A18 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: Benchmark Comparison Reveals Performance Gap

A18 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: Benchmark Comparison

In the 3DMark graphics test, the 6-core A18 GPU offers better sustained performance than the Adreno GPU on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Apple has released its flagship phones, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, powered by the powerful A18 Pro chipset. The new A18 Pro chipset has grabbed headlines for delivering faster performance and unrivaled efficiency. But where does it stack up against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 which is still the leading chipset in the Android world? To find the answer, let's go through our detailed benchmark comparison between A18 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. In the Geekbench CPU test, the A18 Pro scores 3,358 in single-core and 8,184 in multi-core. The A18 Pro CPU is based on the Armv9.2a architecture and packs two new SME units (ML accelerators) which helps the CPU achieve slightly better scores on the latest Geekbench 6.3 benchmark that got SME support recently. In comparison, last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 2,320 in single-core and 7,146 in multi-threaded tasks. The CPU is based on the older Armv8 architecture, hence there is no SME support. In summary, the A18 Pro CPU is around 45% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in single-core tasks. And in terms of multi-core performance, it's 14% faster. Since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 packs eight CPU cores (A18 Pro has six), the gap in multi-core performance is not that huge. In the AnTuTu benchmark, the A18 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 perform along the same lines. In our test, the A18 Pro scored 1,826,016 points and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 achieved 1,810,792 points. The CPU performance is nearly identical, but in the GPU department, the A18 Pro delivers 10% better graphics performance. Next, in our 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress test, the 6-core A18 Pro GPU got the best loop score of 4,574 points and the lowest loop score of 3,096 points with a stability of 67.7%. Whereas the Adreno 750 GPU on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored better in the first loop with a score of 5,136 points. But after multiple rounds, the lowest score came down to 2,697 points. The stability stood at a lower 52.5%. This means that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 can quickly boost the GPU performance, but it can't sustain the peak performance for much longer. A18 Pro, on the other hand, offers sustained graphics performance for an extended period. Put simply, the A18 Pro will offer a better gaming experience over a longer period than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Finally, we come to our Geekbench AI test that evaluates the Neural Engine/NPU. Geekbench AI was recently updated to version 1.1 which slightly improves the scores across the board. And it also added support for TensorFlow Lite and QNN framework for Android devices. The NNAPI framework has been deprecated and you finally get an apples-to-apples comparison between Android and iOS devices. In our testing, the A18 Pro scored much better on the Single Precision (FP32) data type, achieving 4,582 points whereas the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 could only get 439 points. The full precision format offers higher accuracy while running AI/ML tasks, but consumes more memory. In Half Precision (FP16), the 16-core A18 Pro Neural Engine delivers 2x better performance than the Hexagon AI engine on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Finally, in Quantized format (INT8) which is more memory-efficient, but relatively less accurate, the A18 Pro is around 13% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It's clear that Apple is the leader in on-device AI computation. And with the new SME units in the CPU, the A18 Pro seems a far better chipset for delivering AI/ML features locally. It's evidently clear that the A18 Pro is a better chipset than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in all aspects, be it the CPU, GPU, or Neural Engine/NPU. Apple has the most powerful and power-efficient CPU cores and the GPU also offers sustained graphics performance. As for on-device AI tasks, Apple has again demonstrated that it's the leader in the industry. Now, we need to wait for the Oryon-powered Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 that promises breakthrough performance. Based on leaks so far, Qualcomm is poised to outclass Apple in the CPU department for the first time. Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 releases next month at the Snapdragon Summit event.

Apple A18 Pro Benchmarks: Geekbench, 3DMark, AnTuTu & More

The 6-core GPU on the A18 Pro does very well in the 3DMark Solar Bay test that evaluates the Ray Tracing capability. Apple has started shipping the iPhone 16 Pro series, and we have already received the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max. It's powered by the flagship A18 Pro chipset and promises great performance and efficiency. So without any wait, we have run various benchmark tests on the A18 Pro including Geekbench, 3DMark, AnTuTu, Geekbench AI, and more. So to check out the findings, let's go through the article. In the Geekbench 6.3 CPU test, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, powered by the A18 Pro chipset, scored 3,358 in single-core and 8,184 in multi-core tests. The score is a bit lower than what we got on iOS 17. It's because Apple is delaying frequency boost on iOS 18 to preserve battery life. A18 Pro: AnTuTu Benchmark Next, the A18 Pro scored 1,816,016 points in the AnTuTu benchmark test, falling short of crossing the 2 million mark. Nevertheless, in the CPU department, it got 451,848 points and the 6-core GPU achieved 728,942 points. A18 Pro: Geekbench 6 GPU In the Geekbench 6 GPU test, the 6-core GPU on the A18 Pro achieved a total score of 32,569 points. The test was done on Apple's Metal graphics API and delivers performance on par with the Apple M1 GPU. Compared to the A17 Pro GPU, the A18 Pro GPU is about 20% faster which is great. A18 Pro: 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test and Solar Bay To test the A18 Pro GPU further, we ran the intensive 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress test. It got the best loop score of 4,574 points and the lowest loop score of 3,096 points, at a stability of 67.7%. The graphite substructure seems to be helping the 6-core GPU to sustain its performance for an extended period. In the 3DMark Solar Bay Unlimited test that evaluates the Ray Tracing capability, the A18 Pro GPU achieved 7,985 points. The average frame rate stood around 30.4 FPS. As you can notice in the below graph, the ray tracing performance remained pretty stable, only going down in the last section. A18 Pro: Geekbench AI Finally, in the latest Geekbench AI 1.1 benchmark test, running on the 16-core Neural Engine, the A18 Pro scored 4,582 in Single Precision (FP32), 31,990 in Half Precision (FP16), and 43,995 in Quantized (INT8). In lower-precision formats like FP16 and INT8, the A18 Pro Neural Engine is pretty powerful. And, coupled with high-bandwidth memory, the Neural Engine is able to achieve far better performance than last year's Neural Engine. Overall, the Neural Engine is capable enough to run Apple Intelligence features on the device. A18 Pro Benchmarked: The Verdict Overall, the A18 Pro delivers meaningful performance improvements across the board, be it the CPU, GPU, or Neural Engine. Fabbed on TSMC's N3E process node, the A18 Pro chipset is not just performant, but also very efficient. The graphite substructure helps the SoC deliver sustained peak performance for much longer and the temperature remains within the comfort zone. To sum up, both performance and battery life are going to be much better on the A18 Pro than on previous generation A-series processors.