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On Tue, 10 Sept, 12:03 AM UTC
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Apple's A18 chip will power the iPhone 16 lineup
Apple is giving the iPhone 16 a brand new chip, instead of just sticking with last year's hardware. The company unveiled the A18 chip at the iPhone 16 launch event today, and as you'd expect, it's built with Apple Intelligence in mind. The chip offers more memory and a new 16-core Neural Engine, in addition to the usual speed bumps. More so than the past few years, where you could point to new camera lenses or hardware tweaks as a reason to get a new iPhone, now the A18 is key to Apple's biggest selling point for the iPhone 16 lineup. Other than last year's iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, older iPhones can't run Apple Intelligence features like the revamped Siri, Genmoji and integrated ChatGPT search. (Anyone who splurged for those higher end iPhones chose wisely, as there's little reason to upgrade.) AI workloads require plenty of RAM to juggle large models, so that alone disqualifies the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, which only had 6GB of RAM on the A16 chip (a holdover from the iPhone 14 Pro). The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, on the other hand, featured 8GB of RAM with the A17 Pro chip. Apple's previous strategy of using the previous year's chips on the iPhone and iPhone Plus made sense. Those devices didn't require the demanding camera processing of the Pro models, which were entirely geared towards power users. Apple could both cut manufacturing costs and still deliver a solid user experience for iPhone owners with older chips. (Even though it debuted in 2022, the A16 chip in the iPhone 15 is still very capable today.) But now that Apple is centering the iPhone experience on Apple Intelligence, a family-wide spec bump isn't too surprising. And even if you're not excited about Apple's AI offerings (which they'll never actually call AI), it's nice to have some more RAM in the base iPhone line.
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Apple's A18 chip "designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up"
Both new iPhones get new chips at the same time for the first time in years. For the last couple years, Apple has reserved its most significant silicon updates for its iPhone Pro models, while the less expensive non-Pro iPhones have made do with year-old chips. This year, Apple is introducing new A18-series chips for both Pro and non-Pro iPhones, chips which it says are "designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up." The Apple A18 (no Pro, no Bionic, just A18) will power the new iPhone 16 and 16 Plus -- the iPhone 15 used an A16 Bionic, and jumping two chip generations in one year makes for more impressive-sounding performance numbers. Like the last few generations of iPhone chip, the A18 includes a 6-core CPU, with two high-performance processor cores and four high-efficiency cores. Apple says the CPU is 30 percent faster than the A16 chip in the iPhone 15. The A18 also includes a 5-core GPU that Apple says is 40 percent faster than the GPU in the iPhone 15 -- the A18 GPU also supports hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, first introduced in the A17 Pro. A 16-core neural engine will accelerate Apple Intelligence's AI and machine learning capabilities, and 17 percent higher memory bandwidth compared to the A16 rounds out its capabilities. The chip is built using a "second-generation 3nm" manufacturing process, most likely from longtime Apple manufacturing partner TSMC. Apple didn't mention RAM specifically -- it rarely does, for iPhones -- but the A18 likely has at least 8GB of RAM to help it run Apple Intelligence models. The A16 in the iPhone 15 included 6GB of RAM. The iPhone 16 Pro gets a new Pro chip; the A18 Pro's upgrades over the A18 are mostly subtle, and it's less of an upgrade over the iPhone 15 Pro and its A17 Pro chip. Apple is still using a six-core CPU with two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, but Apple says that "larger caches" and "next-generation ML accelerators" will boost its performance a bit beyond the cores in the regular A18. Apple says CPU performance should be around 15 percent faster than in the A17 Pro. The GPU in the A18 Pro uses the same architecture as the A18, but it has six GPU cores instead of five, and is 20 percent faster than the A17 Pro's GPU. Apple did say that hardware-accelerated ray-tracing could be up to twice as fast as in the A17 Pro, but the regular A18 Pro should benefit from this improvement, too. The A18 Pro has the same 16-core Neural Engine as the A18, and also benefits from 17 percent more memory bandwidth. Some of the things that make the A18 Pro "pro" are related to its I/O, and its media encoding and decoding hardware. The A18 Pro supports ProRest video encoding, has a new image signal processor that apparently isn't in the A18, and also supports "faster USB 3 speeds" than the A17 Pro. For those using their iPhones to shoot professional-grade video, these are small-but-welcome improvements over the A18 that will help shoot better video, and make it easier to offload video to a computer when it's time to edit.
