For the past few years, Apple has only introduced a new chip in its iPhone Pro models. But that changed yesterday, when the entire iPhone 16 lineup got the brand new A18 chip line. The iPhone 16 gets an A18, and the iPhone 16 Pro gets an A18 Pro. But what’s the difference? Here’s the one thing the iPhone 16 is missing.

A18 vs. A18 Pro: Why Two Chips?

Apple’s A18 chip line is made possible by second-generation 3-nanometer manufacturing, similar to the process seen in the M4 chip inside the most recent iPad Pro.

The manufacturing process for the previous A17 Pro and M3 chips were reportedly riddled with issues. It’s why the M4 debuted so quickly after the M3, and part of the reason Apple isn’t packing last year’s A17 Pro in the entry-level iPhone 16.

But why are there still two separate iPhone chips inside? What’s the difference between the A18 Pro and the A18?

It’s smaller than you think.

Here’s an overview of the two chips:

A18 Pro Chip Specifications (via Apple)

• New 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores
• New 6-core GPU
• New 16-core Neural Engine

A18 Chip Specifications (via Apple)

• New 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores
• New 5-core GPU
• New 16-core Neural Engine

Did you see the difference?

The A18 chip has one fewer GPU core. It only has five, as opposed to the six in the A18 Pro.

If you buy an iPhone 16, will you miss that one GPU core? Almost certainly not.

Chip binning likely to strike again

Apple likely didn’t intend to make two different chips for the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro.

Instead, the company is likely doing some chip binning. As previously explained by our own Ben Lovejoy:

No chip manufacturing process is perfect, and as the process gets smaller, the challenges of producing a perfect chip become greater. When you’re working at nanometer levels of precision, even the cleanest clean rooms will still contain microscopic elements of contamination. So what companies often do is aim for a certain specification, then separate out the chips that fall short and sell them as a lower-spec version. The chips are, colloquially, put into a different sorting bin.

In other words, while Apple isn’t saying it one way or another, it’s entirely possible that all iPhone 16 models will have the same chip. But if you take the best-quality chips out of B-tier chips that were produced with flaws (like a less reliable GPU core), only the 16 Pro line gets the best version.

There are certainly good reasons to choose an iPhone 16 Pro over an iPhone 16.

But the A18 Pro chip shouldn’t be one of them for the vast majority of people.

Do you find the difference between the A18 and A18 Pro important? Let us know in the comments.