The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro launched almost two weeks ago, and we’ve finally gotten an in-depth look at the differences between their chipsets, thanks to ChipWise. Below, we explore the A18 and A18 Pro chips.
Die Shots Reveal Insights into A18 and A18 Pro
At first glance, the A18 and A18 Pro chips from Apple seem to possess remarkably similar specifications. According to the company’s comparison page, the key details are as follows:
| A18 | A18 Pro | |
| CPU | 6-core | 6-core |
| GPU | 5-core | 6-core |
| Neural Engine | 16-core | 16-core |
Given the similarities between the two chips, many tech enthusiasts, including myself, speculated that Apple was utilizing chip binning, which is a common practice in the industry. It would make sense for Apple to manufacture a single chip and allocate units that didn’t meet the GPU specifications to the standard iPhone models, a strategy they have previously employed in their Mac lineup.
However, the recent die images from ChipWise indicate that the A18 and A18 Pro might actually be distinct chipsets altogether.
Benefits of Different Chip Architectures
While we’ve known that the A18 Pro comes with certain enhancements such as USB 3 support and the functionality behind the always-on ProMotion display, it was assumed that producing a single chip with unused ‘Pro’ features in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus would be a more economical route for Apple, considering the massive scale of iPhone production.
