Apple’s A18 Chipset Will Be Found In All iPhone 16 Models, So Does That Mean There Are No Specification Differences Between The ‘Pro’ And Non-Pro Versions?

The ‘Pro’ and non-Pro lineup of Apple’s iPhone releases have seen more differentiation from the chipset side of things in the last couple of years, with the company giving preference to the more expensive models by treating them to a more capable silicon. These differences were noticed with the iPhone 13 family, where the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max were kitted out with a 5-core GPU, whereas the regular models only featured a 4-core part.

The contrast was even more prominent with successive launches, as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max carried the biggest difference by featuring the A17 Pro, Apple’s first 3nm SoC. In comparison, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus were treated to the older A16 Bionic, the same SoC powering the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Looking at these trends, will the iPhone 16 range continue this practice, or does Apple bring the A18 to the entire lineup as a standard? Let us find out.

Leaked iOS code revealed that all iPhone 16 models would feature the A18, but perhaps Apple has a surprise awaiting us down the road

Back in December, Apple’s iOS 18 update, which was codenamed ‘Crystal’ at the time, featured references to four unreleased iPhone 16 models, with additional information claiming that all four would feature the A18. The leaked code did not reveal any ‘Pro’ variant of the chipset, but that does not nullify its existence. An early rumor talked about the A18 Pro’s alleged score in Geekbench 6, which, at that time, had the highest single-core score for a smartphone silicon but was slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

This score alone highlights the existence of the A18 Pro and that it may exclusively be used to fuel the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Additionally, Apple stands to lose out on a ton of sales for the more expensive models if it pushes a launch of four smartphone models sporting the same chipset. Naturally, the evident approach would be to increase the number of exclusive features to the ‘Pro’ variants so customers flock to them first. However, it still does not explain where that leaves us with the A18, but we might have an answer.

Could the regular A18 be based on the A17 Pro but mass produced on TSMC’s improved 3nm technology?

Given how Apple typically re-uses its A-series of chipsets from last year into next year’s base and ‘Plus’ variants, it will not be surprising if the A17 Pro arrives to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. However, instead of calling it the A17 Pro, we have a hunch that Apple will call it the A18, as the company could switch to TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process as it did with the M4. The updated version of the Taiwanese semiconductor giant’s 3nm technology not only has improved yields, but it also delivers better overall performance than the older ‘N3B’ node, which was expensive too.

For those who do not remember, the tape-out costs for the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max touched $1 billion, and that might have to do with Apple being the only one employing TSMC’s first 3nm iteration. All the company now has to do is provide the chipset design of the A17 Pro sporting two high-performance Everest cores and four Sawtooth cores, slap on a different name, and TSMC will do the rest. Bear in mind that the A17 Pro running in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max is powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, so there should be little doubt about the A18’s capabilities when it powers the innards of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.

What other A18 and A18 Pro specifications should we look forward to?

For the A18 Pro, we have reported that the CPU cluster will remain unchanged from the A17 Pro, with the chipset sporting two performance and four efficiency cores. However, those who were expecting an increase in the total number of GPU cores, well that's sadly expected to remain the same as its predecessor, though the improved architecture should provide a decent performance bump in CPU and GPU-focused tests. After all, look at the M4 - it is just a generation ahead of the M3, but it beats the latter comprehensively in single-core and multi-core tests while maintaining a solid lead against the M3 Pro and Snapdragon X Elite.

Also, there was a rumor doing the rounds claiming that the A18’s Neural Engine would be more powerful than the M4’s, allowing for faster on-device generative AI capabilities. This could be possible because Apple is said to adopt bigger die sizes for its upcoming chipsets, leaving sufficient space to reserve for a larger Neural Engine. However, regardless of these upgrades, one area that Apple should not save costs on is incorporating a capable thermal solution, or else the company would leave a ton of performance on the table. As for our conclusion, we strongly believe that the A18 and A18 Pro will be featured in different iPhone 16 models, but if you have a different opinion, leave your thoughts in the comments and participate in the poll below.

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