Apple will deviate from its well-established pattern of providing all of its new phones with the latest A-series chip with the iPhone 14 lineup.
According to renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will reserve the A16 chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, while the iPhone 14 and 14 Max will feature the same A15 Bionic as this year’s iPhone 13 lineup.
Another difference will be the RAM – all four devices will have 6GB, but the Pro’s will have the faster LPDDR5, while the other two will have LPDDR 4X.
Apple is readying a shift to a duopoly of display sizes – two 6.1-inch models with the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, and two 6.7-inch models with the iPhone 14 Max and 14 Pro Max. This marks a move away from a small iPhone, making the current, second-gen iPhone 13 mini the last of its kind, for now at least.
Only two Pro models would upgrade to the A16 processor, while the 14 & 14 Max will remain the A15. All four new models will likely come with 6GB RAM, with the difference being LPDDR 5 (14 Pro & 14 Pro Max) vs. LPDDR 4X (14 & 14 Max). https://t.co/tHcszIz6gX
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 13, 2022
Kuo doesn’t post the reasoning behind Apple’s choice to make the A16 chip exclusive, but the ongoing chip shortage could well be the culprit.
Of course, Apple’s A15 Bionic is competitive with all of its rival processors, so the next crop of iPhones to use it won’t be at a real disadvantage.
