The iPhone 15’s chip challenges Intel’s fastest desktop CPU — but there’s a catch – Digital Trends
Who would have thought that some of the best CPUs would face competition not from a desktop or laptop CPU, but from a mobile system-on-a-chip (SoC)? Well, the latest Geekbench 6 scores prove that it’s possible. Apple’s new A17 Pro chip, announced during the September 2023 Apple event and found in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, challenges AMD and Intel — but there’s a catch.
Yes, it’s real. The Geekbench 6 test gives the A17 Pro chip a score of 2,914 in single-core operations, and that’s mighty impressive for something that will end up in a smartphone. However, the generational leap is not that impressive — the last-gen A16 Bionic chip is only around 10% behind in terms of single-threaded performance. The A17 Pro was built based on TSMC’s 3nm technology, while the A16 Bionic is a 5nm chip, also made by TSMC.
This kind of single-core performance is, indeed, enough to keep Intel’s Core i9-13900K and AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X on their toes. As reported by Tom’s Hardware, the Core i9-13900K averages 3,223 points in single-threaded tasks, while the Ryzen 9 7950X follows closely behind with a score of 3,172. This impressive single-core performance is achieved at a much lower clock speed. The A17 Pro maxes out at 3.75GHz, while the Intel and AMD CPUs can hit just under 6GHz when overclocked.
Does that really mean that the A17 Pro is comparable to these beastly processors? Not on the whole, for many different reasons. Moving on to the multi-core test shows us exactly what puts this SoC behind from full-on desktop chips.
In the multi-core test, the A17 Pro averages 7,199 points. Meanwhile, the Core i9-13900K scores 22,744 points, and the Ryzen 9 7950X is — once again — just behind at 22,240 points. Both processors also sport significantly higher core counts in general. Apple’s iPhone chip uses a hybrid architecture and comes with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. Intel’s best Raptor Lake processor also comes with two core types, but there are a lot more of each: Eight P-cores and 16 E-cores, for a total of 24 cores and 32 threads.
The multi-core gains are less impressive for the A17 Pro SoC, in general. It only leads by around 3% compared to the previous-gen A16 Bionic. This implies that the architecture of the new chip is largely unchanged. Still, even if the actual performance of the A17 Pro can’t ever compare to a high-end desktop chip, it’s an interesting comparison that shows us how much computers rely on multi-core performance these days.
Benchmarks of the not-yet-released Intel Core i9-13900HX have leaked, and to call these results impressive would be an understatement.
It seems that Intel’s upcoming laptop CPU may easily dethrone even some of the best desktop processors, let alone mobile chips. Even chips that are not out yet are already in danger, such as Apple’s M2 Max.
Intel Raptor Lake is finally here, and although there’s a handful of CPUs in this first wave of 13th-generation CPUs, it’s hard not to focus on the flagship, the Intel Core i9-13900K. Equipped with a seemingly endless number of cores, capable of hitting those ultra-high clock speeds, and socket-compatible with Alder Lake, it checks most of the boxes as far as the top-shelf CPUs are concerned.
But the 13900K is mostly just a refinement of the 12900K with extra cores. Is getting a Core i9-13900K worth the splurge, or should you keep things more budget-friendly with a 12th-gen CPU? Below, we’ll compare the two Intel flagships and help you choose a winner.
Pricing and availability
Intel today revealed its 13th-gen Raptor Lake processors during its Innovation 2022 event, heating up the already hot battle between AMD and Intel. Although these new chips share a lot with the previous generation under the hood, Intel is promising more cores, higher clock speeds, and performance that will catapult 13th-gen chips to the top of the best CPU rankings.
Before digging in, here’s a quick look at specs for the three Raptor Lake processors coming. Some specs are official, while others have been compiled from specs posted by Intel a couple of weeks back (though not confirmed).
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