iPhone 16 Pro Geekbench scores leak — but is the A18 Pro enough to counter the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4?

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max displaying trailer for The Marvels
(Image credit: Future)

The iPhone 16 Pro models should feature Apple's upcoming A18 Pro system-on-chip when those phones arrive later this fall. But leaked Geekbench scores supposedly showing the A18's performance suggests you may not be getting the performance boost you'd hope for.

This information comes to us from two separate posts on Weibo, one of which has since been deleted. In that post, the A18 Pro reportedly posted a single-core result of 3,570 and a multicore result of 9,310. If these numbers were correct it would mean A18 Pro would far exceed the numbers we recorded or the A17 Pro chipset when we reviewed the iPhone 15 Pro. That phone posted single- and multicore results of 2,890 and 7,914 respectively.

However, the other test results posted at Weibo weren't nearly as encouraging. Single- and multicore results in that listing were 2,822 and 8,571, respectively. Not only is that just ahead of what the A17 Pro produced, it's well behind leaked Geekbench results supposedly showing off the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

That chip, which we're expecting to see in October, reportedly posted a singl-core result of 3,500 — well ahead of some of the leaked A18 Pro results. (A multicore result wasn't included.) You'd expect to find the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in next year's Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Ultra, among other Android devices.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
ChipsetGeekbench 6 aingle-core scoreGeekbench 6 multicore score
A18 Pro result 1 (rumored)35709310
A18 Pro result 2 (rumored)28828571
A17 Pro (via iPhone 15 Pro)28907914
Snaprdragon 8 Gen 43500N/A
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (via Galaxy S24 Ultra)23007249

One of the leaked reports also indicates that the A18 Pro should see improved graphic performance — good news since recent Apple chips have lagged behind Snapdragon silicon in our graphics testing. Reportedly, in GFXBench's Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen benchmark (1440p), the A18 Pro posted a result of 83 frames per second. That's a 37% improvement over what the A17 Pro recorded on that same test.

While benchmark tests for unreleased silicon provide an interesting glimpse at potential performance improvements, don't assume they're the last word on how phones will perform in the real world. The leaked tests could have been run on chips that are yet to be optimized for final release, and a lot can change between now and next fall.

In the meantime, expect plenty of rumors about the iPhone 16 Pro and  iPhone 16 Pro Max to surface as we get closer to Apple's fall release.

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Josh Render
Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer. 

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  • techconc
    This entire article should be taken with a heavy grain of salt for multiple reasons.
    - The 3570 benchmark seems plausible based on M4 core numbers.
    - The lower score is ridiculous. There is no way the 18pro is going to be slower than the 17pro chip.
    - Forget about accurate multicore scores for another month or so. Everyone but tech “journalists” knows that iPhones do a ton of background processing indexing data, photos, etc. for some time after setting up a new iPhone.
    - SD8G4 is nothing but speculation at this point and benchmarks NEVER match up to Qualcomm’s numbers much less early rumors.
    Reply