We may still be waiting for iPhone 16 deliveries tomorrow, but the rumor mill is already busy looking ahead to both the iPhone 17 and iPhone 18.
A tweet by supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims to shed light on Apple’s plans for the adoption of smaller process chips …
His expectation is that all four iPhone 17 models will stick to 3nm chips next year, but some iPhone 18 models will get more advanced 2nm processors in 2026.
The processors for 2025 iPhone 17 models will be made by TSMC’s N3P process/3-nanometer technology. The processor for 2026 iPhone 18 models is anticipated to use TSMC’s 2-nanometer technology. However, due to cost concerns, not all new iPhone 18 models may be equipped with a 2-nanometer processor.
While he doesn’t explicitly say so, the clear implication is that 2nm chips will be exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro models.
Processor differentiation
Apple has of course continued to use the processor as a differentiator between standard and Pro models this year, though the difference between the A18 and A18 Pro does appear rather small.
Both chips are made using a 3nm process, The only difference Apple lists is that the A18 Pro given to the iPhone 16 Pro models has a 6-core GPU, while the standard and Plus models have a 5-core variant. This is likely due to chip binning.
That marketing differentiation will likely be retained for the A19 chips used in next year’s iPhones, though the differences again may be small.
iPhone 18 line-up will widen the gap
That’s set to change in 2026, suggests Kuo, with Apple advancing to even smaller-process 2nm chips – but not for all models.
Kuo suggests that’s a cost consideration. As processes get ever smaller, hitting sensible yield rates – the proportion of chips which pass quality control checks – becomes ever more challenging. If more chips have to be rejected, the cost per chip increases.
Photo by Samuel Angor on Unsplash
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