With the Apple iPhone 16 range about to go on sale – preorders from tomorrow, in stores from September 20 – one of the reasons you might want to opt for a Pro or Pro Max model is faster 5G speeds, thanks to an upgraded modem.
The team at SpeedSmart (via 9to5Mac) has done some tests on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, finding that 5G download speeds are up to 26.4% higher than on the previous models, depending on the network.
That top improvement over the 2023 iPhones was seen on T-Mobile, with the increase across T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T averaging out at a jump of 23.7%. Both T-Mobile and Verizon were showing download speeds of well over 400Mbps, with AT&T lagging behind around the 270Mbps mark.
Upload speeds saw a noticeable boost as well, though not to the same extent as download speeds. All three networks were consistently showing upload speeds above 30Mbps, which is handy for transferring files and making video calls.
Wi-Fi 7 upgrades too
The iPhone 16 Pro Max got a modem upgrade too (Image credit: Apple)
These new phones use an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 modem, it's been discovered: the component deploys a variety of tricks to improve speeds and efficiency, as evidenced by the faster download and upload speeds recorded by SpeedSmart.
We're still waiting for confirmation, but the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are thought to be using the older Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem for connectivity – that's the same modem that was in all four 2023 iPhone models.
All four iPhone 16 models have been upgraded to Wi-Fi 7 as well: this won't increase your broadband speed, but should mean you get closer to the maximum upload and download rates at home (assuming you've got a Wi-Fi 7 router). These are all small but important details, like improved charging speeds, that Apple didn't explicitly mention at its event.
If you need any more convincing that these are the phones for you, check out our hands-on iPhone 16 Pro review and iPhone 16 Pro Max review. They offer more performance and better cameras than the other two models, as well as faster 5G speeds, it seems.
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 series earlier this week it revealed a lot of improvements and new features, but there are some upgrades that the company has stayed rather quieter about for some reason.
Most excitingly – and it seems especially odd to us that Apple didn't talk about this – it seems these phones probably charge quite a lot faster than Apple let on. A certification spotted by WhyLab (via ShrimpApplePro and 9to5Mac), shows that all four iPhone 16 models – meaning the iPhone 16 itself, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, should support 45W wired charging.
That’s rather faster than Apple would lead you to believe, as while the company never talks about specific wired charging speeds, it has said that you can charge these phones to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W or higher charger.
THIS IS A VERY GOOD NEWSAll the iPhone 16 series has up to 45W wired charging! According to the CQC https://t.co/nlRIvrBib5 pic.twitter.com/8cUnGDsLMISeptember 12, 2024
The implication there would be that charging tops out at 20W, but Apple made similar claims last year, and actual charging speeds were a little higher at between 27-29W depending on the model. So it’s entirely plausible that speeds have further jumped this year.
Since this information hasn’t come direct from Apple, we can’t say with 100% certainty that it’s accurate; but if the iPhone 16 line can support 45W charging then that’s a big jump, and brings the phones in line with flagship rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Of course, you’ll also need a fast-enough charger to enjoy the full benefit, and the 20W chargers that Apple has been suggesting won’t cut it.
Privacy protection
Another feature Apple hasn’t talked about is ‘Secure Exclave’, which is present in the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets that power the iPhone 16 line.
This feature was first found on the M4-powered iPad Pro (2024), and it basically makes it harder for malicious apps to disable the camera and microphone indicators on your iPhone.
These indicators show when the camera or microphone are active, and malicious apps may want to watch or listen to you without you knowing, so they’d seek to disable the indicators.
On earlier iPhone models these indicators were enabled by software, so it would be feasible – albeit probably not easy – for an app to mess with them, but Secure Exclave uses hardware to control them, making it more challenging to disable them.
This is a fairly niche feature so it’s understandable that Apple wouldn’t highlight it, but 9to5Mac claims to have confirmed via iOS 18 firmware that it’s present, and it should provide peace of mind to any privacy-conscious iPhone owners.
If you were hoping for massive performance gains from the A18 chipset in the iPhone 16, you might be out of luck, as a benchmark suggests there are only small improvements.
