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The cheapest new 2018 iPhone will still crush Android flagships

Published Aug 15th, 2018 11:21AM EDT
New iPhones 2018 vs. Android
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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Apple will introduce its new 2018 iPhone models about a month from now. We already know we’re looking at three distinct devices again, and we know almost everything there is to know about them. Several mysteries remain and we have yet to discover the signature feature of this year’s iPhone generation. But thanks to a series of leaks and rumors, we already know that Apple’s new iPhones will crush the competition when it comes to performance. Not that we need it, but now there’s a brand new rumor to support that idea.

Back in early July, we discovered the first Geekbench scores for what seems to be a 2018 iPhone prototype. Geekbench identified the device as iPhone11,2, revealing it sports a six-core processor and 4GB of RAM. Moreover, the phone had an iOS 12 installed. In other words, this device sure looks like a next-generation iPhone.

Image source: Geekbench

When it comes to performance, the handset hit 4673 and 10912 in single- and multi-core tests, which is an improvement over the iPhone X’s results (that’s 4217 and 10262 with iOS 12 beta 1 installed). While we focused on the CPU scores at the time, iDownloadBlog also found the GPU scores for the rumored the iPhone11,2 in question, revealing that the Metal score for the A12 chip to be 21691, a 40% increase compared to the 15234 registered by the A11 Bionic that powers Apple’s current iPhone lineup.

But what really made me remember this iPhone11,2 benchmark is a simple tweet that comes from an insider who’s usually leaking stuff about Samsung’s unreleased phones. We all know him as Ice Universe on Twitter and Weibo, and he had this to say a few days ago:

“The Apple A12 processor has a very powerful GPU.” That’s all he said in a comment that seems to state the obvious. Yes, each new iPhone generation comes with better CPU and GPU performance. That’s how Apple does things.

But we should also remember that Apple is working on its own GPU. That news alone destroyed an Apple supplier dependent on GPUs last year. Imagination Technologies revealed in early April 2017 that Apple would not use its GPUs in “15 months to two-years time.” If it’s 15 months rather than two years, we could see Apple’s first GPU debut this year inside its new iPhone and iPad Pro devices. If that’s the case, is that going to be the signature feature of the 2018 iPhones?

With all that in mind, let’s also remember that while Apple will launch three new iPhones for the second year in a row, and it’s very likely that all three iPhones will deliver similar performance. We expect the A12 chip and its powerful new GPU to equip the affordable 6.1-inch LCD iPhone as well as the two premium iPhone models Apple plans to release this year.

That means an iPhone that might cost as little as $699 will almost certainly outperform the best Android flagship phones of 2018 by a significant margin. That list includes the Galaxy Note 9 and S9, the Pixel 3 series, new Huawei flagships, the OnePlus 6, and everything else running on 2018 high-end chips. After all, the current iPhone 8 and iPhone X both outperform the Note 9 that was just announced when it comes to benchmarks. Add more RAM, next-gen chips, and a faster operating system, and the new iPhones should blow everything else out of the water.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.