Apple has added a new sibling to its iPhone 16 lineup, the iPhone 16e, as expected. It arrives as a more affordable option, which costs $599 in the US. It is powered by the A18 chip under the hood.
There is no doubt that the A18 chip offers impressive performance and efficiency, which can handle a range of tasks, from everyday applications to more demanding processes.
However, the A18 chip in the iPhone 16e is different from the standard A18 chip found in the regular iPhone 16.
The difference lies in their GPU configurations. The iPhone 16e features a 4-core GPU, while the standard iPhone 16 has a 5-core GPU. This suggests the iPhone 16e’s graphics performance could be slightly less powerful, mainly in appealing gaming scenarios or high-resolution graphics tasks.
Thankfully, both devices’ A18 chips share similar CPU and Neural Engine capabilities.
| A18 Chip (iPhone 16e) | A18 Chip (iPhone 16) | A18 Pro Chip |
| 6-core CPU | 6-core CPU | 6-core CPU |
| 4-core GPU | 5-core GPU | 6-core GPU |
| 16-core Neural Engine | 16-core Neural Engine |
16-core Neural Engine
|
In semiconductor manufacturing, chips that do not meet certain performance thresholds are categorized and sold at lower specifications. This practice is called chip binning.
So, the A18 chip in the iPhone 16e can be defined as a “binned” version. This strategy may allow Apple to maintain cost-effectiveness while still providing a powerful device.
Practically, you won’t notice substantial differences in everyday usage between the two devices as both models are equipped with a powerful 6-core CPU. However, benchmarks may show differences in graphics-intensive applications as the additional GPU core in the standard iPhone 16 might impact the score.