A Geekbench listing spotted by 9to5Mac includes a single-core result of 3,114 and a multi-core result of 6,666. This is for a phone with the identifier ‘iPhone17,3’, which is believed to be the base iPhone 16.
In any case, for comparison, the iPhone 15 has an average single-core result of 2,541 and an average multi-core of 6,325. So that would make for a reasonable upgrade this year in the single-core score but a fairly small multi-core increase.
(Image credit: Geekbench)
And neither of these scores seem to match Apple’s claims for the chip, as the company has said it has a CPU that’s up to 30% faster and a GPU that’s up to 40% faster than the A16 Bionic.
And of course, the A16 Bionic is a two-year old chip. If we compare these results to the average scores of the iPhone 15 Pro and its one-year-old A17 Pro chipset, things look a lot worse, at least in terms of multi-core results.
That phone achieves an average single-core score of 2,896, so the A18 has that beat, but its multi-core average is much higher at 7,192.
Newer but maybe not better
So for most demanding tasks the A17 Pro is probably a better chipset than the A18. That’s not entirely surprising, but it does feel sneaky of Apple, as the company can highlight that the iPhone 16 has a newer chipset with a bigger number in the name, while actually it’s less impressive than the chipset launched by the company last year.
Of course, the A18 Pro used by the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will likely perform a lot better, so we’ll be interested in seeing benchmarks for that. And since this is just one benchmark listing it’s possible that the scores here won’t prove representative of what the A18 is capable of. But based on this initial result it doesn’t seem like a very impressive upgrade.
As the dust settles on the rather busy iPhone 16 launch event, more and more details are coming to light about the new devices and software that Apple is now rolling out – including the iOS 18 update due next week (Monday, September 16).
The team at 9to5Mac has done some digging and discovered the ability to pause video recordings in the iOS 18 Release Candidate (that's the finalized testing version that immediately precedes a public launch).
This ties in with a demo we saw at Apple's show, in which the iPhone 16 (and its new Camera Control button) was shown pausing a video midway through the recording – very handy for doing jump cuts between scenes in a single video file.
The new discovery suggests the feature is also coming to every other iPhone that's able to run iOS 18. When recording a video, a pause button appears in the lower left-hand corner, and you can tap to temporarily stop and restart the recording.
iOS 18 and the AirPods Pro 3
The AirPods 4 come with a hearing aid feature (Image credit: Apple)
Some further investigation into the iOS 18 code by 9to5Mac has revealed a reference to wireless earbuds with a heart rate sensor: "wear both earbuds during workouts to track and send your heart rate to Apple Health" reads part of the message.
As verified with insider sources, this means health sensors are likely on the way to both the AirPods Pro 3 and the next-gen PowerBeats Pro earbuds. Both those devices are expected to launch at some point during 2025.
Yesterday we got the unveiling of the AirPods 4 wireless earbuds, featuring a number of useful upgrades: improved sound (as you would expect), a refreshed design, and active noise cancellation on the more expensive of the two pairs.
Thanks to the iOS 18 code we now know there's more on the way for the more expensive version of Apple's wireless earbuds – in addition to infrared cameras, perhaps. The Apple AirPods Pro 2 were launched back in 2022, with a small refresh in 2023.
Ahead of the launch of the iPhone 16 series, one thing we heard rumored was that all four models would have 8GB of RAM, and – while Apple never reveals RAM amounts in its phones – it seems that claim was probably right.
MacRumors – with assistance from @iSWUpdates – claims to have found mention of 8GB of RAM for all four models in the latest version of Xcode 16 (an Apple tool for developers).
That would be a 2GB boost for the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus, but it would mean that the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max have the same amount of RAM as their predecessors.
An issue for AI
The iPhone 16 Pro Max (Image credit: Apple)
That latter point is slightly disappointing, especially since Apple Intelligence is likely to need quite a lot of RAM – especially for the stuff that’s handled on device. For comparison, the Google Pixel 9 line comes with between 12GB and 16GB of RAM to help handle all of the many AI features on those phones.
Of course, we still can’t quite take this leak as a confirmation that every iPhone 16 model has 8GB of RAM. We’ll have to wait for teardowns for that, but we’d say it’s very likely accurate.
