Apple names exactly one chip when it quotes a number for the A20 Pro in the iPhone 18 Pro, and that chip is the A19 Pro from the iPhone 17 Pro generation. Against the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro, or the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple has published no performance figure at all.
What Apple does publish for every one of those generations is the core counts, on its tech specs and iPhone comparison pages. Lined up, they show where the A20 Pro actually adds cores and where it holds steady, which is more useful than a percentage with no test behind it.
Key facts on four generations of Pro chips
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| A20 Pro | Six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, dual 16-core Neural Engine, 2-nanometer |
| Percentages Apple quotes | GPU, Neural Engine and memory bandwidth, all against A19 Pro |
| Figures against A18 Pro or A17 Pro | None published |
| CPU core count | Six cores in all four generations |
| GPU core count | Seven on A20 Pro, six on A19 Pro, A18 Pro and A17 Pro |
| Neural Engine | 32 cores on A20 Pro, 16 on the three earlier Pro chips |
| Test conditions | Not published for any claim |
Core counts, generation by generation
These rows come from Apple’s tech specs and comparison pages rather than from any test. The CPU count has not moved in four generations of Pro silicon.
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| Chip | Phones | CPU | GPU | Neural Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A20 Pro | iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, iPhone Duo | Six cores, two performance and four efficiency | Seven cores, with Neural Accelerators | Dual 16-core, 32 cores |
| A19 Pro | iPhone 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max | Six cores, two performance and four efficiency | Six cores | 16 cores |
| A19 Pro | iPhone Air | Six cores | Five cores | 16 cores |
| A19 | iPhone 17 | Six cores, two performance and four efficiency | Five cores, with Neural Accelerators | Not published in the rows Apple shows |
| A18 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max | Six cores | Six cores | 16 cores |
| A17 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max | Six cores | Six cores | 16 cores |
The only chip Apple compares the A20 Pro with
Apple’s three A20 Pro percentages all name the A19 Pro: a seven-core GPU up to 40 percent faster, a dual 16-core Neural Engine with double the AI processing power, and 50 percent more memory bandwidth. A fourth figure, a six-core CPU up to 20 percent faster than A19 Pro, appears on Apple’s iPhone Duo page.
Each of those is Apple’s own comparison between its own generations, published without test conditions. They are marketing figures with a named target, not benchmark results, and Apple does not say what software produced them.
Two different A19 Pro configurations
There is a wrinkle in using A19 Pro as the yardstick. Apple ships the A19 Pro with a six-core GPU in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max and with a five-core GPU in the iPhone Air, and its comparison page lists both.
Apple does not say which of the two its 40 percent GPU claim is measured against. That is not a small difference when the claim is about graphics, and it is one more reason to treat the number as a direction of travel rather than a measurement.
If you are upgrading from an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 Pro
Apple has published nothing that tells you how much faster the A20 Pro is than the chip in your phone. The core counts are the honest guide: the CPU stays at six cores, the GPU moves from six to seven, and the Neural Engine doubles from 16 cores to 32.
Both older chips still run Apple Intelligence on Apple’s list, and both get iOS 27 on Monday September 14, so the upgrade case rests on the camera, the battery ratings and the display rather than on any published chip figure. Our iPhone 18 Pro against iPhone 17 Pro comparison covers the generation Apple does quote.
What Apple has not said
Apple has not published clock speeds, transistor counts or die sizes for any of these chips, has not named the manufacturer of its 2-nanometer process, and has not published a single figure comparing the A20 Pro with the A18 Pro or A17 Pro. Our A20 Pro explainer sets out what is on the record.
Pre-orders for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max open today, Saturday September 12, at 5 a.m. PT, which is 12:00 UTC, with availability on Friday September 18. iPhone Duo, the third phone with an A20 Pro, is orderable from Friday October 16 and ships Friday October 23.
