Apple A18 and A18 Pro announced with massive CPU and GPU performance gains
Apple has unveiled its next generation of mobile APs for the iPhone 16 series. As predicted by an earlier rumours, Apple has launched two variants of the chip: A18 and A18 Pro. This time, the regular A18 appears to be more than an A17 Pro with a new label slapped on top.
The Apple A18 keeps Apple's quintessential 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores. However, it seems to be a lot more potent this time around, thanks to it being manufactured on TSMC's 'second generation' node aka N3P. Plus, it offers 17% more memory bandwidth compared to its predecessors.
As a result, it offers up to a 30% performance uplift over its last-gen counterpart. The Apple A18's 5-core GPU ups the ante with a 40% generation-over-generation performance boost. Plus, it natively supports hardware-based raytracing and will run last-gen titles such as Resident Evil Village.
Apple says the Apple A18 Pro has been tailor-made to accommodate the requirements of 'Pro' iPhone models. As predicted earlier, it comes with a 6-core GPU, but keeps the same CPU layout. The company claims the A18 Pro is 15% faster than the A17 Pro while consuming 20% less power. Other notable features include a dedicated media engine, 'faster' USB speeds, and ProRes recording.
Essentially, the Apple A18 Pro is a slightly better A18 with an extra GPU core slapped on top. Nevertheless, both chips look promising, and this time, you can actually get cutting-edge Apple Silicon without spending extra for a 'Pro' iPhone.
Source(s)
Apple