For one thing, Xcode files have accurately revealed RAM amounts in previous iPhone models, and for another, it makes sense that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus at least would have 8GB, since the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus don’t support Apple Intelligence, and that’s likely at least in part because they only have 6GB of RAM.
That again though shows how important plenty of RAM probably is for Apple’s AI, so it will be interesting to see whether the Pro models feel less than Pro when carrying out AI tasks.
In terms of how much that'll cost you, well the iPhone 16 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,599, the iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149.
I'm rather surprised Apple hasn't ramped up the price of its new iPhones given the power the Pro models offer with the new A18 Pro chip, and how all the phones get a new Camera Control button that can detect certain gestures to trigger camera modes and shooting options without needing to tap at a screen. And the standard and Plus modes also get the Action button that was previously reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
In fact, given the upgrades and I think all of the iPhone 16 models now offer a fair bit for the money. They are sure to be contenders for spots on our best phones list, so I'd low-key suggest getting a pre-order in if you're hyped for them.
Also once the new phones are put in the wild, I'd recommend taking a look at our iPhone 16 deals page, as there are carrier who could offer some compelling phone and network deals worth your attention.
We’re now just hours away from the launch of the iPhone 16 line – you can follow the build-up at our iPhone 16 event live blog – with Apple set to unveil these phones later today (September 9). The leaks haven’t stopped rolling in even at this late hour, and the latest contains several pieces of potentially good news.
In a post on X, reputable leaker Mark Gurman (via 9to5Mac) claimed that the iPhone 16 Pro’s starting price isn’t likely to be raised above the $999 of the iPhone 15 Pro. He didn’t talk about pricing for other regions, but for reference the current model starts at £999 / AU$1,849 in the UK and Australia, so it might be that Apple sticks with those prices too.
We weren’t specifically expecting a price rise prior to this leak, but we certainly hadn’t ruled one out either, so it’s encouraging to hear that Apple’s most expensive new phone after the iPhone 16 Pro Max might not come with a price hike.
I expect the touch sensitive camera button to be on all iPhone 16 models tomorrow. The slimmer bezels on the Pro line are noticeable, as are battery life improvements. I don’t expect the Pro entry price to be raised from $999. Big focus will be on AI & A18 chip across the board.September 9, 2024
Gurman also claimed that we'll see noticeable battery life improvements for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and that their bezels will be noticeably smaller than on the current models.
Echoing reports we've heard repeatedly from other sources, Gurman also said that all four iPhone 16 models will probably gain the widely rumored Capture button, for controlling the camera, and that Apple’s focus at the launch event will be AI and the new A18 chipset.
We'll find out very soon
While we should take all of the above with a pinch of salt, Mark Gurman has a superb track record for Apple leaks, and most of this is in line with things we’ve heard previously anyway.
We’ll know for sure soon enough, as Apple’s iPhone 16 launch starts at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is 3am on September 10 for those in the AEST time zone.
It's Glowtime! Well almost... The next Apple event takes place tomorrow (Monday, September 9) and we're expecting to see a huge number of new devices including phones, smartwatches and headphones, plus some major AI updates.
We'll be live on the ground in Cupertino to bring you all the big reveals from the launch, which takes place at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (3am on September 10 for those in the AEST time zone).
Of course, as well as following our live blog below you can catch the whole thing yourself via Apple's stream, and we've got full details on how to do that in our guide to how to watch the iPhone 16 launch event live.
This showcase could be the biggest Apple event of the year, so without further ado, let's get into it.
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, wherever you are. We're a little over 24 hours away from the September 9 Apple event, which will almost certainly be one of the biggest tech product launches of the year.
I'm here to give you a rundown of what to expect, the juiciest rumors so far, what I want to see, and more. So let's do this!
This comes courtesy of analysts at TrendForce who have claimed that both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are going to start at 256GB of storage this year. That would be a bump for the smaller phone, and a change I'd certainly welcome; after all the iPhone 15 Pro starts at 128GB of storage, which seems a tad miserly for a phone of its price.
On the video recording side, 9to5Mac 's sources claim the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will be capable of capturing footage at a 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. That's a boost from the 60 frames per second on the current models. So for content creators, such a capability could be a worthy upgrade.
