GoKawiiliPhone 18 Pro gains 25% sustained performance when cooled with a can of La Croix
Developer Matt Birchler tested Apple's iPhone 18 Pro's A20 Pro chip for thermal throttling during transcription benchmarks, finding speeds dropped from a peak of 447.9 words per second to about 320 after several runs. He then placed a cold can of La Croix sparkling water on the back of the phone during a 20-run benchmark session and recorded a 25% improvement in sustained performance compared to the uncooled test.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The informal experiment highlights that thermal throttling remains a real limitation for high-performance phone chips like the A20 Pro, even without extreme workloads. It suggests external cooling could meaningfully unlock performance headroom in phones, a factor mainstream device makers rarely address outside niche gaming handsets with built-in liquid cooling.
- Birchler's test showed the A20 Pro chip throttles from ~447.9 to ~320 words per second during sustained benchmarking.
- Placing a cold can of La Croix on the phone's back improved sustained performance by 25% in his informal test.
- Most phones lack built-in cooling solutions found in gaming handsets like the liquid-cooled Redmagic 11 Pro.
Black Shark Magnetic Phone Cooler — If DIY soda-can cooling caught your eye, a real magnetic phone cooling fan can deliver similar thermal relief without the condensation risk. It clips right onto the back of your phone to pull heat away during intense gaming or benchmarking sessions, helping sustain peak performance longer. It's a practical, purpose-built alternative to Birchier's clever La Croix hack.
See Black Shark Magnetic Phone Cooler on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: tomshardware.com — Jowi Morales, 2026-09-26
Published there as: “Enthusiast cooled iPhone 18 Pro with cold can of La Croix sparkling water; benchmarks show 25% higher sustained performance”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.