The beauty of it is, they don't have to, if a iPhone 13 user sees no reason to upgrade, they don't have to. But a iPhone X user may be in the market for a new phone and a iPhone 14 is just enough bump over an old 13 that they buy one.
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Only the Pro Models in iPhone 14 Lineup Will Feature Upgraded A16 Chip, Another Report Says
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The whole point is to decrease chip size/cost due to increased size/cost of A16. So, no it wouldn't make sense to use A16 in a mainstream model regardless.
Chip maturity for entry and mid range level phones is here.
Future upgrades in those classes will be on a following basis like SE does with the outer envelope.
Only with a competitor leapfrogging Apple will this range get the leading edge stuff. Until then as long a apple has adequate performance and battery life the profit is to be made by diverging from annual chip upgrades by designing in the performance to allow a biennial chip upgrade cycle.
Future upgrades in those classes will be on a following basis like SE does with the outer envelope.
Only with a competitor leapfrogging Apple will this range get the leading edge stuff. Until then as long a apple has adequate performance and battery life the profit is to be made by diverging from annual chip upgrades by designing in the performance to allow a biennial chip upgrade cycle.
The current A15 could be used in the next four generations of iPhones and 98% of the people wouldn’t know the difference. The speed of the chip is no longer the bottleneck.
It’s iOS that’s the problem
It’s iOS that’s the problem
I don't see what the big deal is. Few people who get the iPhone 14 from an older iPhone will care, and few people with the iPhone 13 will upgrade to the 14 regardless of what chip it has.
So what is the point of getting the regular iPhone 14 over the regular iPhone 13 then? This seems like a very odd move by Apple and signals big issues with the supply chain. I hope this isn't true.
Well, whoever feels short change by this, guess what, but the Pro model, or wait a year and get the A16 in the iPhone 15. I think anyone who cares about specs is not gonna lose sleep over this. Neither is the target audience of the cheaper iPhone 14. That’s to entice someone who rarely upgrades their iPhone. If you are upgrading from say an iPhone XS to a standard iPhone 14 with A15, that’s gonna be a dramatic upgrade.
Imagine me coming from a iPhone X or my mother who is still on a 6s?
Imagine me coming from a iPhone X or my mother who is still on a 6s?
The A_X chips, like the A10X or the A12X, aren’t a thing anymore. They are now the M lineup, just like the M1 (the A14X).
Putting an A16X, which nowadays would be called M2, inside an iPhone case, would be impossible due to power consumption and thermal constraints.
I'm legit confused what the reasoning would be for anyone to buy a 14 over a 13 if it has the same chip and no major improvements. Are they really banking on sales purely from the "cheaper huge iPhone" people?
Technically yes, but I’m looking at this from a pure marketing perspective.
They can clock a A16 0.1 GHz higher and call it a A16X for marketing. It doesn’t have to have anything to do with previous X chips. Like the reuse of the M naming.
Given run away inflation in the US and chip shortages and slow downs from work from home I expect sticker shock for an underwhelming model. It will still be a great upgrade for phones a few years old. I expect at least a $100 price increase. Gas up 200% makes a difference in everything.
One thing I have always liked is Apple using the same chip with each generation so you were never really getting an inferior product specs-wise. It was a really good deal for consumers and as a geek it bums me out to see them go away from that.
That said, just looking at the M1 success, it’s clear that Apple’s hardware is beyond powerful enough for every use case possible on a phone. Unless Apple goes the Dex route or something, we don’t need yearly processor upgrades anymore. It’s a waste of money that could go toward giving Apple bigger profit margins - can’t really think of a positive for consumers lol. Maybe they’ll think of new gimmicks or improve the cameras?
We all know that, even if this is caused by the chip shortage, this is just going to become a precedent for future products. It’s just too good of a way for Apple to make more money.
That said, just looking at the M1 success, it’s clear that Apple’s hardware is beyond powerful enough for every use case possible on a phone. Unless Apple goes the Dex route or something, we don’t need yearly processor upgrades anymore. It’s a waste of money that could go toward giving Apple bigger profit margins - can’t really think of a positive for consumers lol. Maybe they’ll think of new gimmicks or improve the cameras?
