Alleged Geekbench result of Apple A18 in iPhone 16 shows underwhelming multi-core score

The Apple A18 is a new SoC that powers the non-Pro iPhone 16 models. As we discussed in our recent coverage, per Apple's description, the new chip appears more than a rebranded A17 Pro. Apple didn't compare these two directly, though. Instead, the company compared the new SoC with the A16.

Right after the announcement, a new Geekbench entry of what appears to be Apple A18 has popped up. This questionable listing on the benchmarking tool shows that the chip apparently gets 3,114 in single-core and 6,666 in multi-core. In our benchmark tests, the A17 Pro got a max single-core score of 2,930.

That makes the single-core score of the seemingly Apple A18 better, but the multi-core score is a different story. The max multi-core score of Apple A17 Pro from our tests is 7,224, higher than the multi-core score of the benchmark result that just surfaced. This shouldn't be the case, though.

Per Apple's description, the Apple A18 should be better in multi-core as well. Also, the first benchmarks that pop out right after announcements usually have less accurate scores. For example, a Geekbench 6 result of Apple M4 (512 GB WiFi iPad Pro curr. $1,399 on Amazon) surfaced right after the company announced the chip, and the scores from that benchmark run didn't represent the actual scores.

So, it goes without saying that you should take these scores with some grains of salt. The good news is that the Apple iPhone 16 lineup will be available starting September 20, so you don't need to wait long to see how exactly Apple A18 performs.