(Image credit: Apple)
I feel the camera quality of the models you'll find on our best phones list are so high (at least for smartphones) that there's not much to differentiate the top models besides a preference for certain photography styles.
However, video capture could be the next frontier for phones to really battle it out in. And Apple has long led the way, so it's promising to see that the Cupertino crew could embrace 4K at 60fps video capture to put the next-gen Pro iPhones in line with the on-paper capabilities of the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra but add some Apple video processing magic on top of it.
For more on the cameras we're expecting to see from the higher-end iPhones, check out our rundown on the iPhone 16 Pro camera rumors and predictions.
We’re now just days away from the September 9 launch of the iPhone 16 series, and these are sure to be very expensive phones. But if you’re a member of the iPhone Upgrade Program, then you could get one for ‘free’.
Obviously, almost nothing in life is free, and certainly not smartphones, but at the very least you might not need to spend more than you already are.
Below, we’ll explain exactly what the iPhone Upgrade Program is, how it works, and whether you can use it to get an iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max without spending a single extra cent.
What is the iPhone Upgrade Program?
The iPhone Upgrade Program is a contract, much like if you bought an iPhone from a carrier, but this is offered directly by Apple.
You simply choose your iPhone and pay it off over either 20 months (in the UK) or 24 months (in the US) with 0% interest – though if you’re a UK customer there’s additionally a £69 upfront cost.
But once you’ve made 11 payments (in the UK) or 12 payments (in the US) you have the option to upgrade to a new iPhone. If you choose to do that, you just trade in your current iPhone with Apple, and start the program again with your new one.
If you choose not to upgrade, you can simply continue paying off your current iPhone and then keep it at the end.
(Image credit: Apple)
Which countries have the iPhone Upgrade Program?
The iPhone upgrade program is available in both the US and the UK, as well as China.
However, the specifics of it – such as the costs and the program duration – vary slightly from place to place. So, where things differ, we’ve noted the different terms in the US and the UK.
What iPhones can you upgrade to as part of the program?
Currently, you can only get iPhone 15 models through the iPhone Upgrade Program. That includes the iPhone 15 itself, the iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. So, if you want an older or lower-end model, then this program isn’t for you.
Once the iPhone 16 line launches, we’d expect the iPhone 15 line to be replaced here by the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. So, yes, you should be able to get Apple’s so-new-they-haven’t-even-been-announced-yet iPhones on the Upgrade Program.
Of course, the monthly cost you’ll pay will depend on the model and its storage capacity. We don’t know the iPhone 16 line pricing yet, but as an example, the iPhone 15 costs from $39.50 / £42.95 per month on this program, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $58.25 / £65.45 per month.
The iPhone 15 Plus (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Can you pre-order an iPhone 16 through the iPhone Upgrade Program?
iPhone 16 pre-orders haven’t opened yet, but when they do – which, based on past form, we predict will happen on Friday, September 13 – it’s very likely that you will be able to pre-order one of Apple's new phones through the iPhone Upgrade Program, as you could do so for previous models.
What else do you get with the iPhone Upgrade Program?
As well as the option of a new iPhone, you also get AppleCare+ as part of the iPhone Upgrade Program.
This provides accidental damage protection – meaning you can get your iPhone repaired for free (other than an excess) an unlimited number of times if it’s damaged accidentally.
AppleCare+ also gives you a battery service, access to an 'Express Replacement Service', and 24/7 priority access to Apple experts.
You can also optionally add theft and loss protection, though this costs extra.
(Image credit: Apple)
How do you enroll in the iPhone Upgrade Program?
In the US, you can sign up for the iPhone Upgrade Program online, in an Apple Store, or via the Apple Store app. In the UK, you can only sign up at a physical Apple Store, though there is the option to reserve an iPhone online for pickup at a store, and then enroll when you collect it.
Other things to note about the iPhone Upgrade Program
When you get a new iPhone through the iPhone Upgrade Program, you can connect it to your existing carrier with no changes to the plan you have with them – your contract is just with Apple, not with a network carrier.
Apple will carry out a credit check when you apply for the iPhone Upgrade Program, so, depending on your credit rating, there’s a chance you’ll be refused.
