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Wow! The iPhone 16’s A18 Pro chip has overtaken Apple’s M1 MacBooks

By Abdullah Asim

Published: Sep 14, 2024, 2:40 PM

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Apple Processors

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The iPhone 16 reveal is being called the most boring Apple event ever. It seems AI might be the only reason for buying an iPhone 16. But here’s something Apple really should have mentioned at its event: Apple silicon has gotten so good that the iPhone 16 Pro is faster than the M1 MacBook in most benchmarks.

Obviously, comparing it to the previous chip makes the performance gains seem marginal at best. But it speaks a lot to just how quickly Apple silicon is improving that today the iPhone beats a still relevant and powerful laptop. And I thought playing PlayStation 4 games on the iPhone 15 was impressive.

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Apple silicon has been a game changer for the company. MacBooks, previously mocked for their weak Intel processors and lacking hardware, are now genuinely some of the most powerful laptops on the market. In-house chip development also means extremely optimized performance when running Apple’s own apps like the Safari browser.

Apple Intelligence is cool too, though. | Video credit — Apple

With Apple silicon today’s MacBooks boast insane battery life, powerful performance and are generally a competent alternative to Windows laptops. The fact that a phone is now matching, and even exceeding, that level of performance is insane. Apple silicon performance gains have helped the company so much that it’s spending billions to try and make in-house modems as well.

However, AI just wasn’t enough of a reason to get people excited for the new iPhone. In fact, the iPhone 16 reveal was so underwhelming that Apple stock began dropping when it was announced. And I just can’t believe that the base model iPhone 16 still has a 60 Hz display. That’s almost criminal in 2024 when even budget Chinese smartphones have a refresh rate of at least 90 Hz.

Despite all these shortcomings however, iPhone 16 is flying off the shelves. So much so that iPhone 16 Pro Max pre-orders have been pushed back all the way to October.

Clearly the iPhone 16 will easily become one of the best phones worth buying today, despite the fact that the EU and China are not getting Apple Intelligence. And these benchmarks leave me wondering when we might be able to just plug in an iPhone into a gaming PC instead of a GPU.

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Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.