The all-new Apple A17 Pro by Apple is expected to be the most powerful smartphone chip so far, and the company claims it to be the world’s fastest smartphone chip. But what are the Apple A17 Pro’s specifications, and how do they compare to its predecessors? Here’s everything about the Apple A17 Pro chip.
All You Need to Know about the Apple A17 Pro
Unveiled alongside the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max on September 11, 2023, the Apple A17 Pro ushers in a new era with its innovative 3nm architecture, a significant departure from the 4nm process node employed in the A16 Bionic. Apple was able to put 19 billion transistors on the chip as it moved to a smaller process node which also provided a performance improvement. That’s more than 3 billion transistors over the A16 Bionic.
The Apple A17 Pro boasts a 6-core CPU configuration, featuring 4 high-efficiency cores geared towards extending battery life and 2 high-performance cores optimized for handling demanding tasks.
The chip’s neural engine processing speed for machine-learning models has increased by two times, allowing it to handle up to 35 trillion operations per second. This function offers efficient machine learning on the iPhone and runs features like AutoCorrect, background object removal in images, and personalized voices for those with speech disorders.
The A17 Pro includes dedicated engines tailored for iPhone 15 Pro features such as the ProRes codec for video, a display engine for ProMotion, and an always-on display. It also features a specialised AV1 decoder which enables more efficient and high-quality video streaming.
Furthermore, with the iPhone 15 embracing USB-C technology, the Apple A17 Pro processor extends support for USB 3. This upgrade results in data transfer speeds of up to 10 GBPS, a significant 20% improvement over USB 2.
As Apple’s first 3-nanometer chip, the A17 Pro stands out with its 19 billion transistors, contributing to enhanced performance, efficiency, and feature capabilities. Micro-architectural and design enhancements in the CPU have resulted in performance cores that are up to 10% faster, granting the iPhone 15 Pro the distinction of having the fastest single-threaded performance in any smartphone. In comparison to the rivals, the efficiency cores give thrice the performance per watt.
