Google introduced its new Pixel 10 on Wednesday, and it features Google’s own new Tensor G5 chip, which the company says is 34 percent faster than its predecessor. That sounds great for Pixel customers, but if you keep track of the trends in the smartphone market overall, you’re probably interested in how the Tensor G5 performs against Apple chips.
The Pixel 10 isn’t available yet, but Wccf Tech spotted benchmark results for the Pixel 10 Pro XL and the new chip in the Geekbench 6 Browser. Wccf Tech calls the gains from the new Tensor G5 “impressive” compared to the Tensor G4. But we took the numbers and compared them to the A18 chips in the iPhone 16 series, and well, the Tensor G5’s scores are not so impressive.
Geekbench 6: Google Tensor G5 vs. Apple A18 chips
Results are scores. Higher scores/longer bars are faster.
The A18 Pro is 30 percent faster than the Tensor G5 in Geekbench 6’s Multi-Core test, and 45 percent faster in Single-Core. Even the A16 Bionic–released three years ago and currently in the iPhone 15–is a bit faster than the Tensor G5, albeit by less than 10 percent.
To give the Tensor G5 some credit, we here at Macworld have been saying for a while that Apple silicon is so fast that a lot of users don’t take advantage of the performance. So the Tensor G5 is fast enough for most users, just like we sometimes say that a year-old Phone 15 is a good enough phone for a lot of customers. (An iPhone 15 is $100 less than a Google Pixel 10, by the way.)
In any case, the benchmarks show how much of an advantage Apple has with an aging chipset–Apple is expected to introduce the A19 chip in the next few weeks as part of its iPhone 17 introduction. Which means the performance gap is only going to get wider.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.