As Managing Editor of Computing, it pains me to type this: the iPhone16 and iPhone16 Pro are faster than some laptops And chip makers really need to step up their game when it comes to maximizing performance

While testing Apple's new models, it became clear that comparing them to other smartphones in terms of power is basically reviewing them in easy mode So we changed the comparison to larger and (supposedly) more powerful devices, and the results were a bit worrisome

Because the single-threaded performance of the A18 and A18 Pro outperforms most of the notebooks we have tested in Tom's Guide, and the gap in power-hungry multi-core performance is closing fast

So what is going on here? Let's first unravel the mystery and see what can be done to widen the gap again Because as a computing enthusiast of all things, I can't help but cringe a bit at how these smartphone chips are completely destroying larger, more powerful devices in the CPU realm

What is most concerning for laptop makers (especially with the M4 MacBook looming on the horizon) is that Apple has been able to achieve these numbers while improving battery life; the Copilot+PC's improved stamina (we're impressed with that improvement) is a hot topic The Cupertino staff could take this to a whole new level

And we know there are other factors to consider here: Geekbench is a short-term benchmarking tool, not designed for long-term use (laptops typically have fans to maintain sustained performance, but cell phones do not) (Laptops usually have fans to maintain sustained performance, but mobile phones do not)

But one thing is clear: Apple's chip manufacturing method is a discipline shared by all systems Last year, the iPhone 15 Pro featured a 3nm chipset, followed by the M3 MacBook Pro 3nm chipsets follow the same overall rule of design methodology: squeeze every last drop of performance out of them while keeping power consumption to a minimum

So if you're looking for a new laptop, you know there are impressive Windows systems with Snapdragon chips, new AMD chips, and (coming soon) new Intel processors But if I were you, I would wait a little longer to see what Apple makes in late October