Apple has introduced a key change to the iPhone 16 model that has significantly affected the appearance of the new phone

Many decisions go into the creation of any smartphone. But if you want to pinpoint the most important choice Apple made in creating its iPhone 16 line, look no further than the benchmarks for Apple’s latest phones—especially the entry-level iPhone 16.

A quick look at the performance section of our iPhone 16 review shows that Apple’s phone outpaces the competition in the overall Geekbench performance test. That’s a reflection of the new A18 silicon that Apple is using to power the standard iPhone 16, as all of the company’s new phones come with some form of A18. (The Pro models come with the A18 Pro chipset, which has an extra core in its GPU.)

The iPhone 16 doesn’t outperform Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-based Android devices in any test. Phones with Qualcomm’s top chipset still have an advantage in graphics tests, though the A18 makes up for that gap by a wide margin.

The bigger problem is that Apple’s cheapest flagship phone has proven to be a formidable competitor in terms of performance — an argument that was much harder to make when Apple was using year-old silicon to power its entry-level phones. And that’s why, of the many decisions Apple made about what features to include in the iPhone 16, using the A18 system-on-chip turned out to be the most important decision, making Apple’s latest phones some of the best phones you can buy.

Apple’s move to other chips

iPhone 14

iPhone 14 (Photo source: Tom’s Guide)

Before 2022, there was no need to wonder which chipset was included with which iPhone. When Apple released new phones, it generally used the same silicon, even if its more expensive models might have a bit more power.

That changed with the iPhone 14. While the Pro models from that year used a new chipset, the standard iPhone 14 had the same A15 Bionic that Apple used in the previous iPhone 13 Pro models. It wasn’t exactly the same chipset that was in the iPhone 13 — the iPhone 14’s A15 had an extra core in its GPU — but it wasn’t a new model either. The iPhone 15 followed the same pattern, reusing the A16 Bionic that was in the iPhone 14 Pro.

You could argue that this move didn’t hurt Apple, since it likely prompted more people to buy more expensive Pro phones. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that iPhone revenue fell in the company’s fiscal 2023, which would have covered almost the entire year of iPhone 14 sales.

The use of older chips also created the impression that Apple’s entry-level phones were an afterthought — which was deeply unfair to a device like the iPhone 15. That phone had a much improved camera, a brighter display, and better battery life. But I think some people were having a hard time seeing into the future, failing to recognize that a phone that was released in the fall of 2023 was running on silicon that was first introduced in 2022.

The standard iPhone is back

Apple iPhone 16 held in hand.

(Photo source: Future)

The iPhone 16 shakes off that stereotype, and much of that is due to the improvements Apple has made to its new entry-level model. The Camera Control button isn’t exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro—Apple added it to all models, and the Action button was introduced to the rest of the iPhone line a year ago. That means the basic experience of using the iPhone is the same whether you buy the $799 model or pay more for the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

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	Geekbench 6 (single/multi-core)	3DMark Wild Life Unlimited (fps)	Adobe Premiere Rush (seconds)
iPhone 16 (A18)	3301 / 8033	98.2	22.5
iPhone 15 (A15 Bionic)	2518 / 6179	72.1	24.9
Samsung Galaxy S24 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3)	2235 / 6922	120.4	41
OnePlus 12 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3)	2188 / 6525	117.2	59
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3)	2172 / 6901	112.7	40.4
Google Pixel 9 (Tensor G4)	1758 / 4594	55.7	Lack

But I keep coming back to the A18 chipset as the great equalizer for the iPhone 16. As you can see in the table comparing benchmark results, the iPhone 16 outperforms phones like the Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12, which both run on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and the iPhone 16 also beats the foldable on Geekbench. It’s worth noting that for the $1,899 that the Fold costs, you can buy two iPhone 16s and still have $300 left over.

The most telling number, though, comes from our Adobe Premiere Rush test. We had each phone transcode a video clip in the app, timing the results. The iPhone 16 finished the task in 22.5 seconds, almost 17 seconds faster than the Galaxy S24 and also beating the iPhone 15’s time. That’s real-world performance, and it shows you’ll be able to get things done faster on Apple’s latest phones.

Apple has managed to elevate the iPhone 16 while also establishing the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max as its premium devices. It’s just that the balance of features is better in this version of the iPhone line. The Pro phones have better cameras, thanks to some clever hardware improvements, and if you’re shooting video, you’ll prefer the better camera specs of Apple’s more expensive models.

But getting back to the experience of using the iPhone 16, it’s fundamentally the same regardless of which phone you end up buying. That’s especially true for the Apple Intelligence features that are coming to the phones in a software update next month (and are already available as part of the iOS 18.1 public beta).

In other words, when you buy a new iPhone this year, you can expect a certain level of performance, regardless of which model you have in your hands. That wasn’t necessarily the case in the past, but it’s certainly true this year. And much of the credit goes to the A18 chipset.