According to supply chain analyst Jeff Pu, Apple is expected to ditch its current practice of using older chipsets in its iPhone models and instead use A18 chips in all four iPhone 16 models.
Apple’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are powered by the same A16 Bionic chip used in last year’s iPhone 14 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feature TSMC’s 3nm-based A17 Pro chip.
The A18 chip will be used for all four iPhone 16 models, which will be manufactured using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm chip fabrication process, called N3E. In comparison to TSMC’s first-generation 3nm process, N3B, used for the A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro, this process will be less expensive and yield will improve.
Pu also predicted which chipsets will be used in each iPhone 16 model. According to him, the standard iPhone 16 models will get the A18 chip, while the Pro models will get the A18 Pro chip. N3E is TSMC’s process for fabricating chips, as mentioned earlier.
It’s important to note that Pu is probably making an educated guess about the marketing names since the iPhone 16 lineup is still a year away. Whether Apple will actually use the A18 and A18 Pro branding or stick with its recent A17 and A18 Pro branding remains to be seen. Pu has a good record when it comes to predicting Apple’s plans, despite the uncertainty about the marketing names.
