efficiency cores
6x GPU cores
3nm TSMC N3P production process
40% faster graphics
Apple is launching the iPhone 16 series with a new A18 chipset that breaks the 4 GHz speed barrier for the first time. It also allows for a significant boost in on-device AI calculations and machine learning. The Apple A18 Bionic landed in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, while the top-shelf A18 Pro is powering the flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max handsets.
A18 Pro processor cores and clock count
The Apple A18 Pro features both a 6-core main processor and a 6-core graphics processing subsystem. Apple reportedly wanted to clock the two A18 Pro performance cores to the exorbitant 4.95 GHz clock frequency to no avail as the thermal management stability and power draw just weren't there at those speeds. As a result, it settled on the 4.05 GHz clock count, which will still be on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 speeds.
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are 20% faster than their predecessors with the 3nm A17 Pro whose peak speed is lower, at a 3.8 GHz clock frequency, with the corresponding lower benchmarks.
Alleged Apple A18 Geekbench score | Image credit – DCS/Weibo
Thus, any speed advantages that the Apple A18 Pro on the iPhone 16 Pro may have before the A17 Pro on the iPhone 15 Pro might be coming solely from the increase in peak clock speeds, rather than the fact that it will be made on a more advanced production node.
A18 Pro production process
This is par for the course, as newer generations of a production node typically brings stability and power draw improvements, rather than some grand performance boost, so Apple might indeed be using it to add features to the A18, instead of clock speed.
Following N3 technology, TSMC introduced N3E and N3P, enhanced 3nm processes for better power, performance, and density.
TSMC, 2024
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The top-shelf Apple A18 Pro chipset version, however, may be crafted on TSMC's more expensive, lower yield N3P process that is 5% faster and consumes up to 10% less energy than the N3E (Enhanced) process that the A18 in iPhone 16 is using.
Where the iPhone 16 Pro series shines brighter is in the gaming, computational photography, AI, and other departments that need a powerful graphics subsystem. Compared to the current iPhone 15 GPU, the Apple A18 Pro graphics benchmarks show that it is nearly 40% faster. That's a huge jump, but only for the Pro models, where Apple will provide one extra GPU core.
Teased Apple A18 GFXBench score | Image credit – DCS/Weibo
The 6-core GPU increases the gaming street cred of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and it will also help it stay ahead of Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 processor series. It has been catching up to Apple in the GPU department lately, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in the Galaxy S25 Ultra won't be an exception, so Apple appears to have taken notice.
A18 Pro and Apple Intelligence AI calculations
35 Trillion Operations Per Second
The Apple A17 Pro chipset's Neural Engine AI calculations subsystem has a 16-core coprocessor which is capable of 35 Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS). That is more than double the 17 TOPS offered by the A16 Bionic processor. Apple, however, says that the A18 Pro's "new 16-core Neural Engine is faster and more efficient than the previous generation, powering remarkable on-device performance for Apple Intelligence."
The 2024 iPhones will be the first line that will not only support Apple Intelligence on all the handsets in the iPhone 16 series, but will also be future-proof for the upcoming Large Language Model bump from the current 3B LLM to a 7B LLM model.
Apple A18 leaves the iPhone 16 behind
The stripped down version of the Apple A18 for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus comes with a 6-core processor as well, but a penta-core GPU, compared to the six cores of the graphics processor in the iPhone 16 Pro. The iPhone 16 processor also has reduced cache size compared to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and a lower clock speed.
Coupled with the TSMC N3E production process, the Apple A18 chip version in the iPhone 16 is a bit slower and more power-hungry than the A18 Pro processor in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. Apple, however, needs to make its newly minted Apple Intelligence features run without a hitch on all of its 2024 iPhones, so it has placed 8GB RAM in the cheapest iPhone 16 version for the first time, too.
Still, the difference between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro processors is a lot smaller compared to the previous two iPhone generations, and that has to count for something.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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