Apple Unveils A18 Pro Chip: 15% CPU & 20% GPU Boost

On September 10, Apple held its highly anticipated Fall product launch event, unveiling the new iPhone 16 series. The lineup includes the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

This latest generation of iPhones is powered by the all-new 3nm A18 processors, with the standard models featuring the A18 chip and the Pro models equipped with the more advanced A18 Pro. Both chips are built on TSMC's second-generation 3nm (N3E) process, marking a shift from the A17 series, where only the A17 Pro used the 3nm technology.

The N3E process offers notable improvements compared to the previous N3B process, addressing earlier flaws and enhancing both performance and cost-efficiency. Compared to the N5 process, N3E delivers a 15-20% performance boost and a 30-35% reduction in power consumption. It also achieves a logic density increase of 1.6 times and a chip density boost of 1.3 times. According to TSMC, N3E provides around 5% better performance than N3.

The A18 processor, featured in the standard iPhone 16 models, boasts a 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. It also includes a 5-core GPU and a 16-core neural engine, which powers Apple Intelligence's AI functions both in the cloud and on-device. The A18's memory bandwidth has been increased by 17% to meet the demands of larger models, resulting in a 15% performance improvement over the A17 Pro. The GPU has also seen a 20% boost, with hardware-accelerated ray tracing support.

In terms of raw performance, Apple reports that the A18’s CPU delivers 30% better performance than the A16, with a 30% reduction in power consumption. The GPU is 40% faster and consumes 35% less power compared to the A16.

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max take performance to the next level with the A18 Pro chip, which, while also based on the N3E process, features a 16-core neural engine capable of 35 TOPS (trillion operations per second). This version of the A18 has a 6-core CPU with larger caches than its predecessor, leading to a 15% performance improvement and 20% lower power consumption compared to the A17 Pro.

The A18 Pro also includes a next-generation machine learning accelerator, enabling more efficient and high-throughput computing. The GPU has been upgraded from 5 cores to 6, offering desktop-level performance with a 20% improvement over the A17 Pro.

Additionally, the A18 Pro integrates a media processing engine that supports advanced display technologies, ProMotion, and always-on display features. It also enables faster USB3 speeds, ProRes video recording, and HDR 4K 120Hz video capture. A new video encoder and image signal processor work together to double data throughput, enhancing video encoding speed and overall processing efficiency.

In summary, while the A18 Pro offers incremental improvements over the A17 Pro, its advancements are largely attributed to TSMC's second-generation 3nm process rather than major changes in CPU, GPU, or neural processing capabilities. Nonetheless, it delivers a more refined performance and power efficiency that aligns with Apple's push for cutting-edge mobile technology.