Yesterday marked a significant milestone in the tech world as we got our first peek at a die shot comparison between Apple’s A18 and A18 Pro, the second-generation 3nm chipsets powering the latest iPhone 16 models. This closer examination allowed us to delve deeper into the physical intricacies of these processors, despite initial challenges in identifying specific components on each SoC.
The new comparison sheds light on a fascinating development: the A18 and A18 Pro might not be sharing the same foundational design. High Yield’s rigorous inspection uncovered that the A18 Pro boasts a die size of 105mm² compared to the A18’s 90mm². This difference in size is more than just a numbers game; a larger die enables Apple to integrate a more substantial SLC cache and an additional GPU core into the A18 Pro. Larger cache sizes generally translate to enhanced performance, which is why the A18 Pro shows a notable advantage in benchmarks, even though it shares the same CPU cluster and is only a single GPU core ahead of the A18.
The revelation from High Yield’s thread confirms that the A18 isn’t merely a scaled-down version of the A18 Pro. On the contrary, they are fundamentally different chips. For context, the A17 Pro, the SoC running the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, measures at 103.8mm²—just slightly smaller than the A18 Pro. During Apple’s official announcement, the transistor counts for both new chipsets were left undisclosed, likely because TSMC’s cutting-edge 3nm ‘N3E’ node, used in their fabrication, has a lower density compared to the earlier N3B variant.
There’s reasonable speculation that to pack in more transistors and thereby boost performance, Apple had to enlarge the A18 Pro’s die size compared to its predecessor, the A17 Pro. However, the specifics of the transistor count remain a mystery. This latest investigative leap has led notable reviewers to place the A18 Pro at the pinnacle of mobile chipset performance globally, rivaled only by Apple’s powerhouse M2 and M4 chips.
Stay tuned as more details inevitably surface, further uncovering the impressive strides Apple continues to make in mobile chip technology. This ongoing evolution solidifies their reputation at the forefront of the industry, pushing the boundaries of speed and efficiency with every new release.
