Geekerwan’s Review of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (Xiaomi 14).

[Jimmyjames]

The fact that Apple is focusing on AAA games means they have a reason to improve their GPUs and cooling systems. If they don't that will affect other things like Vision Pro and Mac in the future.

those devices have a more number of cores and a larger thermal budget. I‘m referring specifically to the iPhone.

 

[Jimmyjames]

There are people who decide between an iphone and android based on benchmark results?

Believe it or not, yes!

 

[Cmaier]

Believe it or not, yes!

Weirdos.

 

[Jimmyjames]

Weirdos.

Perhaps. I assume that it must be more than just a tiny percentage given both Apple and Samsung spend precious marketing budgets discussing the relative performance of their SoC.

 

[Cmaier]

Perhaps. I assume that it must be more than just a tiny percentage given both Apple and Samsung spend precious marketing budgets discussing the relative performance of their SoC.

Really? Don’t recall seeing a lot of apple ads talking about that.

 

[Jimmyjames]

Really? Don’t recall seeing a lot of apple ads talking about that.

Well I don’t know if Apple’s iPhone page counts as an ad, but it’s right there at the top.

 

[Cmaier]

Well I don’t know if Apple’s iPhone page counts as an ad, but it’s right there at the top.
View attachment 28173

Yeah, big marketing budget on that.

 

[leman]

It’s been a while since this topic was opened, and while the scores from actual devices more or less match what Geekerwan covered, the reviews are pretty positive on gpu performance with the S24. We have already covered the fact that Qualcomm gpus seem optimise for lower complexity workloads eg. mobile games, gfxbench and Wildlife Extreme, while Apple’s gpus seem to have loftier ambitions and already have double the fp32 performance if we take Geekbench 6 scores as representative, but….

I’m wondering if this technical distinction will hurt Apple. In the reviews I’ve seen, they point out the 50% lead the QC gpus have on these benchmarks. It makes no difference if it’s pointed out to them that the Apple gpu is actually more powerful for AAA games and more demanding tasks for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, most mobile users don’t care about demanding tasks. They play whatever mobile game passes the time or is popular at the moment. Games like Genshin Impact are still popular. If the QC gpus give significantly better performance, then it’s a legitimate thing to point that out.

Secondly, while there are now a few AAA games for the 15 Pro/Max, the performance is pretty mediocre to poor. It’s not especially enticing for users to buy a device which performs poorly in the games which Apple is advertising, and to underperform the S24 in traditional games.

So I guess I’m wondering if it’s a mistake on Apple’s part to have focused on high end games before they can actually deliver a usable experience? Will they just accept losing the performance battle for mobile games when they have traditionally dominated their rivals here?

I doubt it. The main practical use of these benchmarks is for Android users and fans to praise their platform. I would be very surprised if anyone ever bought an iPhone because it has a faster GPU, and I would be even more surprised if there are customers who abandon the iPhone because Android GPU is getting faster.

When it comes to real world games, iPhone performs just as good or better, and the quality of games tends to be higher. Not to mention that we now have real high-end games on the iPhone. And in the end that’s what gaming-focused smartphone buyers care about. So unless Android hardware gets much faster in the next few years, and hets better games, I don’t see anything changing.

 

[Jimmyjames]

I doubt it. The main practical use of these benchmarks is for Android users and fans to praise their platform. I would be very surprised if anyone ever bought an iPhone because it has a faster GPU, and I would be even more surprised if there are customers who abandon the iPhone because Android GPU is getting faster.

When it comes to real world games, iPhone performs just as good or better, and the quality of games tends to be higher. Not to mention that we now have real high-end games on the iPhone. And in the end that’s what gaming-focused smartphone buyers care about. So unless Android hardware gets much faster in the next few years, and hets better games, I don’t see anything changing.

I’d be interested in real world benchmarks for games comparing the S24 to the 15 Pro. All I’ve seen so far are benchmarks. The issue with the high end games on the iPhone is they dont run particularly well.

 

[Jimmyjames]

Yeah, big marketing budget on that.

I don’t know the marketing budget but the home page for the iPhone seems like pretty important marketing area for Apple.

 

[leman]

I’d be interested in real world benchmarks for games comparing the S24 to the 15 Pro. All I’ve seen so far are benchmarks. The issue with the high end games on the iPhone is they dont run particularly well.

From what I’ve seen they run better than on a steam deck, which already is kind of a big deal. That said, what Qualcomm is doing is smart. They don’t have any ambition competing on the desktop GPU front, so they are focusing on many small low-power GPU cores, which is exactly what a mobile gaming device needs. Apple can’t really do that since their GPU has to serve all the markets.

 

[Cmaier]

I don’t know the marketing budget but the home page for the iPhone seems like pretty important marketing area for Apple.

The claim was about “marketing budgets.”

 

[Jimmyjames]

From what I’ve seen they run better than on a steam deck, which already is kind of a big deal. That said, what Qualcomm is doing is smart. They don’t have any ambition competing on the desktop GPU front, so they are focusing on many small low-power GPU cores, which is exactly what a mobile gaming device needs. Apple can’t really do that since their GPU has to serve all the markets.

Interesting thanks. I’ll have to research more. I agree, good for Qualcomm, they are playing the hand they have.

 

[dada_dave]

From what I’ve seen they run better than on a steam deck, which already is kind of a big deal. That said, what Qualcomm is doing is smart. They don’t have any ambition competing on the desktop GPU front, so they are focusing on many small low-power GPU cores, which is exactly what a mobile gaming device needs. Apple can’t really do that since their GPU has to serve all the markets.

Apple could in theory bifurcate their iPhone/Mac designs, but that’s a lot more work and I don’t think that, for now, it’s necessary. Also Qualcomm is going to start competing in the high end laptop market soon and not all their designs will have dGPUs. So we’ll really get to see how good their GPUs are at more advanced games and professional tasks soon … and then how their designs evolve the longer they compete in that space.

 

[Jimmyjames]

The claim was about “marketing budgets.”

And I’d assume the main marketing page for the iPhone 15 Pro uses some of that budget.

This longer advert here, mentions “a new level of mobile gaming power” and the A17 Pro as one of it’s headline points.


I don't think it’s the main point of the marketing, but it’s clearly a significant one.

 

[Jimmyjames]

When it comes to real world games, iPhone performs just as good or better, and the quality of games tends to be higher. Not to mention that we now have real high-end games on the iPhone. And in the end that’s what gaming-focused smartphone buyers care about. So unless Android hardware gets much faster in the next few years, and hets better games, I don’t see anything changing.

You are correct as far as I’ve seen. Just saw this video:


TLDR: iPhone 15 Pro Max gets a locked 60fps with higher quality graphics than the S24 which gets an average of 51fps.

 

[quarkysg]

iPhone’s graphics seems better/more detailed as well. Maybe I’m just biased

 

[Jimmyjames]

iPhone’s graphics seems better/more detailed as well. Maybe I’m just biased

Yes. They do seem better.

 

[leman]

iPhone’s graphics seems better/more detailed as well. Maybe I’m just biased

It’s not even close. The iPhone version gets much more complex shading, much higher LOD, soft shadows, and what almost looks like HDR lighting. The Android version is super basic in comparison.

 

[theorist9]

There are people who decide between an iphone and android based on benchmark results?

Yes, I decide purely based on Stockfish.