iPhone SE (2020) Benchmark Results Suggest Apple May Have Underclocked A13 Bionic Chip

iPhone SE (2020) made its debut earlier this month with the Apple A13 Bionic chip that is also powering the iPhone 11 family. The presence of the flagship chip has emerged the USP of the latest affordable iPhone. However, the iPhone SE (2020) performance results appeared on benchmark tool AnTuTu suggest that you may not get the performance that one would expect on the flagship iPhone 11 models. The early scores also suggest that instead of giving the results in line with the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, the iPhone SE (2020) would only surpass the benchmark results of the 2018 iPhones with some improvement.

iPhone SE (2020) on AnTuTu

As per the details available on the AnTuTu site, the iPhone SE (2020) has received an overall benchmark score of 4,92,166. This isn't close to the 5,17,400 score received by the iPhone 11 or the 5,21,010 score associated with the iPhone 11 Pro. The ultra-premium, iPhone 11 Pro Max also has got 5,37,154 score on the AnTuTu benchmark.

The results clearly suggest that there would be some major performance-level differences between the iPhone SE (2020) and the iPhone 11 models — despite the fact that they all have the identical chip.

iPhone SE (2020) benchmark results vary from iPhone 11 models despite carrying the same chip
Photo Credit: AnTuTu

Nevertheless, the results posted on the AnTuTu site suggest that some memory-level optimisations on the iPhone SE (2020) might have helped to take on the iPhone XS models that were launched in 2018. The benchmark tool shows that the iPhone XS Max has received an overall score of 4,43,337. This is lower than the score received by the new iPhone model.

At the time of its launch, the iPhone SE (2020) was speculated to help Apple magnetise people who were looking for the performance similar to the iPhone 11 models in a smaller form factor. The results from the AnTuTu site, however, hint at some differences.

Apple might have underclocked the A13 Bionic chip on the iPhone SE (2020) to provide a better battery life and an improved heat management over what you would get on the flagship iPhone models.

That being said, benchmark solutions aren't that accurate to help you judge the actual real-life performance of the phone.

Is iPhone SE the ultimate 'affordable' iPhone for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.