How fast are the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max compared to one another? How fast are they compared to earlier models?

Please note that all of these iPhone models have been discontinued. However, this Q&A remains up-to-date and it can be useful to anyone considering one of these devices on the used market.

In a pair of press releases for the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro/iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple reports that all three of these devices have an all-new Apple-designed A13 "Bionic" processor.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (iPhone 11; iPhone 11 Pro/iPhone 11 Pro Max)

With nearly identical copy in each press release, Apple more specifically claims:

A13 Bionic, the fastest chip ever in a smartphone, provides unparalleled performance for every task [the three new iPhone models] handle and feature up to 20 percent faster CPU and GPU[s] than A12. A13 Bionic is built for machine learning, with a faster Neural Engine for real-time photo and video analysis, and new Machine Learning Accelerators that allow the CPU to deliver more than 1 trillion operations per second.

A 20% speed increase compared to the models replaced is significant. Although a read through of our detailed comparison of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max also would work, Apple simply using the same copy for each press release is a dead giveaway that these three devices provide the same performance.

The third-party Geekbench benchmark also notes that these models all have 4 GB of RAM. With the same processors, graphics processors, and RAM, the only real performance-related variable is the higher-resolution displays on the iPhone 11 Pro/iPhone 11 Pro Max models. Because the graphics processor has to push so many more pixels on the higher-end models, the entry-level iPhone 11 could be faster on some graphics-related tasks.

Nevertheless, independent benchmarks can be helpful to see if Apple's claim of a 20% boost in performance is reasonable as well as compare these iPhone models to earlier ones. After all, most users do not upgrade to a new iPhone every year, so a comparison to iPhone devices from years past can be particularly useful.

Benchmark Performance Overview

For a helpful general overview of the performance differences between the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max and earlier iPhone models as well as the iPad and iPod touch, Everyi.com's own Ultimate iComparison makes it quick to compare side-by-side Geekbench benchmark averages for hundreds of possible performance comparisons.

The Geekbench 4.0 benchmark confirms that the performance of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max are within the margin of error. There definitely is not a noticeable difference in day-to-day use.

Compared to other recent iPhone models, the iPhone 11 lineup performs accordingly:

iPhone 11/Pro/Max Compared To:	Percent Faster (Single Core)	Percent Faster (Multicore)
iPhone XS/iPhone XR	14%	22%
iPhone X/iPhone 8	31%	35%
iPhone 7	59%	136%
iPhone 6s	130%	235%
iPhone SE	121%	221%
iPad (7th Gen)	57%	129%
iPad Pro 11"	9%	-24%
MacBook Air (2019)	38%	84%

With a review of the above, you can see clearly that the Geekbench 4 benchmark shows a modest performance boost for the iPhone 11/iPhone 11 Pro/iPhone 11 Pro Max compared to the iPhone XS/iPhone XR, but more significant gains when compared to earlier models.

The iPhone 11/iPhone 11 Pro/iPhone 11 Pro Max have no trouble walloping the current entry-level iPad and MacBook Air models, either, only falling short when compared to the iPad Pro 11" in multicore tasks.

Independent Reviews

With the rush to push reviews out the door so quickly these days, few reviewers provide performance tests beyond Geekbench benchmarks, but some still do.

The always detailed AnandTech put the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max through a series of their own tests. In one test, for example, Anand reported:

In Speedometer 2.0 we see the new A13 based phones exhibit a 19-20% performance increase compared to the previous generation iPhone XS and the A12. The increase is in-line with Apple's performance claims. The increase this year is a bit smaller than what we saw last year with the A12, as it seems the main boost to the scores last year was the upgrade to a 128KB L1I cache.

In a pair of reviews, the equally excellent NotebookCheck found:

The A13 Bionic [in the iPhone 11] performed excellently during our tests but only until it gets hot, just like the iPhone 11 Pro. Our review unit throttles performance so much to prevent it from overheating that 3DMark Sling Shot crashed until the device had cooled down. You should experience no such issues in daily use, but it is something worth keeping in mind, nonetheless. Incidentally, while all three devices have the same SoC, the iPhone 11 has a lower resolution display, which requires fewer resources to power than the panels in the iPhone 11 Pro series. Hence, the iPhone 11 should theoretically perform better in games than its more expensive siblings.

For how the iPhone 11 lineup performs compared to its immediate predecessor in day-to-day use, this video from YouTuber Brandon Butch also is quite useful:

As you can see, independent tests largely mirror the Geekbench benchmark results, but the substantial boost in benchmark results is not always as noticeable in the real-world.

Performance Summary

Ultimately, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max are the same speed and provide a significant performance jump compared to their predecessors. Apple's claim of a 20% speed increase over the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR is quite reasonable, although real-world results may vary depending on the task performed.

Also see: What are all the differences between the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max? How many versions of each are there? Which is best for me?