- Apple's flagship A18 Pro chipset has delivered impressive CPU performance as it is built on Armv9.2a architecture and packs two new SME units.
- In the Geekbench benchmark test, the six-core CPU on the A18 Pro scores 3,409 in the single-core test and 8,492 in the multi-core test.
- The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Geekbench test reveals 3,236 points in single-core and a massive 10,049 points in multi-core test, outperforming the A18 Pro.
Apple launched the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max with the new A18 Pro chipset, which promises powerful CPU performance. The new CPU is based on Armv9.2a architecture and brings two SME units aka ML accelerators for faster AI performance. And the Geekbench results demonstrate that Apple has indeed developed a powerful CPU.
In Geekbench 6.3.0 which got SME support recently, the A18 Pro chipset scores a whopping 3,409 points in the single-core test and 8,492 points in the multi-core test. Compared to the previous year’s flagship A17 Pro CPU (2,950 Single-core & 7,279 Multi-core), the A18 Pro is 15.5% faster in single-core and 16.6% faster in multi-core performance.
When compared to the A16 Bionic, the A18 Pro is 28.8% faster in single-core and 23.7% faster in multi-core. Apple is running the A18 Pro’s performance core at 4.04GHz. This is the first mobile chipset to break the 4GHz barrier in a passively cooled device, apart from the Apple M4-powered iPad Pro which runs at 4.4GHz.
Meanwhile, a new Geekbench score of Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 has appeared from Digital Chat Station on Weibo, a well-known tipster. The upcoming OnePlus 13, which is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset (still on Armv8 with no SME units) is said to score 3,236 in single-core and a massive 10,049 points in multi-core. These are unprecedented numbers coming from a mobile SoC.
If we go by the leak, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is merely 5% behind the A18 Pro in single-core performance but delivers 18% faster performance in multi-core. Of course, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 packs eight Oryon CPU cores whereas A18 Pro includes six CPU cores.
By the way, Qualcomm has also breached the 4GHz mark by running two Oryon cores at 4.32GHz, even higher than Apple. The rest of the 6x cores are running at 3.53GHz.
While we need to authenticate the numbers further, it appears Qualcomm has caught up to Apple in the CPU department as well. The inclusion of Nuvia-designed Oryon cores on Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 has yielded significant improvements for Qualcomm and the larger Android ecosystem. The race to make the fastest mobile SoC is heating up, and we are here for it.
