Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today tweeted that Apple plans to keep iPhone 14 models on the current – and very capable – A15 Bionic with the iPhone 14 Pro and flagship iPhone 14 Pro Max exclusively getting the as-yet-unreleased A16 SoC. 9to5Mac sources independently corroborated this reporting on Monday morning.
Only two Pro models would upgrade to the A16 processor, while the 14 & 14 Max will remain the A15. All four new models will likely come with 6GB RAM, with the difference being LPDDR 5 (14 Pro & 14 Pro Max) vs. LPDDR 4X (14 & 14 Max). https://t.co/tHcszIz6gX
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 13, 2022
The A15 chip would power the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max, although the RAM would be upgraded to 6 GB from 4 GB. The new A16 SoC would be reserved for the higher-end, and more expensive, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. The Pro phones would feature the same 6 GB RAM as the iPhone 13 Pro.
If true, this would be the first time in almost a decade that Apple would bifurcate the flagship iPhone specs by the type of chip series it uses. The last time the company did this was way back in 2013, when the iPhone 5S got the A7 but the cheaper iPhone 5C merely sported the one-year-old A6 chip.
Separately, 9to5Mac has heard from independent sources that Apple has been developing two new iPhone 14 models with A16 chips, and two iPhone 14 models with A15 chips inside, which aligns with what Kuo has said today.
MacDailyNews Take: A little birdie also concurs.
The “Pro” iPhones should stand apart from all other models in multiple significant ways beyond camera capabilities.
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A16 is probably also the basis for the M2. Since A10 and A10X, the more powerful variant used in iPad Pro has been every other A-chip. There was no A11X. Next one was A12X (and A12Z). No A13X. And then A14 and M1. Next one may be A16 and M2.
Maybe Apple is turning it around now, with M-chip being primary. So A16 is the mobile phone variant of M2 design. That may mean a new A-chip every two years, not every year. That’s good, Apple can focus more energy into making iPhone design better, even the NEXT great thing after mobile “phone” ☎️