It’s Apple Bionic time and this time Apple released not one but two SoCs. The Apple A18 and A18 Pro. We’ll go through the specs of both SoCs as well as compare them against the older Apple A17 Pro to see if there are any improvements or if Apple is shenking their customers as usual. This promises to be rather interesting.
Let’s begin. So Apple revolutionized the mobile phone game and became the kings of the smartphone market, a position that they dragged from previous luminaries such as Nokia and Blackberry.
Whilst the title of the first smartphone doesn’t belong to them (IBM Simon, 1993), Apple would go on to change the way we interacted with our phones and subsequently the world. They were able to achieve this with their Apple A series SoCs.
Once upon a time, Apple was so far ahead of the competition (Snapdragon and Exynos) it was literally a joke to compare them. However, the situation seems to have changed these days. Android SoCs have caught up but that hasn’t dampened the shine of the Apple Bionic SoCs.
Usually Apple would drop one SoC every year and call it a day. This year, they’ve bucked tradition and dropped not one but two SoCs. These are the Apple A18 and the A18 Pro. So let’s look at their specs and then we’ll discuss them.
Apple A18 and A18 Pro specs
The key specs include:
| Specs | A17 Pro | A18 | A18 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 2x Everest (3.78GHz)
4x Sawtooth (2.11 GHz) |
2x P. Cores (3.78 GHz)
4x E. Cores (2 GHz) |
2x P. Cores (3.89 GHz)
4x E. Cores (2.2 GHz) |
| GPU | A17 Pro GPU (1398MHz) | A18 GPU (1398MHz) | A18 Pro GPU (1450MHz) |
| ISA | ARMv8.6 | ARMv9.2 | ARMv9.2 |
| Fab | 3nm TSMC | 3nm TSMC | 3nm TSMC |
| RAM | LPDDR5x | LPDDR5x | LPDDR5x |
| Stor age |
NVMe | NVMe | NVMe |
| ISP | – | – | – |
| AI | Neural engine | Neural engine | Neural engine |
| Cam era |
48MP | 48MP | 48MP |
| Video | 4K @60fps | 8K @24fps 4K @120fps | 8K @24fps 4K @120fps |
| Dis play |
2796×1290p | ||
| Comm | Snapdragon X70 (4G, 5G) | Snapdragon X75 (4G, 5G) | Snapdragon X75 (4G, 5G) |
| BT | Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 5.4 | Bluetooth 5.4 |
| WiFi | WiFi 6 | WiFi 7 | WiFi 7 |
| Geek Bench |
2953(single) 7441 (multi) |
3120(single) 7360 (multi) |
3678(single) 8974 (multi) |
| Antutu | 1,528,179 | 1,520,555 | 1,915,345 |
The A18 can be found on the Apple iPhone 16 and 16 plus models whilst the A18 Pro can be found on the higher end iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro max models.
As someone who criticized Apple for using Apple A16 Bionic chips on the lesser Apple flagships from the previous year, this one is a pass mark as everyone would be buying this year’s phone.
Performance
It is almost comforting to see that Apple haven’t given up on the big.LITTLE (2+4) microarchitecture which they clearly favour. Both SoCs use 2 high performance cores for the big tasks and 4 efficiency cores for the regular stuff inorder to conserve battery.
One could also very well argue that the loss of the Nuvia guys has stifled SoC innovation at Apple causing them to stick with this template. However, so long as it works, I don’t see what the problem is.
Both SoCs are built on TSMC’s cutting edge 3nm process which is said to be very efficient and easy on battery life. That however is where the similarities end.
The A18 Pro obviously being the superior SoC is clocked slightly faster than it’s weaker sibling (by around 0.11 GHz). Both SoCs use the same GPU but the A18 Pro GPU is also clocked faster by about 52MHz.
When we convert this into performance terms using Benchmark scores, the A18 Pro (1915345) is 26% faster than the A18 (1520555) on AnTuTu 10. On GeekBench 6, the same story is repeated as the A18 Pro (3678/8974) is 22% faster than the A18 (3120/7360).
This got me thinking however that how could a CPU core difference of 0.11GHz for the big cores, 0.2GHz for the small cores and 52MHZ for the GPU lead to such a wide gulf in class?
I dunno about you but it just doesn’t add up. This is because the other parts of both SoCs are clearly identical. In fact, the A18 is just a slowed down version of the A18 Pro. They both share the same features even down to the ray tracing on the GPU.
In the end, I’m concluding inconclusively that the A18 has been nerfed to protect the sales of the A18 Pro powered iPhones 16 Pro and Pro max. Regardless, I’m keen to hear what you have to say.
RAM and Storage
Both SoCs use LPDDR5X RAM and Apple’s NVMe controller for their flash storage. Both which are cutting edge tech in and of themselves.
Camera, Video and AI
Apple has always been very secretive about their ISP but will always advertise their Neural AI at every opportunity.
Both SoCs use the Neural engine which doesn’t seem to be updated much from last year. They support cameras of up to 48MP and can do up to 8K video at 24fps which is the standard for most movies.
A few directors like Christopher Nolan and Peter Jackson have shot movies of over 24fps but 24fps remains the standard. Big music star, The Weeknd, recently shot a music video demonstrating the video capabilities of the iPhone 16 Pro series.
With that being said, whilst I am undoubtedly a biased Android fan, I’ll concede that Apple’s iPhones are video capabilities are still ahead of Android’s.
Connectivity
Both SoCs use the latest Snapdragon X75 modem and both also have support for cellular networks up to 5G, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. They also both support the latest GPS technologies as well.
Comparison
Finally let’s compare the A18 Pro with the A17 Pro
When it comes to performance, the A18 Pro is 26% faster than the A17 Pro with a faster LPDDR5X RAM and NVMe storage (probably). The A18 Pro also has a newer and faster modem as well as 8K video capabilities.
The A18 on the other hand has the same performance levels as the A17 Pro but enjoys all of the other advantages that the A18 Pro has over the older A17 Pro.
So yeah that’s that. As usual, I’ll be around for comments and stuff.
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