With CPU and GPU improvements, everything from the general snappiness of iOS 12 to gaming to augmented reality is faster for sure.

To put these speed gains in perspective, I loaded up a 1 minute and 32 second video clip shot in 4K (3,840 x 2,160) resolution at 30 fps with my iPhone X. I AirDropped the file over to my iPhone XS Max, created a new project with just that one video clip in iMovie, and then timed how long it’d take for both to export the file to 1080p.

The iPhone XS Max took 31 seconds and the iPhone X took 35 seconds. The iPhone XS Max crunched the video 12.9 percent faster, and though a few seconds doesn’t seem like a huge leap, the next part surprised me.

After closing iMovie on both the iPhone X and iPhone XS Max and then opening both project files again, just as I selected “1080p” to restart the export process, the iPhone XS Max displayed a pop-up with: “The movie was exported to your Photo Library” and duplicated the exported file. In comparison on my iPhone X, the export process had started all over again.

I tried this multiple times with different video files and every time the A12 Bionic was able to intelligently understand that it had already performed this exact task and simply duplicated the previously exported file instead of re-rendering everything again. It shaved a whole 31 seconds off each additional export — if that doesn’t convince you the A12 Bionic is performance champ, nothing will.

I also saw some notable improvements while playing 3D games. Fortnite and Asphalt 9 run well on my iPhone X and even better on the iPhone XS and iPhone iPhone XS Max. I saw less choppiness during moments where lots of polygons are rendered on screen, like when you’re spinning your car to knock out a squad of cop cars.

Games especially look more stunning on the iPhone XS Max’s larger display and they sound just a bit louder and clearer thanks to the wider stereo speakers.