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iPhone 16 is powered by A18 chip, up to 30% faster than iPhone 15 - 9to5Mac
Apple today announced the new A18 chip, featuring a six-core CPU, five-core GPU, and sixteen-core Neural Engine for faster artificial intelligence performance. Apple also said the A18 has a new memory subsystem to traffic data as quickly as possible. Compared to iPhone 15 with the A16 Bionic chip, Apple says the A18 chip is up to 30% in single-core CPU performance. In addition to faster performance, Apple also touted the efficiency improvements in the A18 chip, partly enabled via a second-generation 3-nanometer fabrication. Apple says the iPhone 16 is built from the ground-up for Apple Intelligence, powered by the industry-leading performance of the A18 chip architecture.
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Apple unveils the A18 chip for the iPhone 16 lineup, promising significant performance improvements and enhanced AI capabilities. The new processor is set to revolutionize mobile computing with its ground-up design for "Apple Intelligence."
Apple has officially announced its latest mobile processor, the A18 chip, which will power the upcoming iPhone 16 lineup. This new silicon promises to deliver substantial performance improvements and advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, marking a significant leap in mobile computing technology 1.
According to Apple, the A18 chip offers up to 30% faster performance compared to its predecessor found in the iPhone 15 series. This improvement is expected to enhance overall user experience, from app loading times to complex computational tasks 3.
What sets the A18 apart is its ground-up design focused on "Apple Intelligence." This approach signifies a shift towards integrating advanced AI capabilities directly into the hardware. The chip is engineered to handle complex machine learning tasks more efficiently, potentially revolutionizing how AI is utilized in mobile devices 2.
The A18 chip features an improved Neural Engine, which is crucial for AI and machine learning operations. This enhancement is expected to boost on-device AI processing, enabling more sophisticated features while maintaining user privacy by minimizing the need for cloud-based processing 1.
Despite the significant performance improvements, Apple claims that the A18 chip maintains excellent energy efficiency. This balance between power and efficiency is crucial for maintaining or potentially improving battery life in the iPhone 16 lineup 3.
The introduction of the A18 chip is expected to have far-reaching implications for iOS and app development. Developers will likely have access to new APIs and tools to leverage the chip's AI capabilities, potentially leading to a new generation of intelligent and responsive applications 2.
With the A18 chip, Apple aims to strengthen its position in the competitive smartphone market. The focus on AI and machine learning aligns with industry trends and could give Apple an edge in areas such as computational photography, augmented reality, and natural language processing 1.
As the release of the iPhone 16 approaches, tech enthusiasts and consumers alike are eagerly anticipating the real-world performance and capabilities of the A18 chip. Its success could set a new standard for mobile computing and AI integration in smartphones.
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Apple unveils the A18 and A18 Pro chips for the iPhone 16 series, promising significant performance improvements over previous generations. The new chips showcase advancements in processing power and AI capabilities.
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Apple's latest A18 and A18 Pro chips are set to revolutionize the iPhone 16 series. These AI-focused processors promise significant performance improvements and new capabilities for Apple's flagship devices.
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Apple has announced the iPhone 16, featuring a dedicated camera button, new color options, and advanced AI capabilities powered by the A18 chip. The latest iteration of the iconic smartphone introduces "Apple Intelligence" and significant design changes.
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Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 is rumored to incorporate ARM's latest chip design, potentially enhancing AI capabilities and performance. This move could mark a significant advancement in mobile AI technology.
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Apple is set to integrate ARM's latest AI chip technology in the upcoming iPhone 16, signaling a significant leap in on-device AI capabilities for smartphones.
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