A report from Apple’s supply chain suggests that Apple’s A18 Pro chip will have a larger chip area (relative to the A17 Pro), which may require more AI computing power.
The report comes from Jeff Pu of Haitong International Technology Research Department, via 9 to 5 The chip will reportedly handle artificial intelligence on the device, something currently leading Android can already do thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
The increased die area on the A18 Pro means the chip could accommodate more transistors or specialized components – hinting at the massive improvements we’ve heard about the Neural Engine. Apple could leverage artificial intelligence on its 2024 iPhones by using a combination of on-device AI and Google’s Gemini AI, for which Apple is reportedly seeking permission.
In Pu’s memo, he specifically emphasized the A18 Pro as the 6-GPU version, which confirms the existence of the A18 non-Pro chip with fewer GPUs.
This is very consistent with reports that the entire iPhone 16 series will use the A18 SoC, but there will be some changes. The 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max will come with the AI-powered A18 Pro SoC, while the regular 16 and 16 Plus will come with the regular A18.
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