Apple has once again upped the ante with its mobile silicon, as the A18 Pro chipset—exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max—shows nominal gains over its predecessor, the A17 Pro, despite retaining the same CPU and GPU core count. The latest in the Apple lineup not only stands 28% faster in Geekbench 6’s single-core and multi-core tests but also matches the speed of the desktop-class M1 SoC from four years ago. Now, recent benchmarks focusing on the GPU reveal that the A18 Pro is on par with the M1, while still managing to outpace the A17 Pro by a significant margin.
Apple’s bold claim that the A18 Pro delivers a 200% boost in ray tracing performance over the A17 Pro might have seemed like marketing hyperbole at first, but the numbers back it up. Geekbench 6 Metal scores, shared by content creator Vadim Yuryev, show the A18 Pro outperforming the A17 Pro by 18% despite having identical GPU counts. This performance leap underscores the impact of architectural improvements, marking a substantial gain year-over-year. In the same Metal test, the A18 Pro scores 32,997 points, slightly edging out the M1’s 32,532. While this margin falls within the error range, indicating parity between the two chipsets, one significant differentiator is the A18 Pro’s support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature absent in the M1.
A comparative analysis of the A18 Pro to the A17 Pro and M1 in these benchmarks shows the tangible benefits of Apple’s iterative improvements. The hardware-accelerated ray tracing is particularly noteworthy, given that the A17 Pro was the first Apple SoC to feature dedicated ray tracing cores, and the A18 Pro outstrips it by a dramatic 200%.
However, benchmarks are just numbers on paper until translated into real-world scenarios. The true test will be in gaming performance, where the A17 Pro already impressed with its ability to run AAA titles smoothly on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. With better cooling solutions in the new iPhone 16 models, the A18 Pro is poised to not only maintain high performance but also ensure a higher framerate, offering an even more seamless gaming experience.
The push for faster, more efficient chips year after year continues to set a high bar, and Apple’s A18 Pro is a testament to that relentless pursuit of technology advancement. The real-world implications for users are clear: whether it’s enhanced gaming, faster processing, or prolonged device longevity, the A18 Pro is set to deliver exceptional performance across the board.
