Continuing its approach from last year, Apple uses its new processor, the A17 Pro, only in the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models. The new iPhone 15 and 15 Plus use the A16 Bionic, the processor of last year’s iPhone 14 Pro models.
Apple touts the A17 Pro as the “fastest chip ever in a smartphone,” and judging by years of speed tests, the company is probably right. iPhones are generally at least a year ahead of rival Android phones in terms of raw processor speed. Apple’s processing power has enabled it to differentiate its products from its competitors, add features it needs, support iOS software upgrades for years, and maintain high pricing.
A17 Pro is Apple’s first processor produced with TSMC’s 3 nanometer process, a new manufacturing technique with better performance and higher efficiency. Rival MediaTek announced in early September that it was using TSMC’s 3nm process, but its Dimensity mobile processor won’t reach high-volume production until 2024.
19 billion transistors coming with 3nm
Using new chip production technologies is an important way to get ahead of competitors, because new methods include more circuit elements called transistors and more features. The A17 Pro has 19 billion transistors compared to 16 billion transistors on the A16. For historical comparison, the A15 had 15 billion transistors, the A14 had 11.8 billion, and the A13 had 8.5 billion transistors.
Like before, the A17 Pro has six CPU cores as the main brain. This consists of a pair of high-performance cores and four efficiency cores, which are 10% faster than last year. The latter handles most of the phone’s work, which doesn’t always need top speed but must always respect the phone’s limited battery capacity. Apple says its efficiency cores offer three times the performance per watt compared to unnamed rivals.
Up to two times faster neural engine
The chip’s neural engine, which handles some AI workloads, such as converting speech to text, is up to two times faster. It can process up to 35 trillion operations per second, which is nearly double last year’s 17 TOPS. The extra speed can keep your personal data out of the cloud by keeping more machine learning work on the iPhone.
It powers features like more accurate autocorrection, blurring the background in a portrait photo, and creating a personalized voice for those with speech loss. For gamers, it’s also powered by a new MetalFX technology that can boost video game graphical detail without putting as much strain on your battery as increasing the resolution.
The A17 Pro has engines used specifically for iPhone 15 Pro features such as the ProRes video format. It adds support for the newer AV1 video format, a feature that will improve efficiency for video sites that use this format, such as YouTube. There is also an engine for the iPhone’s ProMotion and always-on display.
One area of the A17 Pro is dedicated to USB, allowing it to transfer data at up to 10 Gbps via the iPhone’s new USB-C port. This is a big improvement, making the port useful for, for example, transferring video to a laptop or capturing 4K 60fps ProRes video stored on a connected external storage device.
Apple’s best GPU
The new GPU is called by Apple “the biggest redesign in the history of Apple GPUs.” Featuring a six-core design, the GPU is up to 20% faster and also more energy efficient for sustained performance while gaming. Additionally, for the first time, the A17 Pro features hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which helps bring greater realism to light and reflections in games for a more immersive experience.
