Latest iPhone Chips to Remain Exclusive to Pro Models for iPhone 15 and Beyond

[Joe Dohn]

Makes sense. Who is even using the full power of any phone nowadays?

I have absolutely zero reason to upgrade my iPhone X other than wanting but not needing better battery life.

Time to fix that!
Let's make iOS gratuitously 20% more power hungry, so that you will feel how fast the new chip is!

 

[Rogifan]

So if the lower end phones don’t have the latest chips are they going to be cheaper? Or is this just to increase Apple’s margins on the low end models.

 

[Andres Cantu]

They should change the naming scheme to match.

So for example, this year iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 Pro (A15 and A16 chip), then next year iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 Pro (A16 and A17 chip), etc. That will also match their chips for less confusion.

 

[mookc1]

Apple is struggling to give us a reason to upgrade. They can only improve existing functionality so far.

But what will be interesting to see is what are the requirements of the AR/VR headset when it arrives. Will it require a phone? Will that phone require an A16? Will it be stand alone? To quote C + C Music Factory: "Things that make you go Hmmmmm"

 

[azentropy]

The A15 is currently years ahead of any other phone chip in the market, and in a few months when the iPhone 14 is released with the A15 in it, it still will be.

Yep, this is a big reason why Apple can get away with splitting up what processors they put in the Pro and non-Pros.

 

[xbjllb]

Good move. Makes sense. Pro users are spending more, give them more.

 

[jdclifford]

Looks like the standard iPhone 14 and 14 Max models will be the worst iPhones ever and subsequent lower end iPhones are going to be just as bad. Now I’m definitely never buying a lower end iPhone again

And that's exactly how Apple wants you to think. BIGGER margins!

 

[Premium1]

Instead of actually adding pro features, apple goes backwards and withholds parts they have used for years.... Way to go Apple!

 

[jz0309]

it will be interesting to see how they will sell the non-Pro models.
Selling Pro should be "easy" and they'll up the price ...

 

[contacos]

tbh they are doing me a favour, I'll probably keep my 12 Pro another year instead of my usual bi-annual upgrade.

SAME. With the current climate it just makes not much sense to spend another 1,3k on a Phone only go back to using the same apps, on the same OS, the exact same way. It’s not like the 12 PM is slow or anything.

Also waiting for usb-c to hopefully come to the iPhone by next year

 

[Apple_Robert]

Translation = Apple needs to create more incentive for people to spend more on an iPhone.

 

[JM]

The A15 chip that they put into the 14 and 14 Max will most likely be the 5 Core A15 that is in the 13 Pro. They can then at least say that regular 14 has last years Pro chip, and along with 6 GB RAM may be enough to entice customers.

You know, that’s exactly what they’ll do 😯 I Forgot the Pro chip in 13 had the extra core…. That makes a lot of sense, and the marketing would be easy: just call it a “Pro” chip and never mention that it’s not actually THIS year’s pro chip.

Reviewers will mention it of course… but no one will care when the carrier hands out the deal-candy: “trade in your iPhone, and get a new 14 on us* (*in form of 3 year bill credits, and if you leave you have to pay off remaining balance of phone)

 

[Basic75]

Second, the last time Apple re-used a previous-generation processor in a new iPhone was the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G, both of which used identical 412MHz ARM 11 chips.

iPhone 5C

 

[urnotl33t]

The problem is OS support. Apple tends to discontinue OS support just because, without any technical reasoning. They usually go by generations. This means non pro iPhones from 14 onward must be assumed to get 1 year less of support at the least than the Pro models since they will always be 1 generation behind.

Such lousy strategy. It's time for Apple to disclose their actual support roadway for their devices. I don't want to be spending a premium iPhone price for less support.

Right. That's my "wtf?" for the past several years. Wasn't something circa A10-ish supposed to be some "zOMGWTFBBQ!!" AR/VR/MR/t3h-Future-iz-here chip-to-end-all-chips (Yeah yeah highly exaggerated) combined with software and LIDAR bits?

Hardware and software together were supposed to be "world's largest AR platform overnight"?... iPhones and iPads... then crickets...

Now those devices are just being zapped out with nothing to show for it. Err... that was underwhelming. Well, we got those Animojis, and Memojis, I guess. Wow, that was pointless and stupid (as far as the real world application goes; sure, it made people laugh and giggle, but it had no meaningful effect). Or was all that just pomp and circumstance to provide "world's largest guinea pig overnight" to test cameras and software? That kind of messaging would've made more sense, and set better expectations.

Very bizarre, very puzzling...

Disclaimer: I don't do games.

 

[jdclifford]

Good move. Makes sense. Pro users are spending more, give them more.

I've never understood who the "pro user" is other than those who Apple push to use the iPhone camera for video. I've always bought the "pro" line for increased quality components. I don't need to shoot Hollywood films on my phone. So I think instead of upgrading every 2 yrs I'll spread it out more. My 12 pro and 12 mini are still like brand new and will last until I'm bored enough to get something new.

