New information has surfaced online about Apple’s upcoming A18 and A18 Pro SoCs for the next iPhone 16 series. Both chips will reportedly feature the same CPU configuration but differ slightly in GPU capabilities, with the A18 Pro sporting a more robust version.
The iPhone 16 lineup, set to include the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, is expected to launch on September 9. According to a leak from Weibo user Fixed Focus Digital, the A18 and A18 Pro will have a six-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. The A18 will include a five-core GPU, while the A18 Pro will feature a six-core GPU. The A18 Pro also has a reported boost clock of 4.05 GHz, surpassing the A17 Pro’s 3.8 GHz.
The rumor suggests that Apple initially aimed for a 4.95 GHz boost clock for the A18 but scaled it back due to high power consumption concerns. Such a high frequency is generally considered impractical for smartphone SoCs, even with advanced manufacturing technologies like TSMC’s N3E node.
Unlike previous generations, where non-Pro iPhones used older hardware, the gap between the regular and Pro models will be smaller this time. This change is likely to support Apple’s new AI features, which are expected to require significant processing power and memory. A potential increase in RAM could also be on the horizon to accommodate these demanding AI processes.
