Possible Benchmark for A12 Processor From 2018 iPhone Surfaces Featuring 10% Faster Speeds, 4GB RAM - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Possible Benchmark for A12 Processor From 2018 iPhone Surfaces Featuring 10% Faster Speeds, 4GB RAM

Apple's 2018 iPhones are expected to include a new 6-core A12 processor, and the A12, like all of Apple's processor iterations, is expected to bring speed and efficiency improvements. A new benchmark taken from a 2018 iPhone may give us some insight into just how much faster the new A12 is than the A11 in the iPhone X, provided the benchmark is legitimate.

Uploaded to Geekbench 4 on June 27 (via French site iGeneration), the benchmark for the 2018 iPhone suggests a single-core score of 4673 and a multi-core score of 10912.

2018iphonegeekbench
Comparatively, the iPhone X with an A11 processor features a single-core score of 4206 and a multi-core score of 10128, indicating the new A12 chip will be approximately 10 percent faster than the A11 chip when it comes to both multi-core and single-core performance.

Compute scores for the 2018 iPhone were also included, and it features a Metal score of 21691. Compared to the iPhone X's Metal score of 15234, the result suggests GPU improvements.

2018iphonegeekbenchmetal
We don't know which of the three iPhones was benchmarked using Geekbench 4, but so far, rumors suggest that all three will use the same A12 chip. The iPhone is labeled "11,2," and it is running a version of iOS 12.

Notably, the benchmarked device appears to include 4GB RAM, up from 3GB RAM in the iPhone X. Well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested the two OLED iPhones coming in 2018 will feature 4GB RAM while the lower-priced LCD model will continue to feature 3GB RAM, suggesting the benchmark may pertain to one of the OLED models.

We can't confirm the veracity of the benchmark because it's not impossible to fake these results, but early benchmarks do sometimes pop up in the months ahead of a new device's release because there are prototype iPhones being tested by Apple employees who may have opted to run the Geekbench 4 app.

We asked Geekbench founder John Poole about the results, and he said there was nothing "obviously wrong" that stood out, but he did warn that he had not yet had time to dig into the scores.

Apple in 2018 is rumored to be introducing three new iPhones, all of which will feature upgraded processors, faster LTE speeds, a TrueDepth camera system, slimmer bezels, and no Home button, as Apple is transitioning to an all Face ID lineup. We're expecting a 5.8-inch OLED that's identical in design to the current iPhone X (but perhaps with a new gold color), a larger 6.5-inch OLED device that can be thought of as an "iPhone X Plus," and a 6.1-inch LCD device that will be available at a lower price point.

The two OLED devices are expected to include better camera technology, with Apple sticking to dual-cameras for those iPhones. The LCD device, meanwhile, may only feature a single-lens camera.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone Handoff Feature

iOS 27 Introduces New 'iPhone Handoff' Feature

Wednesday September 2, 2026 12:35 pm PDT by
Apple has added a new "iPhone Handoff" feature to iOS 27 that will allow you to switch between two iPhones while using the same phone number on each device. This functionality was briefly mentioned during the WWDC 2026 keynote in June, on a slide that listed hundreds of new features coming in iOS 27 and corresponding software updates, but Apple never shared any further details at the time. ...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Prices Estimated Ahead of Apple Event Next Week

Thursday September 3, 2026 3:41 am PDT by
Less than a week before Apple debuts new iPhone 18 Pro models, research firm TrendForce has estimated the prices of the devices based on the latest hardware cost environment. TrendForce's price estimates compared to last year's models look like this: Model Starting Price Model Starting Price Change iPhone 17 Pro $1,099 iPhone 18 Pro $...
Apple Foldable Thumb

iPhone Ultra's Very High Price and Features Revealed in New Report

Thursday September 3, 2026 7:33 am PDT by
Ahead of Apple's event on Wednesday, September 9, where it is expected to unveil its first-ever foldable iPhone, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce today outlined the device's estimated price range, features, and some other key details. In the U.S., TrendForce estimated that the foldable iPhone will have a starting price of $2,099 to $2,299 and said the highest-end configurations could...

Top Rated Comments

107 months ago
Remember when they said the 6 Plus had enough memory at 1Gb?
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
107 months ago
A 10% speed bump is a bit disappointing honestly.

But I’m here for 4gb of ram
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
107 months ago
Better efficiency and more RAM are more important than a large speed bump to me.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redheeler Avatar
107 months ago
A 10% speed bump is a bit disappointing honestly.
A mobile CPU can only get so fast while size, heat, and battery life must be taken into consideration. The fact that the A12 outperforms the Core i7 CPU in my 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro while using a fraction of the power is very impressive.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
107 months ago
Could be the A-series finally starting to run up against Moore's Law. They spent years catching up to Intel and here we are. This especially makes sense given the larger jump in GPU performance, which typically seems to outperform CPU gains in recent years. Alternatively Apple could be focusing more on battery life improvements since we are moving to a smaller 7nm process.

Either way I hope this means 6-8GB of RAM in the new iPad Pro.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Falhófnir Avatar
107 months ago
Yeah it’s just I don’t think there’s ever been a upgrade with such a low incremental speed bump.
10% of 10,000 is 1,000

20% of 2,000 is 400

In absolute terms this is still 2.5 times the jump of the A7 to A8...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)