By all accounts, the Google Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are two of the best smartphones introduced this year. No matter which one a user buys, the experience should be great. But that doesn't stop enthusiasts from comparing the two side-by-side to see which one wins in terms of performance.

Such tests can also produce surprises. For example, in a recent comparison between the Pixel 6 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max, Google's custom Tensor chip was up against Apple's powerful A15 Bionic.

A video posted by YouTube channel PhoneBuff (h/t wccftech) runs a series of apps on both the Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone 13 using a robotic arm. In the test, 16 different apps are opened and closed; the winner is the one that opens, loads, and closes all 16 apps faster. Unexpectedly, the Pixel 6 Pro beat the iPhone by a mere 5.22 seconds.

This is a rather surprising result given the other benchmarks we've seen, including our own; in the Pixel 6 benchmark test, Google's new Tensor chip matched the performance of phones with the Snapdragon 888. However, like those fellow Android devices, the Pixel 6 also lagged behind the iPhone 13 in our tests.

PhoneBuff's video depicts a closer race. As the video begins, the Pixel 6 Pro leads the iPhone 13 in apps such as Facebook, Starbucks, Microsoft World and Excel, Camera, and Snapseed.

Things started to tilt in Apple's favor when the app FilmoraGo had to render the video, and the A15 Bionic chip in the iPhone 13 Pro Max was so fast that it filled and pulled away from the Pixel 6 Pro's lead. This lead was ultimately too large for Tensor to overcome.

Another area where Apple was able to further extend its lead was in regards to gaming. Apps that require a lot of graphics processing seem to be better on the A15 Bionic. This is an area where Apple is particularly strong in the mobile field, where Qualcomm and others tend to lag behind.

In fact, on my podcast FTW with Imad Khan, I spoke with gaming journalist Rishi Alwani last year about the mobile esports scene in India. In that episode, he revealed that professional PUBG mobile players prefer to play on the iPhone for one particular performance-related reason.

"They all prefer to play on iOS. They all prefer to play on iOS because those devices have less heat and dissipation problems and run longer," said Alwani of The Mako Reactor. Most of the time [the tournaments] are sponsored by Oppo or Vivo or OnePlus, but most of the training is done on iOS devices."

Therefore, heat dissipation during long practice sessions was a bigger factor for professional players, even though Android devices offered higher refresh displays.

In any case, given that Tensor is Google's first effort in custom silicon, it will be interesting to see what the next generation of chips will bring.