These iPhone XS vs S9 vs OnePlus 6 benchmarks test A12 Bionic as the killer chipset

82comments
These iPhone XS vs S9 vs OnePlus 6 benchmarks test A12 Bionic as the killer chipset
A lot of you already have in their hands the world's first phones that carry processors crafted by the 7nm production node method. Yes, we are talking about Apple's new iPhone XS and XS Max

Apple's proprietary chipset architecture is tailor-made for its mobile operating system, so it has a real performance advantage before, say, off-the-shelf Snapdragons of this world, even when the production node was 10nm in Apple's previous A11 Bionic processor. 

In fact, Apple's processors are so powerful that the company deliberately throttled them significantly when an iPhone battery degraded below a certain threshold, so as to avoid random reboots by peak power requests, resulting in the #battterygate brouhaha. On the plus side, it brought on $29 battery replacements for older models, a perk that is now coming to an end.

With the introduction of the A12 Bionic, even though it is made by the TSMC foundry with the first generation of the 7nm node, instead of with Samsung's superior extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, the performance gap is expected to become even wider. By how much?

Well, we put the new iPhones with the freshly squeezed A12 Bionic chipset, through some mobile benchmark testing, and the dry synthetic numbers show it will be the phone processor to beat now, like the A11 before it. 


Apple iPhone XS vs iPhone X vs... iPad Pro


Apple touts just 15% performance increase over the A11 Bionic processor cores but adds 50% faster graphics with the new, fourth GPU core, and lossless memory optimization. As you can see below, in some of the comprehensive all-rounder benchmarks like AnTuTu the recorded increase in performance can reach the whopping 60%, as in iPhone XS vs iPhone X. 

We put the two-year-old iPhone 7, from which people are most likely to be upgrading to the XS, just for giggles, and the difference is 200%+ in favor of the A12. Coupled with the performance-optimized iOS 12, this year's iPhones should perform smooth as silk.

AnTuTuHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS358091
Apple iPhone XS Max336882
Apple iPhone X224538
Apple iPhone 8 Plus220618
Apple iPhone 7168795
Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch223751
JetStreamHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS267.92
Apple iPhone XS Max265.74
Apple iPhone X218.98
Apple iPhone 8 Plus224.62
Apple iPhone 7144.71
Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch202.11
GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 on-screenHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS59.7
Apple iPhone XS Max59.3
Apple iPhone X58.75
Apple iPhone 8 Plus59.3
Apple iPhone 759.1
Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch28
Geekbench 4 single-coreHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS4806
Apple iPhone XS Max4821
Apple iPhone X4244
Apple iPhone 8 Plus4243
Apple iPhone 73464
Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch3929
Geekbench 4 multi-coreHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS11416
Apple iPhone XS Max11299
Apple iPhone X10401
Apple iPhone 8 Plus10330
Apple iPhone 75605
Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch9288


Apple iPhone XS vs Galaxy S9 vs LG G7 vs OnePlus 6


On the whole, this is not a fair fight for Androids, as not only are we comparing 10nm vs 7nm processors, but also custom chipset architecture optimized for an in-house operating system, against a smorgasbord of chippery and interface overlays. 

Still, the best Android has to offer now does synthetics on par with last year's iPhones, while the new XS and XS Max blow them out of the water. The performance difference is largest in browser benchmarks, up to 300%, while in multi-core tests the A12 Bionic is just 30% ahead of the best Androids can muster, arguably on account of Apple's throttling shenanigans. 

This extra power should be most noticeable in gaming or browsing activities, but the everyday interface grind and app transitions would get a worthy boost, too.

AnTuTuHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS358091
Apple iPhone XS Max336882
Samsung Galaxy S9244207.33
LG G7 ThinQ239753.5
Samsung Galaxy Note9244787
OnePlus 6260353.5
JetStreamHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS267.92
Apple iPhone XS Max265.74
Samsung Galaxy S961.834
LG G7 ThinQ88.304
Samsung Galaxy Note963.24
OnePlus 688.123
GFXBench Car Chase on-screenHigher is better
Samsung Galaxy S925.66
LG G7 ThinQ20
Samsung Galaxy Note926
OnePlus 630
GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 on-screenHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS59.7
Apple iPhone XS Max59.3
Samsung Galaxy S943.33
LG G7 ThinQ31.66
Samsung Galaxy Note956
OnePlus 650
Geekbench 4 single-coreHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS4806
Apple iPhone XS Max4821
Samsung Galaxy S93709
LG G7 ThinQ2439.5
Samsung Galaxy Note93612
OnePlus 62413.66
Geekbench 4 multi-coreHigher is better
Apple iPhone XS11416
Apple iPhone XS Max11299
Samsung Galaxy S98814.66
LG G7 ThinQ8793
Samsung Galaxy Note98927
OnePlus 68929
Create a free account and join our vibrant community
Register to enjoy the full PhoneArena experience. Here’s what you get with your PhoneArena account:
  • Access members-only articles
  • Join community discussions
  • Share your own device reviews
  • Build your personal phone library
Register For Free

Recommended Stories

Loading Comments...
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless