Chip Details of 16 Upcoming Apple Devices Revealed

[stocklen]

The M chips are very power efficient and run cool relative to Intel equivalents, but they're not magic, they still produce heat which needs to be dissipated and consume energy. The Mini's smaller chassis and correspondingly smaller battery would struggle with an M chip.

i dont accept that for a second.

The chips are tiny. There is more than enough space in the mini chassis to dissipate any excess heat...

... and how exactly do they manage that in the Vision Pro?........ if they can put it in there they can certainly put it in a mini.

 

[SactoGuy18]

It's believed that customers were not happy with the regular iPhone 14 and 15 models being one generation behind in SoC compare to the Pro equivalents. That's why there will be two versions of the A18, one with less CPU and GPU cores and one with more CPU and GPU cores. The higher power efficiency of the A18 "regular" version might explain why the rumored battery pack on the iPhone 16 Plus is only 4,003 mAh, not the 4,300 mAh of the iPhone 15 Plus. Using the newest SoC design, that means the iPhone 16/16 Plus could support faster connectivity over the USB Type-C connector and possibly even have WiFi 7 support.

 

[Jdhommert]

never really understood why the iPad Mini seems relegated to the A series chips and not the M.

The Mini is very popular and always strikes me as an 'iPad air mini' rather than a base iPad mini AND the price point backs that up too.

The mini not having an M chip - even an older one such as M1 or M2 seems silly and stops it being used for stage manager and external monitor support.

Someone can provide a better technical explanation than this, but the M chips really shine and separate themselves for multi-core or more complex things/apps etc and while you'd never notice a difference *technically* the comparable A chip will be a hair better than the M chip for about everything you'd do on your phone or iPad mini. Obviously once you get to a bigger screen with more complex apps/workflows a M chip make a lot more sense.

So I'm good with the best A chip possible in the Mini

 

[bradman83]

i dont accept that for a second.

The chips are tiny. There is more than enough space in the mini chassis to dissipate any excess heat...

... and how exactly do they manage that in the Vision Pro?........ if they can put it in there they can certainly put it in a mini.

The overwhelming majority of the space inside of the iPad Mini is the battery; the Vision Pro's battery is external so they're not directly comparable from a heat dissipation perspective. Batteries themselves produce heat during discharge and recharge cycles which also has to be dissipated on top of the heat produced by the chips. And even with an external battery the Vision Pro's battery life is abysmal (not due to the M2 chip, but it probably doesn't help).

Could Apple still cram an M chip in there and not have it melt? Sure, but it means the iPad Mini might suffer from throttling and poor battery performance.

 

[Jdhommert]

I'll do backflips if we get a Mini this month. Actually my fatass would break my neck but I'd be very happy and order day 1. Also, FFS, we need 128gb standard.

The 64gb has caused me many issues. I try not to keep anything on the device but for some reason iOS randomly loves to keep 10-20gb of iMessages and 10-20gb of Photos that I can't get rid of. So what happens is the device downloads the newest update, filling the storage all the way. So much it cant install the new software, I can't delete it and the device is basically unusable until I wipe and reset. I've had to do that 2-3x now. So frustrating and really screws up the experience. I know this isn't a pro device, but the iPhone pro has come with 128gb standard since the 12. It's 2024, storage is cheap af

I wish we could pick what specifically is stored on a device. Conversations, how far back, specific photos/albums etc.

 

[Populus]

Not a chance we will see M4 4 months after M3 was released

To be honest, at first I was thinking, like @erikkfi, that it would be a possibility. But after giving it a bit more thought, I don’t think it will have an M4.

If a different identifier means a different SoC, then I’d bet for a lower power M3 chip, something like an M3c or similar.

 

[casperes1996]

i dont accept that for a second.

The chips are tiny. There is more than enough space in the mini chassis to dissipate any excess heat...

... and how exactly do they manage that in the Vision Pro?........ if they can put it in there they can certainly put it in a mini.

The overwhelming majority of the space inside of the iPad Mini is the battery; the Vision Pro's battery is external so they're not directly comparable from a heat dissipation perspective. Batteries themselves produce heat during discharge and recharge cycles which also has to be dissipated on top of the heat produced by the chips. And even with an external battery the Vision Pro's battery life is abysmal (not due to the M2 chip, but it probably doesn't help).

Could Apple still cram an M chip in there and not have it melt? Sure, but it means the iPad Mini might suffer from throttling and poor battery performance.

In addition to what Bradman said i’ll add that Vision Pro has a fan and thus an active cooling system. And even with the fans in the 14” MacBook Pro M3 that chip can reach TJunction and throttle in the 14” MacBook Pro with like 7000rpm fan spin.

 

[Stuipdboy1000]

Can someone share the link to the Source on Twitter? I didn’t see it in the article

I came to ask the same thing. Shoddy reporting not providing sources!

It's a private account so if you're not following them you won't be able to see the posts anyway.

 

[EugW]

i dont accept that for a second.

The chips are tiny. There is more than enough space in the mini chassis to dissipate any excess heat...

By chip standards, M3 is actually fairly large, approx. 150 mm2. In contrast, the Core m3 in my MacBook is only about 2/3rds the size.

... and how exactly do they manage that in the Vision Pro?........ if they can put it in there they can certainly put it in a mini.

The Vision Pro doesn't have an internal battery, for example.

 

[JDHiro]

Yeah but what's the next Apple TV going to get? lol

Playing through Fantasian now, and the scenes that slow down to 3FPS are not cool.

