The latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have made their way into the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, with both models showcasing a significant leap in neural processing unit (NPU) performance. These devices, now outfitted with the A17 Pro SoC, are theoretically capable of reaching up to 35 tera operations per second (TOPS) in NPU performance.
The real-world capability of an NPU isn’t solely dependent on its theoretical maximum. It also hinges substantially on other factors such as the amount of available RAM, the speed of that RAM, and the degree to which the device’s software has been optimized to utilize the hardware fully. Recognizing this, Apple’s latest software update, iOS 18, has been engineered to make more efficient use of the NPU within the A17 Pro.
A keynote point from this year’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) revealed that iOS 18 includes newly integrated features designed to boost AI performances. For example, the implementation of the MLTensor framework is a major upgrade that allows AI software and models like GPT2 and SSD MobileVit v2 to run significantly faster—up to 270% and 600% respectively—than on the previous iOS 17.
Although such claims might sound abstract, they are corroborated by tangible improvements seen in the synthetic benchmark results. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, running on the now previous-gen iOS 17.5.1, typically achieved scores just above 5,500 on the Geekbench ML 0.6.0 test. However, with the introduction of iOS 18, this score has seen approximately a 36% increase, vaulting over 7,500 points.
Further solidifying these advancements, Apple has confirmed that even iPhone models equipped with the A16 Bionic chip will benefit from enhanced NPU performance thanks to iOS 18. Yet, it’s important to note that the peak AI capabilities, termed Apple Intelligence, seem to be reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max along with future models likely to build upon the current high benchmark of NPU performance.
With this update, users of the newest iPhone models can expect a more seamless and intuitive experience, particularly in applications that rely heavily on AI and machine learning. The leap in performance also opens up developers to create even more sophisticated apps and experiences that can now take advantage of these hardware and software optimizations.
As technology continues to advance, we’re witnessing the boundaries being pushed further, not only in hardware but also in the software that unlocks the full potential of the devices we use daily. The introduction of iOS 18 and its impressive AI performance upgrades for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max show Apple’s commitment to staying at the forefront of this innovation curve.