I've chased Apple technology since the original Mac in 1984 (I still have mine as well as the original Apple Mac laptop). I don't see the urgency to do so anymore since there hasn't been much innovation lately. ( I do have new M1 iMac, iPads and 14"MBP) so that will hold me over for quite some time. However, I may bite for the new MBA M2 just because.

 

[EntropyQ3]

it will be interesting to see how they will sell the non-Pro models.
Selling Pro should be "easy" and they'll up the price ...

Well, the bean counters at Apple obviously believe that this move would shift customers up market to the Pro models.
But the flip side of the coin is that customers can also see it as simply not offering anything very interesting to buy with the regular iPhone. Apple assumes that the margins on additional Pro sales wil dominate over lost regular iPhone sales, but that is not a given. And it will result in lower sales in total, albeit at a more favourable mix for Apple.

Since the iPhone is the gateway drug into the Apple ecosystem, this strategy doesn’t strike me as brilliant.

 

[ian87w]

The same goes for Pro models, though.

The comment I replied to said that his iPhone X is still capable.
My point was, Apple doesn't care if the hardware is still capable or not. They just go by time (which they do not disclose) to just stop OS support whenever. Look at Macs. Plenty of older higher config macs are more capable than newer lesser config macs, but they got dropped off OS support simply because of their age. The same with iPhone 6s and 7, dropping both A9 and A10 form iOS16 just because.

So whatever A chip Apple made, it won't matter in 5 years or so as Apple will simply drop support regardless if the hardware is still capable or not.

Now, going back to your post, basically from now on, we can expect 1 less year of support for non Pro models since they are 1 generation behind.

 

[CrazyForCashews]

Surprised they didn’t do this sooner…

 

[wonderings]

I've never understood who the "pro user" is other than those who Apple push to use the iPhone camera for video. I've always bought the "pro" line for increased quality components. I don't need to shoot Hollywood films on my phone. So I think instead of upgrading every 2 yrs I'll spread it out more. My 12 pro and 12 mini are still like brand new and will last until I'm bored enough to get something new.

I've chased Apple technology since the original Mac in 1984 (I still have mine as well as the original Apple Mac laptop). I don't see the urgency to do so anymore since there hasn't been much innovation lately. ( I do have new M1 iMac, iPads and 14"MBP) so that will hold me over for quite some time. However, I may bite for the new MBA M2 just because.

The "pro" name is just Apple doing what it does best, marketing. Look at the people drooling over a pro iPhone because of the better camera and some better hardware. Not sure people have caught up to what these phones can do, and software is not pushing the potential of what we could be using iPhones for. No reason you could not run a full version of Mac OS when plugged into an external screen, no reason other than it would kill a huge segment of their laptop sales.

I think it is safe to say pro photographers are still using Nikons and Canons in majority, and pro filming is still using pro cameras and not swapping out for iPhones. Impressive phones, but so much of it is just marketing and keeping the vaults over flowing

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

This is a logical step for Apple to take to further differentiate their flagship phones from the rest.

As great as it was as an SE owner, it never made much sense for the SE models to have the same chip as that year's Pro models.

This was to keep people from buying an iPhone that couldn’t support iOS updates for more than 3 or so years. Giving it the latest chip gives it the same longevity, albeit without many flagship features. Selling one with 2-4 year old silicon would upset consumers in 2-3 more years when they couldn’t get software updates anymore. So apples strategy was to withhold features to reduce cost, not use older silicon.

Trickle down features has worked very well for a broad product range. Looks like silicon is about to start working that way. Although, it wouldn’t be wise to use more than 1 year old chips in new phones, IMO.

 

[ian87w]

At the price Apple charges for the normal iPhone, they should get at least the same gen chip, maybe just make the one in the Pro a bit faster/more capable.

I can understand different bins of the same chip, eg 1 less GPU core for the non Pro models. But having 1 generation old chip seems like a cheap move since Apple is only going to increase price.

 

[JCCL]

Apple definitely leads innovation - on how to increase their profit margins while providing less value. If only they could focus such creativity into their products.....

 

[ian87w]

Maybe you'll stick with last years processor but they will ramp up the ram to make up for it

iPhone 7 Plus has 3GB of RAM, but it was dropped from iOS16, while iPhone 8 with 2GB of RAM is still supported. So when Apple drop support for the A15, I bet all iPhones using the A15 will be cut regardless of RAM.

 

[ian87w]

Apple definitely leads innovation - on how to increase their profit margins while providing less value. If only they could focus such creativity into their products.....

Apple doesn't care about creativity since their brand power is so strong. Heck, look how they're still selling Apple Watch S3, that will never get anymore software updates.

 

[kerr]

The A15 is currently years ahead of any other phone chip in the market, and in a few months when the iPhone 14 is released with the A15 in it, it still will be.

There is no justification for Apple to even manufacture an iPhone 14 then.

I’ve never bought a Plus or Max model, it seems like I will never again buy an iPhone the year it’s released. There is simply no reason to. Why would anyone buy an iPhone 14 this year? Why would anyone buy an iPhone 15 next year?