iPhone 12's Android-smoking secret revealed

The iPhone 12's A14 5nm SoC promises big boosts for Apple's upcoming product lineup

iPhone 12
(Image credit: svetapple.sk)

Apple's Time Flies event was all about the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, and the new iPad and iPad Air

While we didn't get any iPhone 12 updates – set for next month with a possible staggered release of the four models – we did get an insight as to just how powerful the new flagship will be, thanks to Apple delving into the detail of its new A14 bionic processor which will be debuting in the iPad Air. 

The iPhone 11 houses the A13 chip, but Apple's showcase focused on comparing the A14 to the A12, which powers the current iPad Air model, but AnandTech has crunched the numbers to figure out the upgrades we're looking at between the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12.

According to the outlet, the A14's CPU is 16% faster than the A13, while offering a modest 8.3% increase in performance with the GPU. The new 16-core neural engine is twice as fast as the A12, which translates to an 83% boost compared to the A13.

The 5nm SoC is an industry first, that sees Apple beat Android competitors and their 7nm SoCs to the punch. We'd have expected more impressive gains as a result, when compared to the A13, but it's likely that the chipset's energies are being redirected to reducing power consumption for peak efficiency.

Hopefully, this will be more fleshed out at the iPhone 12 event, where Apple will be extolling the virtues of the A14 in direct comparison to the A13, so fans can see what kind of improvements they're in for to entice them to upgrade. 

Apple may be lagging behind when it comes to the design of its smartphone, but the flagship's processor will ensure it's leading the pack when it comes to power.  

Source: AnandTech

Shabana Arif

Shabana worked at T3.com as News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). She's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down here at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies. If you have any tech or gaming tips, shoot over an email or DM her on social media.