Only the Pro Models in iPhone 14 Lineup Will Feature Upgraded A16 Chip, Another Report Says

[MacRumors]

Apple's next-generation A16 chip will be exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.

In a report focused on global smartphone production, TrendForce briefly mentioned that Apple plans to launch four new iPhone 14 models in the second half of 2022, but said that only the Pro models will be equipped with Apple's latest processor.

The report lines up with information shared by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who in March claimed that only the iPhone 14 Pro models will feature an A16 chip, with the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max models to remain equipped with an A15 chip. In an April edition of his newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman agreed that standard iPhone 14 models are "likely to stick to the A15 from last year or a variant of it."

Gurman said that "beyond trying to make the Pro stand out," ongoing chip shortages may have contributed to Apple's decision to limit its upcoming chip to the iPhone 14 Pro models. This would differ from Apple's current strategy of equipping all flagship iPhones with the same chip. For example, the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max are all equipped with the same A15 chip.

Apple is expected to announce its iPhone 14 lineup at its usual September event, barring any significant supply chain disruptions.

Article Link: Only the Pro Models in iPhone 14 Lineup Will Feature Upgraded A16 Chip, Another Report Says

 

[AppleTO]

That’s a really odd move, but okay.

Works in my favour I guess. I was planning on replacing my Xs with a 13 mini later this year or next. (Once the price drops a bit.)

 

[Freida]

It has plateaued anyway. The advancements are in camera these days and even that slowed down a bit

 

[JM]

I wonder if people are mostly not going to care, or will there be a thousand articles about how Apple is slipping because they used last years chips?

?‍♂️

 

[MayaUser]

This should not be allowed..because this way Apple will tax their consumers even more
the 14 model , no redesign, no new SoC, probably no big camera improvements, but the asking price i bet will be the same as the 13 last year and for the 14 Max will be 100$ more
So, again, you are getting the same phone as last year but also the same starting price...and i would not be surprised if doing so they will increase the price for the Pro line-up because.. the differences in camera, SoC, promotion, pill shape and so on
So why people would buy the 14 instead of the iphone 13 that is cheaper ?!

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Hopefully, the prices for regular iPhone 14 and 14 Max should drop since it's using last years A15 chip. It would not any make sense if prices remains the same.

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max version is the one to get this year.

 

[AppleFan85!]

I feel like most of these “reports” are really just regurgitating what they read in another post and saying it’s a report. I don’t give most of these things any credibility. But who knows, maybe they’ll turn out to be right!

 

[MacLoveMacHate]

A bummer for anyone buying the non-pro model this year (I'd say just buy the 13 at discount), but it does seem to make sense to stagger the chip options between regular and pro moving forward.

 

[JPack]

I don’t think there was ever any doubt.

Apple will probably differentiate from the iPhone 13 with a different camera sensor, RAM, and always on display. Personally, I wouldn’t want the 4GB RAM in iPhone 13. We’ve had that amount since iPhone XS.

 

[DeftwillP]

Hopefully, the prices for regular iPhone 14 and 14 Max should drop since it's using last years A15 chip. It would not any make sense if prices remains the same.

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max version is the one to get this year.

hahahahahahahahahahaha......no. We think you're gonna love it though.
/timcook

 

[hcherry]

Yeah, it feels like we're stuck in the land of marginal improvements for now. I'd be curious if they're able to squeeze out some meaningful battery life updates though.

Otherwise, I'm just hoping the iPhone mini is allowed the live on, maybe as the next SE iteration. #unpopulardreams

 

[Kevin2055]

It will be a huge marketing mistake. You should put in a new chip even if it only has hairline improvement.

 

[AppleTO]

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it make more sense if the regular model gets the A16 and the Pro’s get the A16X? It would market better than using last year’s chip.

 

[robotica]

If that means an extra year of support for this years A15 based devices, I think this could be a good thing for some at least. Otherwise it could mean a years support less for the A15 iPhone 14's which would not be ideal to say the least.

 

[AhRiHmAn]

Hopefully, the prices for regular iPhone 14 and 14 Max should drop since it's using last years A15 chip. It would not any make sense if prices remains the same.

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max version is the one to get this year.

14 Pro Max with 1to for you , whatever the price is yes

 

[JPack]

If that means an extra year of support for this years A15 based devices, I think this could be a good thing for some at least. Otherwise it could mean a years support less for the A15 iPhone 14's which would not be ideal to say the least.

iOS support has been based on RAM for a while now. Which is why the iPhone 14 is getting 6GB.

 

[anthogag]

Putting the pro back into Pro. Hopefully a purple Pro with titanium chassis...🤳

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max are all equipped with the same A15 chip.

That’s only half true, while yes they share the same processor overall, the 13 Pro and Pro Max have an extra GPU core enabled and two additional gigabytes of memory.
Given that the “A16” is rumored to continue to use the same blizzard/avalanche cores as the “A15”, just on a newer 5 nm process and with improved graphics and faster RAM, it’s likely that the performance difference between the fully unlocked A15 in the 14 and 14 max, and the A16 in the pro models, won’t actually be that big of a gap.
Probably more comparable to the difference between the current standard and pro models than, for example, the difference between the “A14” and “A15”.
The bigger news I think is the fact that 6 GB of memory will be standard across all four new devices.

 

[AFDoc]

This should not be allowed..because this way Apple will tax their consumers even more
the 14 model , no redesign, no new SoC, probably no big camera improvements, but the asking price i bet will be the same as the 13 last year and for the 14 Max will be 100$ more
So, again, you are getting the same phone as last year but also the same starting price...and i would not be surprised if doing so they will increase the price for the Pro line-up because.. the differences in camera, SoC, promotion, pill shape and so on
So why people would buy the 14 instead of the iphone 13 that is cheaper ?!

Don't buy it...your non problem solved.

Why they would buy the new 14 over the 13? There will be other improvements to the new model... you may not like them but others may. Just by the pro model every year and you're good.

 

[Crow_Servo]

It's reminiscent of the 5s/5c lineup, but I'm sure the 14 won't just be a repackaging of the 13. It'll have a few differences/improvements, I'm sure (like 6GB RAM, a new 5G modem, etc).

 

[jonblatho]

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it make more sense if the regular model gets the A16 and the Pro’s get the A16X? It would market better than using last year’s chip.

A16 was conceived and likely fully planned out before the chip shortage. They can’t just will A16X into existence this late in the game.

If you’re referring to simply rebranding the exact same A15 SoC (or even just the same CPU/GPU) as A16, Apple would eventually get caught (like they did for S4 to S5 on the Apple Watch) and it’d be a PR firestorm.

 

[jdavid_rp]

Hopefully, the prices for regular iPhone 14 and 14 Max should drop since it's using last years A15 chip. It would not any make sense if prices remains the same.

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max version is the one to get this year.

They used the iPhone 12/13 Mini to match the price of the previous cheaper new iPhone (11) even being a smaller phone. Now that they got rid of it im sure the cheaper new iPhone (14) will exchange the smaller screen for the older chip in order to keep being $699 or maybe they go up to $799 to match the iPhone 13

 

[cocky jeremy]

I only by Pro Max models, so separate how you want. I'll always get the newest and best either way.

 

[Macative]

I wonder if people are mostly not going to care, or will there be a thousand articles about how Apple is slipping because they used last years chips?

?‍♂️

Considering they are putting the A16 chip in the Pro model, there should be 1000 articles bashing Apple over it. Clearly they've hit a wall and can't come up with enough to justify the existence of a pricey Pro model at all. So now they just hold back improvements from the standard model to create it. Pathetic.

 

[boak]

Probably will use the A15 in the iPhone 13 Pro models