Earlier this year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first reported that some iPhone 14 models may feature the current A15 Bionic chip — a rumor that was later dismissed 9to5Mac. Now the report comes from TrendForce Confirm these rumors by saying that only the iPhone 14 Pro models will get the new A16 chip.
In a report on the global smartphone market released on Wednesday, TrendForce Note that Apple will launch four new iPhone 14 models in the second half of 2022. However, the research firm said that only the “Pro series” will get the latest processors, possibly referring to the A16 chip.
The report also claims that the entry-level iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max models will use the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic chip, but now use 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM instead of 4GB.
While the idea of Apple launching a new iPhone with a chip last year may seem odd, this isn’t the first time such rumors have surfaced online. Just after Ming-Chi Kuo shared a similar report in March, 9to5Mac We have heard from independent sources that indeed only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will get the new chips.
The reason is unclear, and Apple is unlikely to explain this to anyone, but analysts believe the main reason behind the decision is the chip shortage that has been affecting the entire industry. As a result, Apple will dedicate its entire supply chain to the production of the more expensive iPhone 14 models.
Recent reports from Nikkei Asia Analyst Jeff Pu said production of at least one iPhone 14 model was delayed by three weeks. The delay could be worse if the entry-level iPhone 14 models make more significant hardware changes.
iPhone 14 with A15 chip
It’s worth noting that Apple’s chips have a strong marketing strategy behind them. For example, the acclaimed M1 chip is basically an A14 Bionic chip with more CPU and GPU cores. Apple could have called it the A14X chip, but calling it the M1 sounds like something entirely new.
Currently, there are two different versions of the A15 chip. One has 4GB of RAM and the quad-core GPU used by the iPhone 13, and the other has 6GB of RAM and the penta-core GPU used by the iPhone 13 Pro. Since all iPhone 14 models are rumored to come with 6GB of RAM, we expect the entry-level version to get a “high-end” A15 chip.
With that in mind, Apple could even give the chip a new name. The Apple Watch Series 7 has the same CPU as the Apple Watch Series 6, but due to minor internal changes to the SoC, the chips are named “Apple S6” and “Apple S7”.
Of course, we won’t get answers to all these questions until later this year, once the company announces the new iPhones.
More rumors about the iPhone 14
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