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Kuo: Only iPhone 14 Pro Models to Get 'A16' Chip, Standard Models to Retain A15
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Laptops hit this top end for the average consumer some time ago. I predict future chips will be more about efficiency, battery life, and size of device.
Seems very unlikely to me… there are so many OS functions that are hardware reliant, like the image processing pipeline.
Fair enough. I remain convinced that Apple moving away from china is a priority though.
I think we’re going to see increasing tensions between the west and china in the next few years.
Having your business heavily dependent on using facilities in china cannot be a smart move.
Well as much as some people want or like this to happen, there are currently zero signs that Apple is moving away from China. Not even diversifying. In fact Apple seems to buck the trend and relies on even more Chinese components for cost savings. I guess Tim Cook doesn't think it is a risk.
I was thinking more if leakers in general rather then Moh himself, but I failed to express that in my comment.
But reading into it Koh didn't make any mention of it:
You are right that Luke Miani deserves the credit for the renders and claiming the Studio Mac and display would be launched at the event, and no laptops would be launched.
Agreed.
About the only way that I could see this working, is for:
* the Plus to be the same price as the regular 13 is today
* plus a new chassis. Even then that’s going to be a little bit of a tough sell.
Throw in the x3 camera system from the 13 pro and along with the big screen, this is starting to feel a much better deal.
Then Apple can say, ‘we’ve bought many of the key features of the iPhone 13 Pro Max to the standard iPhone’.
I can see the regular iPhone 14 at the price point of the 13 mini with just x2 cameras ie to persuade everyone to simply get the plus.
Then that frees Apple to make the Pro phones super charged with the new processor and a knockout camera (and probably increase their price too).
This would feel completely consistent with the Apple of the last year that has launched the 14-16 inch MBP and the Studio, where pro means ‘way more performance than the standard & thus way more pricier).
Indeed. I’m going to bet that the reliance on china by cook is going to be a baleful legacy of his in the end.
We’ve seen the situation deteriorate rapidly with Russia who have been emboldened by Europe’s reliance on their oil and gas.
It wouldn’t take a genius to work out that china may be similarly emboldened when the economic fortune of so many western countries are so reliant on china.
Of course, this reliance was both meant to dissuade China from doing anything rash (as well as provide huge huge cost savings for Wall Street) - but what if China calls the West’s bluff?
Because Apple doesn’t need to. I don’t understand the people that think Apple can just ‘pick up and move’ their entire production assembly to the U.S or other parts in the world, when producing chips and other parts of the United States for example, it would only just be more costly, and passed down to the consumer. It’s not reasonable, nor realistic.
And yet that's pretty much how the entire Western economy operates, thanks to China and its dirt cheap Labour costs due to no human rights laws, or very few. It isn't going to change because their is too much profit and money involved, so much is made in China, it's not a smart move to ignore having facilities there whilst your competitors do.
The only way it'll happen is for the Western consumers to accept mass price increases on goods as other countries charge more for manufacturing due to having higher wages and costs.
I can believe this rumor!
Here's the basic logic. Assuming Apple does not introduce an iPhone 14 mini it'd be most useful to have a new iPhone 14 remaining at the US$729 price point ($699 with U.S. major carrier activation). But the larger iPhone likely has a higher manufacturing cost — today's iPhone 13 is priced $100 higher than the iPhone 13 mini. So to maintain profit margins (especially in this supply constrained world) at the $729/$699 price point Apple has to shave costs somehow. Carrying the A15 over into the iPhone 14 would do exactly that.
But Apple could still add RAM (as the rumor suggests) and also perhaps tweak the A15's peak clock speed ("A15s"). Apple can better manage A15 part supply across their iPad mini 6 (which also uses the A15), iPhone SE 3, and even iPhone 13 mini carryover, sacrificing some other A15 product production volumes if need be. And it'd still be the fastest processor in any smartphone except for Apple's own iPhone 14 Pro models with the A16.
