The A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro brought impressive single and multi-core performance gains, reaching the level of the company’s M1 chip from four years ago. While the chip is still based on TSMC’s 3nm architecture, the company stated at its event that it is using a new process, which could allow it to further its distance from last year’s A17 Pro chip. The company also used other methods to enhance the performance of the iPhone 16 and the A18 chip by improving its thermal design, which should have a positive impact on the overall performance of the handset especially gaming, allowing it to move away from throttling.
iPhone 16 sees a 30 percent improvement in gaming performance thanks to Apple’s new thermal solution
The internal design of the iPhone plays an important role when it comes to the device’s thermals, and we have seen in the past how the flagship throttles under load and heats up, thereby reducing performance. With the iPhone 16’s new internal design, Apple aims to reduce thermal throttling, which will ultimately have an impact on the device’s performance. This is not the first time that we have heard details on the iPhone 16’s thermals, as the company was planning to implement these changes for a while.
The company states in its press release:
We pair the powerful performance and efficiency of A18 with new system optimizations, including our thermal design. We updated the main logic board, centralizing the chip placement and optimizing the surrounding architecture. We also added a thermal substructure to dissipate heat made from 100% recycled aluminum. As a result, iPhone 16 delivers up to 30% higher sustained performance for gaming.
The company states in the iPhone 16 press release that it has set certain optimizations in place for the A18 chip, which will perform better under heavy load compared to last year’s A16 Bionic chip in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Apple updates the position of the main logic board, centralizing it to improve the structure on either side, allowing the heat to dissipate more freely without accumulation.
Apple’s numbers are yet to be put to the test, but based on the information, the iPhone 16 will be able to manage up to 30 percent better performance for gaming and other tasks. The company has added a thermal substructure to dissipate the heat as well, which could be at the core of its thermal solution. The end result is claimed to be significantly better than before, especially when it comes to gaming on the device.
The iPhone 16 is a very capable device, given how the new Apple Intelligence feature takes advantage of the new 3nm chip. According to Apple, the A18 chip is AI-ready, which allows it to compete better against last year’s iPhone 15 Pro models. The new thermal design also makes room for more battery in the iPhone 16, which is always a major plus. As mentioned earlier, we will wait for the tech community to conduct their tests before drawing any final conclusion. Do you think the iPhone 16 is a more significant upgrade over the ‘Pro’ models?