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A few months ago, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first reported that some iPhone 14 models could be introduced with the current A15 Bionic chip - a rumor that was later independently confirmed by the US blog 9to5Mac. Now TrendForce is also reporting that only the iPhone 14 Pro models are said to have the brand new A16 chip.
In a report on the global smartphone market, TrendForce that Apple will introduce four new iPhone 14 models in the second half of 2022. However, the market research firm claims that only the "Pro series" will receive the latest processor, likely referring to the A16 chip. The cheaper iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max devices will, according to the report, use the A15 Bionic chip from the iPhone 13, but with 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM instead of 4 GB. While the idea of Apple launching a new iPhone with a chip from last year seems strange, this is not the first time such a rumor has surfaced online. After Ming-Chi Kuo published a similar report in March, 9to5Mac has learned from independent sources that, in fact, only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will receive a new chip. According to three independent sources, this is already reporting this.
Chip shortage could be reason for the decision
The reasons for this are unclear and it is unlikely that Apple will publicly explain this move - should it actually happen. But analysts believe that the main reason for this decision is the chip shortage that is affecting the entire industry. As a result, Apple will reorient its entire supply chain to produce the more expensive iPhone 14 models. There is no other explanation at this point. According to recent reports from Nikkei Asia and analyst Jeff Pu, the production of at least one of the iPhone 14 models is delayed by three weeks. The delays could be even greater if the entry-level iPhone 14 models receive major hardware changes. It is worth noting that there is a strong marketing strategy behind Apple's chips. The highly acclaimed M1 chip, for example, is basically an A14 Bionic chip with more CPU and GPU cores, so Apple could have called it A14X.
iPhone 14 with A15 chip
But the name M1 makes it sound like something truly new. There are currently two different versions of the A15 chip. One with 4 GB of RAM and a quad-core GPU, which is used in the iPhone 13, and another with 6 GB of RAM and a five-core GPU, which is used in the iPhone 13 Pro. Since rumors suggest that all iPhone 14 models will be equipped with 6 GB of RAM, we assume that the entry-level versions will receive the "high-end" A15 chip. With this in mind, Apple could even rename this chip. As a reminder, the Apple Watch Series 7 has the same CPU as the Apple Watch Series 6, with the chips being called "Apple S6" and "Apple S7" due to minor internal changes to the SoC. We'll find out whether these rumors are true this fall at the latest. (Image: Ian Zelebo x Jon Prosser)
