The Apple A16 Bionic is expected to be the next processor designed for the iPhone and is rumored to debut on the iPhone 14 Pro.
According to Apple Ming-Chi Kuo’s acclaimed filter, the A16 Bionic could end up using the same 5 nm process node as the existing Apple A15 Bionic chip. That’s not to say there won’t be an increase in performance with the next generation, but Kuo admits it will likely be “limited”.
Kuo even suggests that Apple will only call the new chip “Apple A16 Bionic” for marketing purposes, as there won’t be a big difference compared to the current A15 Bionic.
Keep scrolling down to find everything else you need to know about the next iPhone chip.
Date of publication
The Apple A16 Bionic chip is expected to be unveiled during this September’s annual iPhone event.
The iPhone 14 Pro is expected to be the first phone to include the processor, while the vanilla iPhone 14 sticks to the existing A15 Bionic.
Specifications
According to Apple informant @VNchocoTaco, the Apple A16 Bionic will use the same 5 nm process node from TSMC as its predecessor, the Apple A15 Bionic.
This means that Apple will have to rely primarily on GPU upgrades and the introduction of LPDDR5 RAM to see significant performance gains.
Normally, we would ignore rumors and leaks from an account with very little credibility, but Apple’s acclaimed Ming-Chi Kuo filterer has corroborated these reports and been more detailed.
He suggests that the possible performance upgrades seen with the next-generation chip could be “limited” and that the only reason for Apple to change the name of the A15 Bionic processor to A16 Bionic is for marketing purposes.
So why can’t Apple make the processor faster? It looks like TSMC (the company that supplies Apple with the technology) will not have its 4 nm process node ready until 2023 at the earliest. It’s important for Apple to have a smaller process node, as it allows the company to push more transistors into the CPU to speed up performance.
If all these reports are accurate, it seems unlikely that the iPhone 14 Pro will perform very differently than the iPhone 13 Pro. But with the iPhone already showing superior performance to compete with the best Android phones, it’s probably not a major concern for Apple.