Apple A18 vs Apple M3 (iPad)
[ VERDICT ]
Winner: Apple M3 (iPad) (97/100)
Apple M3 (iPad) leads overall with a score of 97/100 compared to Apple A18 (83/100), offering superior measured performance and technical specifications.
Why choose Apple M3 (iPad):
- + Higher Performance score (98 vs 90)
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Normalized Lab Scores| Benchmark | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| NanoReview Score | 83.0 Very Good | — |
| Performance | 90.0 Excellent | 98.0 Excellent WINNER |
| DeviceBenchmark Score | — | 97.0 Excellent |
Detailed Technical Specifications
3DMark
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| Graphics test | 12 FPS | — |
| Section 1 | 31 FPS | — |
| Section 2 | 26 FPS | — |
| Section 3 | 20 FPS | — |
| Stability | 75% | 70% |
| Graphics test | — | 20 FPS |
| Section 1 | — | 52 FPS |
| Section 2 | — | 38 FPS |
| Section 3 | — | 28 FPS |
AI Accelerator
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| NPU theoretical performance | 35 TOPS | — |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | — |
| NPU theoretical performance | — | 18 TOPS |
| Neural processor (NPU) | — | Apple Neural Engine |
AnTuTu 11
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 611649 | 782907 |
| GPU | 589953 | 1029236 |
| Memory | 181123 | 305749 |
| Total score | 1972476 | — |
| UX | 589751 | 659395 |
| Total score | — | 2777287 |
CPU
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | 2x 4.05 GHz – Everest4x 2.42 GHz – Sawtooth | 4x 4.05 GHz –4x 2.75 GHz – |
| Cores | 6 | 8 |
| Frequency | 4050 MHz | 4050 MHz |
| Instruction set | ARMv9.2-A | — |
| L2 cache | 8 MB | — |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Process | 3 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| TDP (Sustained Power Limit) | 9 W | — |
| Instruction set | — | ARMv8.6-A |
| L1 cache | — | 256 KB |
| L2 cache | — | 16 MB |
| TDP (Sustained Power Limit) | — | 20 W |
| Transistor count | — | 25 billion |
Connectivity
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| 4G support | LTE Cat. 24 | — |
| 5G support | Yes | — |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Download speed | Up to 10000 Mbps | — |
| Modem | Snapdragon X71 5G | — |
| Navigation | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| Upload speed | Up to 3500 Mbps | — |
| Wi-Fi | 7 | 6 |
| 5G support | — | Yes |
| Download speed | — | Up to 7500 Mbps |
| Upload speed | — | Up to 3500 Mbps |
GeekBench 6
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| API | Metal | Metal |
| Asset compression | 286.8 MB/sec | — |
| Background blur | 36.2 images/sec | — |
| Edge detection | 1.14 Gpixels/sec | — |
| Face detection | 71.8 images/sec | — |
| Feature matching | 0.39 Gpixels/sec | — |
| Gaussian blur | 1.44 Gpixels/sec | — |
| HDR | 279.1 Mpixels/sec | 422.1 Mpixels/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | 184.2 pages/sec | — |
| Horizon detection | 0.86 Gpixels/sec | — |
| Image detection | 297.2 images/sec | — |
| PDF Renderer | 201.2 Mpixels/sec | — |
| Particle physics | 2811.1 FPS | — |
| Photo processing | 90 images/sec | — |
| Ray tracing | 8.68 Mpixels/sec | — |
| Samples | 6 tests | 4 tests |
| Stereo matching | 77.7 Gpixels/sec | — |
| Asset compression | — | 458.1 MB/sec |
| Background blur | — | 48.2 images/sec |
| Edge detection | — | 1.93 Gpixels/sec |
| Face detection | — | 108.3 images/sec |
| Feature matching | — | 0.62 Gpixels/sec |
| Gaussian blur | — | 2.41 Gpixels/sec |
| HTML 5 Browser | — | 270.6 pages/sec |
| Horizon detection | — | 1.43 Gpixels/sec |
| Image detection | — | 287.2 images/sec |
| PDF Renderer | — | 299.9 Mpixels/sec |
| Particle physics | — | 4690 FPS |
| Photo processing | — | 116.1 images/sec |
| Ray tracing | — | 13.4 Mpixels/sec |
| Stereo matching | — | 128.9 Gpixels/sec |
Graphics
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| FLOPS | 1907 Gigaflops | 3179.5 Gigaflops |
| GPU frequency | 1490 MHz | — |
| Pipelines | 5 | 9 |
| Shading units | 128 | — |
| Total shaders | 640 | — |
| GPU frequency | — | 1380 MHz |
| Shading units | — | 128 |
| Total shaders | — | 1152 |
Info
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | September 2024 | October 2023 |
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Model number | APL1V08 | — |
| Successor | -Apple A19 | — |
Memory
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| Bus | 4x 16 Bit | 8x 16 Bit |
| Max bandwidth | 60 Gb/s | — |
| Max size | 8 GB | — |
| Memory frequency | 3750 MHz | — |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | — |
| Max bandwidth | — | 102.4 Gb/s |
| Max size | — | 24 GB |
| Memory frequency | — | 3200 MHz |
| Memory type | — | LPDDR5 |
Multimedia (ISP)
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| Audio codecs | - AAC- AAX- AAX+- AC-3- AIFF- CAF- E-AC-3- MP3- MP4- WAV | — |
| Max camera resolution | 1x 48MP | — |
| Storage type | NVMe | — |
| Video capture | 4K at 120FPS | — |
| Video codecs | - H.264- H.265- AV1- VP8- VP9- Motion JPEG | — |
| Video playback | 4K at 120FPS | — |
| Audio codecs | — | - AAC- AIFF- CAF- MP3- MP4- WAV |
| Max camera resolution | — | 1x 48MP |
| Max display resolution | — | 2732 x 2048 |
| Storage type | — | NVMe |
| Video capture | — | 4K at 60FPS |
| Video codecs | — | - H.264- H.265- AV1- VP9 |
| Video playback | — | 4K at 60FPS |
Recent User Tests
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Benchmark | Benchmark |
| 📘 2026-05-14(Lakki) | AnTuTu | — |
| 📘 2026-05-20(putheeta) | AnTuTu | — |
| 📘 2026-06-04(Sepehr Naraghipour) | AnTuTu | — |
| 📘 2026-07-03(iTzRageeh) | GeekBench CPU | — |
| 📘 2026-07-15(vovachips) | AnTuTu | — |
| 📘 2026-07-18(Aj) | AnTuTu | — |
| 📘 2026-07-30(Dddd) | AnTuTu | — |
| 📘 2025-09-28->will09 | — | GeekBench CPU |
| 📘 2026-01-26(Bearry) | — | AnTuTu |
| 📘 2026-03-03(Bearry) | — | AnTuTu |
| 📘 2026-03-21(Noora) | — | AnTuTu |
| 📘 2026-03-22(Noora) | — | AnTuTu |
| 📘 2026-04-08(Bearry) | — | AnTuTu |
| 📘 2026-04-12(Kaimen) | — | AnTuTu |
| 📘 2026-04-17(Jacob) | — | AnTuTu |
Smartphones
| Specification | Apple A18 | Apple M3 (iPad) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.Apple iPhone 16 | 1985600 | — |
| 2.Apple iPhone 16 Plus | 1949745 | — |
| 3.Apple iPhone 16e | 1612788 | — |
| Phones with Apple A18 | AnTuTu v11 | — |
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