Apple has made a notable shift in its approach to boosting CPU performance in its latest devices. Previously, the company had introduced a delay in the CPU boost frequency, which prioritized better battery life at the cost of slightly lower single-core and multi-core scores. However, recent results from the A18 Pro running on the iOS 18.1 beta 5 suggest that Apple might be reconsidering this decision. Not only does the A18 Pro show impressive single-core performance, but its multi-core scores now come tantalizingly close to the M2 chip’s performance, as you might find interesting.
Reviewers have observed this noticeable change in performance metrics. One such expert, Dame Tech, compared these results using Geekbench 6 scores. With the new beta update, the CPU’s behavior has shifted, showing the A18 Pro scoring 3,601 in single-core tests and an impressive 9,388 in multi-core results.
Interestingly, the A18 Pro, when pitted against the M1 in multi-threaded workloads, held its own. With the recent update, it’s even more striking that the M2, running in the larger 15-inch MacBook Air, is not more than 4% faster than the A18 Pro. This puts the A18 Pro, found in Apple’s latest flagship iPhones, in a highly competitive position.
The beta update of iOS 18.1 seems to have tweaked the boosting algorithm, enhancing performance across the board. A18 Pros are now scoring in the 3.3-3.4K range for single-core Geekbench 6 tests, whereas the A17 Pro’s scores have been adjusted upwards to 2.9-3K from the previous 2.7-2.8K range. This improvement was highlighted in a post by Dame Tech, adding more excitement to the ongoing performance discussions.
For the fans of last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max powered by the A17 Pro, this means a pleasant bump in performance when running the latest beta. However, it remains to be seen if these enhancements will stick when the final version of iOS 18.1 is officially rolled out. For now, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users can revel in their devices’ impressive performance, although the A18 Pro still trails behind the fastest Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 tested so far.
It’s an exciting time for Apple enthusiasts as these updates hint at more robust performance from their favorite devices, and it will be interesting to see if the official release retains these impressive improvements.