 

[EugW]

Yeah but what's the next Apple TV going to get? lol

Playing through Fantasian now, and the scenes that slow down to 3FPS are not cool.

My guess is A18 next year. No M series chip. A18 will come out this year, but I'm thinking Apple TV won't get updated this year.

 

[Chuckeee]

and how exactly do they manage that in the Vision Pro?........ if they can put it in there they can certainly put it in a mini.

The AVP has fans and and external battery, the iPad mini doesn’t

 

[Fuzzball84]

A14 is still a powerful chip... I wouldn't be surprised if it remains in the lowest spec iPad... if they reduce the price substantially, it could be a really decent device for many people.

 

[erikkfi]

To be honest, at first I was thinking, like @erikkfi, that it would be a possibility. But after giving it a bit more thought, I don’t think it will have an M4.

If a different identifier means a different SoC, then I’d bet for a lower power M3 chip, something like an M3c or similar.

Agreed. Probably they'll call it an M3 and some sleuths will compare the number of compute units or stated % change from the M2 and point out that they're slightly smaller than the same data that was given for M3 Macs.

 

[dampfnudel]

Hopefully the new iPad Mini gets the A17 Pro chip!

I thought the N3B node process which the A17 Pro uses will be discontinued? It’s more likely that the seventh generation iPad mini will use a variant (A17?) that will be manufactured using the same N3E node process that the A18 and A18 Pro will use.

 

[FitzRoy]

Perhaps iPad pro will have a new type of chip, like M3ai to be in between M3 and M3pro. Just a little bit tweaked M3 to justify Pro model's price, to work better with AI.
then the same can happen with iPhone's chip...

 

[dampfnudel]

A14 is still a powerful chip... I wouldn't be surprised if it remains in the lowest spec iPad... if they reduce the price substantially, it could be a really decent device for many people.

Yes, but there’s a chance it may not be upgraded beyond iOS 20. I don’t think my iPhone 12 Pro which also has the A14 will get more than six years of major firmware updates.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Yes, but there’s a chance it may not be upgraded beyond iOS 20. I don’t think my iPhone 12 Pro which also has the A14 will get more than six years of major firmware updates.

Thats true, but at least it should still receive security updates... for an entry device if the cost is right... that could be good enough.

If you don't use your iPad for anything super critical on security or features, then it is a decent value proposition.

 

[Aries79]

Not a chance we will see M4 4 months after M3 was released

In theory, yes, in practice, it has to be seen if Apple will call the chips coming from the N3E node as M4.

Personally, I had the feeling that the upcoming Mac Studio and Mac Pro to be released in June would be equipped with the M4.

 

[Homme]

The good news is the Mini 7 won’t get the A16

My greatest fear now is the iPhone SE4 will get the A17 as well seeing how the Mini 7 is getting it but considering the A17 Pro Variant supports USB 3.1 at 10Gbps here’s hoping A17 supports USB 3.0 I need 5Gbps. If that happens then I wouldn’t mind an A17 in it ( but then Mini 6 with A15 supported USB 3.0 anyway)

 

[dampfnudel]

I'll do backflips if we get a Mini this month. Actually my fatass would break my neck but I'd be very happy and order day 1. Also, FFS, we need 128gb standard.

The 64gb has caused me many issues. I try not to keep anything on the device but for some reason iOS randomly loves to keep 10-20gb of iMessages and 10-20gb of Photos that I can't get rid of. So what happens is the device downloads the newest update, filling the storage all the way. So much it cant install the new software, I can't delete it and the device is basically unusable until I wipe and reset. I've had to do that 2-3x now. So frustrating and really screws up the experience. I know this isn't a pro device, but the iPhone pro has come with 128gb standard since the 12. It's 2024, storage is cheap af

I wish we could pick what specifically is stored on a device. Conversations, how far back, specific photos/albums etc.

The rumors are pointing towards a September release for the seventh generation iPad mini.

 

[dampfnudel]

My guess is A18 next year. No M series chip. A18 will come out this year, but I'm thinking Apple TV won't get updated this year.

Yeah, the next Apple TV will probably support console gaming like the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. I just wonder if Apple plans to use a fan again.

 

[sevoneone]

In addition to what Bradman said i’ll add that Vision Pro has a fan and thus an active cooling system. And even with the fans in the 14” MacBook Pro M3 that chip can reach TJunction and throttle in the 14” MacBook Pro with like 7000rpm fan spin.

The Vision Pro has two pretty massive fans and the top near the vents still gets plenty toasty during use too.

( but then Mini 6 with A15 supported USB 3.0 anyway)

Caught that little fib in Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro launch too? Saying they needed the A17 for USB 3 as an excuse for the regular 15 only supporting USB 2.0 was such a transparent lie when the A14 in the 4th Gen iPad Air and A15 in the Mini clearly supported it.

 

[sevoneone]

Yeah, the next Apple TV will probably support console gaming like the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. I just wonder if Apple plans to use a fan again.

Apple will probably wait until they have a few more big name game devs publishing/porting to AS before they go tickling that dragon. MS and Sony have considerably more influence, and MS owns about half of the major game studios now. Plus neither are afraid to take a loss on the hardware to win customers, which is not a strategy in the Apple brand playbook.

 

[svish]

Not expecting to see M4 on iPad Pro before MacBook Air gets update to M3. As for iPad Air, was expecting to see the upcoming ones equipped with M3.