We all know that, even if this is caused by the chip shortage, this is just going to become a precedent for future products. It’s just too good of a way for Apple to make more money.
I was thinking they would put at least one or a few features to differentiate the 13 and 14. But now that you mention it this might just be a repeat of what they did with the X and XS. The difference back then between the X and XS was quite small and the XS Max's large size was the main draw.
The XS did get more RAM and over the years some features the X has missed out on, but at the time they felt like nearly the exact same phone.
Then there was also the XR playing into the bigger screen and budget conscious thing as well, just like this 14 Max.
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If they can get M1 into an iPad, there is nothing preventing them from doing the same for iPhone. In fact they could rebrand an A16 as a M SoC based on factors such as lithography and measurement. If they say used 4 NM, that could warrant calling it an M processor. It’s up to Apple how they want to define these processors and their respective devices.
I just sense the M2 is what’s gonna be used to brand the iPhone Pros and the A16 is actually for the cheaper iPhone 14. It would also be a great kick off for M2 as Apple scales it up to the most powerful form factors.
On top giving them enough time to refresh entire line.
What is even a pro iphone? or a pro any phone? Are professional photographers ditching their Nikons and Canon's for an iPhone? Doubt it. Is heavy work being done on an iPhone in terms of graphical design, or complex CAD? Again I would say probably not. I guess the whole pro monicker is just a marketing thing to make people feel better about shelling out crazy amounts of cash for a mobile internet device. I would guess most people don't notice any huge performance differences better an XR and an iPhone 13. I certainly don't. 5G is great, but web pages are not loading any faster then they did on LTE. Camera is better of course, that is hardware fused with software and much easier to make noticeable improvements on. Now if Apple allowed an iPhone to be able to plug into an external monitor, connect a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and run full MacOS while plugged into a large screen then I could start seeing the "pro" name meaning something.
Yeah spec hunters get the Pro models and upgrade more frequently. I would guess the majority of non-pro users upgrade from much older phones and just get the "current offer" without regards to SoC. And last years top end chip is still a top end chip today anyway.
Lol why not? The pixel 6 has a processor from 2019. Apple still sells macs with M1 despite having m1 pro/max/ultra.
Got look at any budget PC and I’d bet you they have older processors. They can make a product whatever they want as long as they advertise it correctly by stating what processor it has.
A15 with that Extra GPU core and two extra gigabytes of memory, X65 modem instead of X60 for improved efficiency, improve front facing camera, plus I’m sure they’ll throw some little things in there like maybe an extra hour of battery.
But yes, the big news will be the fact that you can get a brand-new 6.7 iPhone 14 without having to opt for the pro version.
As for the 13 series, I expected to completely disappear, being totally replaced with the full 14 lineup.
Just like how the iPhone XS completely replaced the X, and every year the previous pro line gets completely discontinued.
I generally agree with this, save for some exceptions. the 120hz display was a big deal to me. the removal of the notch would be a major (and well overdue) upgrade.
we could do with going back to the 2year cycle of "major" updates.
I love Apple, but FaceID and I are not pals. I'd love to have both FaceID and touchID in the power button. This is looking like another off-year. Only buy if your phone breaks. Bummer. Thanks, COVID!
Throw in 8GB of RAM and I'll trade in my 13 the minute pre-orders go live.
I'm fine with 2 year cycle or even longer. I think anyone that upgrades every year is (insert insulting word 
) - unless of course its upgraded through a carrier plan or some form of "subscription".
Its kinda good that it slows down. Hopefully it will reduce the waste as people will be on longer cycle.
) - unless of course its upgraded through a carrier plan or some form of "subscription".Its kinda good that it slows down. Hopefully it will reduce the waste as people will be on longer cycle.
I’m betting the main way they will differentiate will be to quietly and immediately discontinue the 13 line. Makes the choice easier for you!