So, putting all that together, here's what the lineup could look like this September, 2022:
What else? Well, the A15 could also go into a refreshed base iPad, refreshed iPod touch, and maybe even refreshed Apple TV eventually, to amortize costs across even more products.
Here's the basic logic. Assuming Apple does not introduce an iPhone 14 mini it'd be most useful to have a new iPhone 14 remaining at the US$729 price point ($699 with U.S. major carrier activation). But the larger iPhone likely has a higher manufacturing cost — today's iPhone 13 is priced $100 higher than the iPhone 13 mini. So to maintain profit margins (especially in this supply constrained world) at the $729/$699 price point Apple has to shave costs somehow. Carrying the A15 over into the iPhone 14 would do exactly that.
But Apple could still add RAM (as the rumor suggests) and also perhaps tweak the A15's peak clock speed ("A15s"). Apple can better manage A15 part supply across their iPad mini 6 (which also uses the A15), iPhone SE 3, and even iPhone 13 mini carryover, sacrificing some other A15 product production volumes if need be. And it'd still be the fastest processor in any smartphone except for Apple's own iPhone 14 Pro models with the A16.
So, putting all that together, here's what the lineup could look like this September, 2022:
- iPhone SE 3: starting at $429 (already available)
- iPhone 12 mini: dropped (maybe dropped before September; it's in an awkward spot already)
- iPhone 12: starting at $529
- iPhone 13 mini: starting at $599 (India production coming online)
- iPhone 13: dropped
- iPhone 14 / 14 Max: starting at $699 ("A15s," 6GB RAM)
- iPhone 14 Pro / Pro Max: same premium flagship price points (A16, 6GB RAM)
What else? Well, the A15 could also go into a refreshed base iPad, refreshed iPod touch, and maybe even refreshed Apple TV eventually, to amortize costs across even more products.
Forget the hardware and concentrate on the sw , especially the os which needs a dramatic update and I’m not talking about 4 new emojis etc
Making your new phone a year old when you buy it is a novel approach to differentiating it from the Pro models.
I rather they focus on that attrocious bad front face camera + software, it is a massive downgrade from the iphone 6plus up to the 8 Plus.
It is terrible since the iphone 12 and on the new ipad mini 6. Super blocky/grainy, sofware tries to smooth out faces, super blurry and unusable. I normally use the front facing camera ALOT!
It is terrible since the iphone 12 and on the new ipad mini 6. Super blocky/grainy, sofware tries to smooth out faces, super blurry and unusable. I normally use the front facing camera ALOT!
I bought a 13 Mini this cycle, so I would not normally be in the market for a 14 in any case. I tend to keep a phone for 3 years. But if I were tempted to go to a 14, Apple keeping the same chip would be a disincentive to me for an upgrade. It's bad enough that they are retiring the 5.4" Mini size, which I love. Based on how I use my phone, what would I gain otherwise except for a better camera and maybe better battery life? And if the pixel count goes larger on the cameras, that probably means bigger file size for each photo, which is something I don't want. I am not interested in a Pro due to the higher price and the fact that they are heavier to hold. I can really feel the weight difference between the 13 and the 13 Pro of the same size.
12 Pro was peak iPhone for me. It’s going to take more than better benchmarking in its successors to cajole me into upgrading past this point for a good long while while yet. 120hz in the 13 Pro would have been nice but that distended camera blister, dinner plate lenses and even greater overall heft was a bridge too far for me. I’m happy to stay in a holding pattern here until either my current phone blows up or the next swish form factor seduces me. Whichever comes first.
Enough of this obsession over hardware. It’s the software that needs a massive revision. The current hardware is more then sufficient to handle a much more modern iOS.
Only the iPhone 14 Pro models will have the "A16" chip, while the standard iPhone 14 models will retain the A15 Bionic chip from the iPhone 13, according to insightful Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a tweet, Kuo said that the 6.1-inch "iPhone 14 Pro" and the 6.7-inch "iPhone 14 Pro Max" will get the A16 chip, while the 6.1-inch "iPhone 14" and the 6.7-inch "iPhone 14 Max" will retain the same A15 chip from the iPhone 13 lineup.
