iPhone 17 Series Early Tests Indicate Minor CPU Gains, Huge Leap in GPU Performance

The iPhone 17 series is now official and already in the pre-order phase. Moments ago, Geekbench updated its database, listing the performance scores for all four devices. The benchmarks showed some interesting results and disparities between the new iPhones. Here’s how they fared on Geekbench’s CPU and GPU tests.

The platform addresses the vanilla iPhone 17 as iPhone 18,3, and just as suspected, it has 8GB RAM. The other three models have 12GB. This is the only model in the lineup with Apple’s basic A19 silicon. Its CPU frequency is capped at 4.26GHz, and on a single core, it can yield 3608 points on Geekbench. On all six cores, the number jumps to 8810 points. 

The penta-core GPU on this SoC pushed the Metal scores to 37,014 — the least impressive score in the lineup. But, credit where the credit’s due, this is a healthy 30% gain over iPhone 16’s GPU performance.

The iPhone Air (18,4) has a regressed version of Apple A19 Pro silicon with one missing GPU core. Its CPU performance is the same as the other premium Apple iPhone new models. Geekbench gave it 3674 points on the single and 8824 points on the multicore test. The Air has 12GB LPDDR5x RAM and a five-core GPU that yields a 37,743 Metal score.

The GPU gain on iPhone 18,1 (aka iPhone 17 Pro) is massive, with the Metal score bumped to 44,342 points. This is because the device’s built-in A19 Pro chip has six total cores on the GPU, the same as its CPU. The single and multi-threaded test runs produced 3674 and 8824 points, which aren’t that far from the basic A19 silicon.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max, being the most expensive model, has the best-performing chip among the group. Yes, it uses the same Apple A19 Pro chip, but it seems the larger size and a bigger vapor cooling chamber favor its position.

The Pro Max scores 45,657 points on Metal, about 40% better than the A18 Pro silicon on last year’s iPhone 16 Pro Max. As for the CPU, the newcomer indeed has a MacBook Pro-level performance. Pair that with 12GB LPDDR5x RAM, and you get the most powerful iPhone in Apple’s history. 

Geekbench’s single-core test on the main 4.26GHz cluster resulted in 3781 points. The scores jump to 9679 points when the iPhone 17 Pro Max engages all six cores. You’ll probably get the same results out of the box. Consider this a preliminary performance review.