Also, while you have to pay a certain amount before you’re eligible to upgrade, you can upgrade early by paying the remaining required balance at the time of the upgrade.
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Apple's next event is happening this coming Monday, September 9, and we should see the grand unveiling of the iPhone 16 series at the show. While we count down the days, we've heard a couple of new rumors about what to expect from the Pro models.
First up, the analysts at TrendForce (via MacRumors) reckon that both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are going to start at 256GB of storage this year – which would be a bump for the smaller phone.
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at 256GB, the iPhone 15 Pro is available with 128GB of storage. It seems Apple is now ditching that lowest storage option, so both of these handsets will be available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of built-in storage.
This isn't the first leak to suggest the 128GB storage option on the Pro model will be dropped, but we'll have to wait and see how it affects pricing – it may well mean the starting price of the iPhone 16 Pro is higher than its predecessor ($999 / £999 / AU$1,849).
Video capture
The iPhone 15 Pro Max (Image credit: Future)
Our second iPhone 16 Pro rumor of the day concerns video recording. Sources speaking to 9to5Mac say the Pro and Pro Max will be capable of capturing content in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second – up from 60 frames per second on the current models.
In addition, Apple has apparently been testing out 8K video recording on the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. However, 9to5Mac says it's not clear whether this capability will be enabled, and it might be saved for the iPhone 17 in 2025.
There's also another mention of the rumored new Capture button here, for taking photos and videos. This is set to be made available to third-party apps as well as the default Camera app, so you won't have to use Apple's own app to make use of it.
From what we're heard so far, it sounds as though the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are going to have an identical triple-camera setup on the back, which wasn't the case with the 2023 equivalents. We'll find out for sure on Monday.
I’m not a complex man, despite the claims of my therapist (the one that lives in my head); I like things to be simple and sleek. I’m a plain dark tee kinda guy. I don’t like beers that pretend to be liquid chocolate or mango. And I think Space Gray is the best iPhone color.
Maybe I’m just 187cm of lack-of-imagination. Or I have such a vision for aesthetics that I find a white room ambrosia for my eyes. But something about this tipped colorway is rubbing me up the wrong way.
I’ve seen it touted as a bronze color – which I’m not against, as I’m currently taking the rather lovely Christopher Ward C63 Dune bronze watch for a spin. But that’s made of actual bronze and is developing a patina, mellowing from a slightly too yellow hue to a warm brown.
So there’s no scope for an bronze-ish Desert Titanium iPhone 16 Pro to develop a patina, meaning one could be saddled with a phone that doggedly holds onto a color tone that’s not the buttery yellow of caramel or the warm glow of gold (for what it’s worth I think gold iPhones have should have no place on this planet), but rather something sickly in between.
There are four colors in total in the iPhone 16 Pro Lineup: white, black, gold and gray.The desert titanium color is kind of dark gold, similar to the old purple color, relatively discreet and deep pic.twitter.com/uDiNiBI4IzAugust 18, 2024
Bothersome bronze
Also bronze is the color of losers; don’t @ me.
It’s basically the runner-up medal, which to me feels like a bigger sting than just getting a ribbon or certificate saying you took part. Bronze says you tried hard but still missed the loftier podium positions. And as a one-time British bronze medalist in a 200 meters freestyle swimming race, I know the feeling of having such metal on my person.
The only exception is the bronze on the aforementioned watch. And even then that feels a little try-hard with its desire to age at speed.
So yeah, I’m really not convinced by the idea of a Desert Titanium iPhone 16 Pro. I will reserve the right to change my mind if I see the phone in person, because I’m flighty like that. And there’s more than enough scope for this rumored shade to not actually see the light of day.
Outside of Desert Titanium, the rest of the tipped iPhone 16 Pro colors seem more pleasing to my eye, with gray, white and Space Black shades to be expected; still no Space Gray though, much to my chagrin.
Of course, with the next Apple event set for September 9 – check out our guide on how to watch the iPhone 16 launch event live – we’ll soon see what iPhone 16 which rumors turn out to have been accurate and which were complete tosh. And TechRadar will be over in Cupertino to cover the ‘It’s Glowtime’ event live, so I’ll be keen to see what my colleagues Lance Ulanoff and Jacob Krol make of the new iPhone 16 colors in general.
