According to newly confirmed information from a reputable source on Weibo, Apple is set to break tradition in its semiconductor design for next year’s iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. This comes after the same source accurately predicted chip specifications for previous iPhone models.
Unlike the iPhone 15 Pro, which utilizes the A17 Pro chip fabricated through TSMC’s N3B process, Apple reportedly plans to adopt TSMC’s less expensive N3E process for the standard A17 chip intended for the iPhone 16 series. The move is unprecedented, as it marks the first time that Apple is designing a chip specifically tailored to its standard iPhone models. This represents a marked departure from Apple’s earlier strategy where identical chips were deployed across the iPhone lineup and staggered by a year between standard and Pro models.
It is noteworthy that the N3B and N3E processes from TSMC represent different technological approaches. N3B, a product of TSMC’s collaboration with Apple, has been in readiness for mass production longer than N3E but features lower yields. It’s equipped with more Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) layers and higher transistor density than N3E, making it more efficient but more costly. Moreover, N3B is not compatible with TSMC’s successor processes, including N3P, N3X, and N3S, thereby requiring Apple to redesign its future chips to capitalize on TSMC’s advancements.
In light of these distinctions, the forthcoming A17 chip could show performance variations from the A17 Pro, despite sharing the same name. This follows Apple’s previous strategy where the A15 Bionic chip in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus had one more GPU core than the A15 in the iPhone 13 series, resulting in modest performance differences.
The development comes after Apple had to abandon its initial plans to use the N3B process for the A16 Bionic chip in favor of N4 due to timing issues. The A17 Pro is likely utilizing the N3B CPU and GPU core designs originally slated for the A16 Bionic, with the standard A17 to follow in 2024 featuring the N3E process.
Further lending credibility to this information, Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu corroborated the details about the A17 chip and added that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are expected to feature 8GB of memory, an increase from the 6GB found in the iPhone 15 series.
This new approach in chip design indicates Apple’s effort to better differentiate its standard and Pro iPhone models, possibly making the devices more appealing to different market segments. It also raises questions on how the performance and features will vary between the two versions, which will undoubtedly be a focal point of attention as we move closer to the iPhone 16’s release.