The two more affordable iPhone models retaining the same chip as the previous year could be a major new point of differentiation between the standard and "Pro" iPhone models. Going forward, it seems plausible that Apple could only offer a new chip with the "Pro" models, before it subsequently trickles down to the two cheaper iPhone models the following year.
Kuo added that all four of the iPhone 14 models are likely to come with 6GB of memory, with the standard iPhone 14 models having LPDDR 4X memory and the iPhone 14 Pro models having LPDDR 5 memory.
Currently, the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 feature 4GB of memory, while the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max feature 6GB of memory. These amounts are unchanged from the iPhone 12 lineup. For the iPhone 14 lineup, Kuo suggests that all models will feature 6GB of RAM, but the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max's LPDDR 5 memory will be up to one and a half times faster and up to 30 percent more power efficient.
Kuo's claim stands in contrast to a rumor from Haitong International Securities' Jeff Pu, which suggested suggested the iPhone 14 Pro models will feature 8GB of RAM, the same amount as the Samsung Galaxy S22 models. That being said, Pu has a mixed track record with Apple rumors. For example, he accurately claimed that 16-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models with mini-LED displays would launch in 2021, but he was incorrect about HomePods with 3D sensing cameras launching in 2019. This may bring the 8GB RAM rumor into question now that Kuo, a more established analyst in the Apple space with a better track record, is claiming otherwise.
Article Link: Kuo: Only iPhone 14 Pro Models to Get 'A16' Chip, Standard Models to Retain A15
You mean like how they got sued for outrighht lying about the MacBook screen brightness? Or how they were sued for having graphs with no absolute values on them or labels of what they are comparing? There are plenty of ways for them to stretch the truth to oversell a chip with zero practical benefits over a previous generation at this point, because the chips are already overpowered for their purpose.
This would be a surprise move from Apple. But even if normal iPhone 14 models, get A15, they will be still very powerful and be getting software update for many years to come.
According to Geekbench, my iPhone 12 Pro Max with A14 is the fastest computer in my house, even faster than my 2017 Core i5-7600 iMac.
I mean, if that is the case and the prices creep up this year again as all products become more expensive to manufacture, an iPhone 13 is a very viable option at a further reduced price. I am actually in favour of that.
The most plausible explanation for this rumor is chip shortages. Outside of that, this does not fit their most recent strategy at all.
They always put the newest chip even in the iPhone SE.
This year, they did an A15X without calling it that, by doing exactly what all X's have done in the past: adding GPU cores. We just got an iPhone Pro (and of course, Max) that had different silicon than the regular.
And with putting the M1 in the iPad Air, seems like the next iPad Pro's might get M1 Pro or M2 Pro.
Looked like it was moving towards iPhone taking the "X" moniker from iPad (as that is no longer happening with iPad with the advent of M1), with A16 in iPhone 14 series, and A16X (or A16 Pro?) in iPhone 14 Pro series.
With the advent of Apple Silicon for the Mac, we now see Apple making multiple version of their chips. We have every reason to believe they will start doing that for the iPhone as well.
It makes sense. More distinction between regular vs. pro. It makes a lot of sense for this to happen with all AS across the board.
We shall see...
They always put the newest chip even in the iPhone SE.
This year, they did an A15X without calling it that, by doing exactly what all X's have done in the past: adding GPU cores. We just got an iPhone Pro (and of course, Max) that had different silicon than the regular.
And with putting the M1 in the iPad Air, seems like the next iPad Pro's might get M1 Pro or M2 Pro.
Looked like it was moving towards iPhone taking the "X" moniker from iPad (as that is no longer happening with iPad with the advent of M1), with A16 in iPhone 14 series, and A16X (or A16 Pro?) in iPhone 14 Pro series.
With the advent of Apple Silicon for the Mac, we now see Apple making multiple version of their chips. We have every reason to believe they will start doing that for the iPhone as well.
It makes sense. More distinction between regular vs. pro. It makes a lot of sense for this to happen with all AS across the board.
We shall see...