The A18 Pro is likely to be Apple’s next-generation mobile chipset and the beating heart of the as-yet-unannounced iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max – and possibly even the lower-end iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
All four devices are hotly tipped to launch at the next Apple Event on September 9, and we can’t wait to see how the A18 Pro – which will surely be more powerful than the current A17 Pro chipset inside the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – improves what will surely be Apple’s best iPhones, well, ever.
Below, we’ve detailed the biggest leaks, rumors, and predictions surrounding Apple’s likely next chipset. We’ll be updating this page with more information once the iPhone 16 series – and, we hope, the A18 Pro – is announced in the coming days.
A18 Pro: predicted release date
As mentioned, Apple has confirmed that its next product launch event will take place at 10am PT /1pm ET / 6pm BST on Monday, September 9, which is 3am AEST on Tuesday, September 10 for those in Australia.
We’re expecting the company to debut the iPhone 16 line at this event, and therefore the A18 Pro chipset. Naturally, the iPhone 16 release date hasn’t yet been confirmed, but we predict that iPhone 16 preorders will begin on Friday, September 13.
Incidentally, the colorful invitation for Apple’s upcoming event states “It’s Glowtime”, which appears to be a reference to the Apple Intelligence toolset that will feature heavily in the company’s newest products and operating systems.
Apple Intelligence was announced at WWDC 2024 back in June, so we already know what sort of Apple Intelligence features to expect come September 9. Tools like the new-and-improved Siri, the Clean Up editing feature, and automatic text summarization will all require quite a bit of power to function, and that means Apple’s new devices need a powerful chipset to take advantage of this new technology.
So, the A18 Pro is going to be blazing fast, right? Maybe. In past years, it’s been pretty much a given that the flagship iPhone will have a more powerful chipset than the equivalent Android phone, but we’re not sure that’ll be the case this year. According to tipster Nguyen Phi Hung on X (via Phone Arena), the A18 Pro may offer just a 10% increase in speed over the current A17 Pro, which sounds like a surprisingly small increase given how heavily Apple Intelligence will surely feature in the new iPhone lineup. That said, this is still just a rumor, after all.
The A17 Pro powering Genshin Impact on the iPhone 15 Pro (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Keep in mind, too, that the A17 Pro chipset is no slouch. Apple has already confirmed that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be able to run Apple Intelligence features (or at least some of them), so the A18 Pro may not need to be all that much more powerful. Specifically, the A17 Pro is a 3-nanometer chipset that boasts a 16-core Neural Engine and a 6-core GPU that supports ray tracing, maximizing performance for mobile games such as Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, and Death Stranding.
We’ve also been hearing that the A18 Pro might have a lot more cores in its Neural Engine. Noted on Taiwanese site Economic Daily News (via 9to5Mac), the Neural Engine in Apple’s next best chipset will have “significantly” more cores than the Neural Engine in the A17 Pro. This is promising news, since the Neural Engine is the part of Apple’s chipsets that specifically power artificial intelligence. It makes sense, then, that the A18 Pro chipset would see an increase in Neural Engine cores to power those aforementioned power-hungry Apple Intelligence features.
The A18 Pro will reportedly have more cores than the A17 Pro (above) (Image credit: Apple)
With regards to the A18 Pro being designed with AI in mind, we’ve also heard from leaker Jeff Pu at Haiton International Tech Research (via 9to5Mac) that the A18 Pro “will feature a larger die area (compared to A17 Pro), which could be a trend for edge AI computing.”
What is edge AI? This refers to the ability to carry out AI tasks on the phone itself rather than in the cloud. Edge AI is important because it can be faster and it works without an internet connection. But there are downsides, too. Increasing the die area of a chipset to achieve those improved speeds can decrease its ability to dissipate heat. It can also decrease energy efficiency.
So, with the A18 Pro, Apple will need to maximize speed and power without compromising on heat dissipation and energy efficiency. In any case, we’ll likely learn all about it at the company’s “It’s Glowtime” event, which is just around the corner.
