Per alleged leaks within Apple’s supply chain, the A16 chip used in the iPhone 14 Pro models may stick with the same manufacturing process as the A15 chip. The upcoming A2 chip will reportedly skip the 4-nanometer process and use a 3-nanometer fabrication process. It’s also thought that Apple may have one more M1 chip variant in the works.
According to the ShrimpApplePro Twitter thread, TSMC’s manufacturing production plans have been leaked. TSMC currently manufactures the A14, A15 and M1 chips using a 5-nanometer fabrication process.
According to the leak, that’s staying the same for Apple’s A16 chip, rumored to be flagged for use in the iPhone 14 Pro models. The base iPhone 14 variants will supposedly still include A15 chips with performance improvements. While many thought TSMC would use its newer 4-nanometer process for the A16, that may not be the case.
It’s thought that the A16 chip could be less of a substantial upgrade than thought. Both ShrimpApplePro and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have suggested that performance improvements will come from the phone’s memory. Both suggest the iPhone 14 will feature LPDDR 5 memory. That type of memory is up to one and a half times faster than the LPDDR 4 memory chips currently in use. It’s also as much as 30 percent more power-efficient.
As mentioned before, the M2 chip will reportedly use a 3-nanometer production process and represent Apple’s first custom ARMv9 processor.
The leaker has also indicated that Apple is working on one final variation of its M1 SoC family. Rather than using the A14 cores, it will adopt the same cores found in the A15 Bionic chip.
It’s unknown as to exactly which computer Apple might use the new M1 variant in, and it could find its way to the hinted-at Mac Pro or the 2022 MacBook Air. Kuo has predicted that the next MacBook Air will retain the M1 chip rather than featuring the new M2 SoC.
With the Worldwide Developers Conference less than two weeks away, Apple could reveal something about the upcoming M1 variant at the event.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via The Mac Observer and @VNchocoTaco