Apple is preparing the A18 for its upcoming iPhone 16 series, though a new rumor mentions an A18 Pro, hinting that the company might be developing a slightly more powerful version exclusively for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. It appears that the new A-series SoC has gone into testing early, as rumored Geekbench 6 scores reveal that it is faster than Apple’s M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max in the single-core results. Unfortunately, the multi-threaded performance paints a dull perception, at least for now.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Dimensity 9400 have no chance against A18 Pro in single-threaded workloads, assuming the new Geekbench 6 rumor ends up being true
If we compare Apple’s single-core results of the M3, it obtained 3,076 points in Geekbench 6’s benchmark, and there was hardly any deviation from the M3 Pro and M3 Max in the same test. With the A18 Pro, @negativeonehero has put out a post on X, stating that the upcoming silicon has a single-core score of 3,500, making it around 14 percent faster than the entire M3 family. Apple has always had an edge in this category, and though the difference has narrowed considerably in multi-threaded tests, the company has remained the undisputed champion in single-core performance.
Even when compared to the alleged Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s scores that were shared by the same tipster, Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship chipset obtained a score of 2,845, making the A18 Pro 23 percent faster. Unfortunately, in Geekbench 6’s multi-core, we see the weakness of Apple’s second-generation 3nm chip, as it is only rumored to score 8,200 points, making the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 29 percent faster. Then again, you must remember that Apple will most likely retain a 6-core CPU divided into two performance and four efficiency cores.
Apple A18 Pro GB6 score is said to be 3500/8200.
— Nguyen Phi Hung (@negativeonehero) January 30, 2024
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is rumored to sport a ‘2 + 6’ CPU cluster, and with no efficiency cores being adopted by Qualcomm this year, its new SoC would undoubtedly secure higher multi-core scores. Of course, as most of you are well aware, performance is just one side of the coin, and without knowing the power draw of each chipset, we cannot comment on how power-efficient both of them will be. Thankfully, we have learned on multiple occasions that the A18 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be mass produced on TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3E’ process, so power consumption should be similar, at least on paper.
Regardless, the tipster has mentioned in his post that these scores have arrived too early, speculating that the A18 Pro is in its early testing stages. With every passing month, we might see a near-accurate representation of its performance, so stay tuned for more updates.
News Source: @negativeonehero
