iPhone 14 A16 chip likely to use same technology as last year's A15

Apple has been using the same 5nm fab process for its iPhone chips for two generations now, and, if these rumours hold any water, the third generation will also end up using the same technology.

A good number of rumours have pointed out that Apple might be planning to reconsider its chip strategy for the iPhone. Essentially, rumours are rife that Apple could be working on two different chips this time, an all-new A16 Bionic and a bumped-up version of the A15 Bionic. Now, prolific Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has pointed out that the public roadmap for TSMC’s silicon processes hints that the 3-nanometer and 4-nanometer fabs will not be ready for mass production until 2023. That means the A16 could use the 5-nanometre fabrication process of the A15.

Kuo previously said that the upcoming A16 chip will power just the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, while the other two models in the series, the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Max, are likely to use the A15 chip — although some sort of performance enhancements might be possible. But since the A16 chip is once again said to use the 5-nanometre technology, it is not clear how better it would be than the A15.

The same fabrication technology for successive processors generally restricts any improvements in the performance and power efficiency, but then, the fact that Apple’s A15 Bionic resulted in a 10 per cent better performance despite using the same 5nm node as the previous-generation A14 processor paints a favourable picture for the upcoming A16 chipset. But there is only so much Apple can do to bring out better results from a new-generation chip. It can make minor tweaks here and there and possibly use a different name for marketing purposes. Major changes will be possible only after the fabrication process is changed.

Apple has been using the same 5nm fab process for its iPhone chips for two generations now, and, if these rumours hold any water, the third generation will also end up using the same technology — something that is unusual for Apple, considering its iPhone is supposed to use cutting-edge hardware to stay ahead of the competition. But TSMC’s roadmap does not offer any hope here.

The iPhone 14, rumours say, will include four models, but instead of the mini model, there will be the iPhone 14 Max, which will have the same display size as the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 Pro models are said to come with an always-on display for the first time, as well as better cameras on the back. They are also rumoured to ditch the notch on the display in favour of a punch-hole and pill cutout. The other two iPhones will more or less be the same as the iPhone 13 with minor improvements.