iPhone XS

A12 Bionic, September 2018

Scores

Single-core

1,285

+21.7% over iPhone 8 Plus

  • Measured average
  • Sample size not stated
  • Retrieved 27 October 2026 from EveryMac, unsourced placeholder

Multi-core

2,654

+17.0% over iPhone 8 Plus

  • Measured average
  • Sample size not stated
  • Retrieved 27 October 2026 from EveryMac, unsourced placeholder

GPU (Metal)

No data

Keynote claims, measured

“A12 Bionic features a six-core fusion architecture with two performance cores that are up to 15 percent faster, four efficiency cores that are up to 50 percent more efficient, a four-core GPU that is up to 50 percent faster, powerful Apple-designed Image Signal Processor (ISP), video encoder and more.”

Compares CPU single-core and GPU (Metal) with the A11 Bionic in the iPhone 8 Plus. No baseline named, read as the previous generation.

iPhone XS announcement, September 2018, Apple Newsroom, iPhone XS announcement, September 2018

Single-core+21.7%

  • iPhone 8 Plus1,056
  • iPhone XS1,285
  • Claimed up to +15%

Exceeds

Not measurable with Geekbench. Power efficiency, not speed.

GPU

Claimed up to +50%

No data

Not measurable with Geekbench

  • “Core ML running on the A12 Bionic Neural Engine is up to nine times faster than on A11 Bionic, with as little as one-tenth the energy usage.”

    Neural Engine; Geekbench 6 does not test it.

    iPhone XS announcement, September 2018, Apple Newsroom, iPhone XS announcement, September 2018

iPhone flagship single-core, by generation

DeviceSingle-coreChange over the previous generation
iPhone, 2007about 22First in this line
iPhone 3G, 2008about 22about +0.0%
iPhone 3GS, 2009about 45about +107.4%
iPhone 4, 2010about 61about +35.0%
iPhone 4S, 2011about 68about +11%
iPhone 5, 2012about 181about +165.5%
iPhone 5s, 2013about 304about +67.9%
iPhone 6, 2014about 350about +15.2%
iPhone 6s Plus, 2015601about +71.7%
iPhone 7 Plus, 2016812+35.1%
iPhone 8 Plus, 20171,056+30.0%
iPhone XS, 2018, this device1,285+21.7%
iPhone 11 Pro, 20191,711+33.2%
iPhone 12 Pro, 20202,084+21.8%
iPhone 13 Pro, 20212,341+12.3%
iPhone 14 Pro, 20222,624+12.1%
iPhone 15 Pro, 20232,878+9.7%
iPhone 16 Pro, 20243,307+14.9%
iPhone 17 Pro, 20253,765+13.8%
iPhone 18 Pro, 2026about 4,695about +24.7%

Against other devices

  • iPhone 6s Plus

    2.14 timesslower

    Single-core 601 vs 1,285. Multi-core 3.09 times slower, 858 vs 2,654.

  • A20 Pro, September 2026

    about 3.65 timesfaster

    Single-core about 4,695 vs 1,285. Multi-core about 4.72 times faster, about 12,521 vs 2,654.

  • Samsung ARM11, June 2007

    about 58 timesslower

    Single-core about 22 vs 1,285. Multi-core about 120 times slower, about 22 vs 2,654.

  • M5, October 2025

    3.20 timesfaster

    Single-core 4,116 vs 1,285. Multi-core 5.76 times faster, 15,280 vs 2,654.

  • M5, March 2026

    3.24 timesfaster

    Single-core 4,168 vs 1,285. Multi-core 6.38 times faster, 16,934 vs 2,654.