It takes about a 15% increase in speed for the average user to see a difference between devices. If these benchmarks aren't faked, it'll be obvious that the iPhone 18 Pro is much faster, to even the above average user.
Geekbench was updated to version 7 in July 2026, but handily for comparisons, the first figures for the new iPhones were tested on Geekbench 6.7.0, making them comparable to tests on the iPhone 17 Pro. They are always a snapshot of one tester's work, though, and figures can vary slightly between different sets of results.
So for instance with the iPhone 17 Pro, Geekbench's single-core scores ranged between 3523 and 3895. The first test of the iPhone 18 Pro reports a single-core score of 4719.
How the new iPhone 18 Pro performs on basic tasks. Longer bars are better.
That means the new model outperforms the 2025 release by between 21% and 33% in this single-core test. Single-core tests concern the kinds of use a processor is put to most of the time, such as web browsing and document editing.
Geekbench's multi-core tests cover more processor-intensive tasks, such as video or audio editing. In that case, the iPhone 17 Pro scored between 8810 and 9746.
That's a wide range and so far there is just one comparison result for the iPhone 18 Pro. But that multi-core result is 12677.
So the iPhone 18 Pro's performance appears to be between 30% and 44% better than the iPhone 17 Pro.
iPhone 18 Pro Max results
Perhaps not surprisingly, the iPhone 18 Pro Max's results with the A20 Pro processor are broadly the same as for the iPhone 18 Pro. One difference is in the Metal test scores, where the iPhone 18 Pro scored 64069 but the iPhone 18 Pro Max hit 64915.
The more general single-core score shows a trivial difference between the two models. The iPhone 18 Pro Max scores 4725 to the iPhone 18 Pro's 4719.
Curiously, while the multi-core score is also only slightly different, this time it's in the smaller model's favor. The iPhone 18 Pro Max scored 12575, but the iPhone 18 Pro reached 12677.
But this still makes for a great improvement over the previous iPhone 17 Pro Max. For single core, the older model scored 3792, making the new edition around 24% faster.
How the new iPhone 18 Pro performs on more processor-intensive tasks. Longer bars are better.
Similarly, the iPhone 17 Pro Max got a multi-core score of 9830 compared to the iPhone 18 Pro Max's 12575. That makes the latest model around 28% faster.
Tests versus real-world use
Geekbench scores don't translate to precise times for performing tasks, they are only for comparison to each other. But the tests comprise multiple tasks and processes that are ones users will most often need in real-world use.
So while a slightly higher Geekbench score won't mean a noticeable improvement, ones as large as these certainly will.
