The iPhone 16 series brought Apple’s new A18 Bionic and A18 Pro chips. There was speculation that the “Pro” chip only had an advantage in the GPU and CPU clock speeds. However, die shots at the Apple A18 and A18 Pro SoCs confirmed that their designs are different, or at least more than expected.
Apple was the first smartphone company to implement 3nm chips with the Bionic A17 in the iPhone 15 series. However, only iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max users enjoyed this. The Cupertino giant fell back on the previous-generation A15 chip for the vanilla and Plus iPhone 15. This is probably the reason for the lack of Apple Intelligence support on those models. Apparently, Apple was not planning to jump on the mobile AI bandwagon anytime soon, but plans changed.
Common aspects between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro chips
For the iPhone 16 series, Apple implemented redesigned next-generation A18 SoCs in all models. Still, the company developed a standard and a Pro version. Both share the same TSMC 3nm manufacturing process (N3E). Both CPUs integrate 6x cores, with 2x high-performance cores for the most demanding tasks and 4x high-efficiency cores for more common ones.
They also use the same InFO-PoP (Integrated Fan-Out Package-on-Package) technology. According to TSMC, InFO-PoP is a packaging method that includes “high-density RDL (Re-Distribution Layer) and TIV (Through InFO Via) for high-density interconnect and performance.” This method stacks DRAM directly on top of the SoC die, resulting in a smaller chip but with more powerful performance and better thermal control.
In addition, the InFO-PoP technique facilitates the replacement of the DRAM package, resulting in potentially better and less expensive repairability. The two chips also share the same GPU and Neural Engine, at least on paper.
This is where Apple’s A18 and A18 Pro SoCs are different
That said, the die shots of both Apple A18 SoCs reveal a key area where they are different. The images show that the A18 Pro chip has more transistors. In SoCs, higher transistor density means more processing power. Each new generation of chip manufacturing processes seeks not only to miniaturize current hardware but to integrate more transistors in less space. In turn, a smaller chip will also result in less energy consumption.
This is on top of the already expected differences in clock speeds for the CPU and GPU. The A18 Pro even integrates an additional core in its GPU (5x cores vs. 6x cores), which will be especially noticeable in tasks related to 3D rendering or VR/AR. Additionally, the Neural Engine in Apple’s latest “Pro” chip is better, so the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max should be more efficient when running on-device AI processing.
Basically, on paper, the power difference between the Apple A18 and A18 Pro is wider than expected. Still, the standard A18 chip is already quite powerful, and most users won’t even get to squeeze out all of its potential.