Well, since they finally upgraded the RAM to 8GB on the iPhone 15 Pros, they should be upgrading the base RAM on the MacBooks to 16GB at least. I can’t tell if they will do that with the M3 or with later generations though.
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iPhone 16 to Feature First A-Series Chip Designed Specifically for Standard Models
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HobeSoundDarryl
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Consumers are supposed to want maximum value for their money… not maximum profit for a seller. This implies more profit for Apple presumably by cutting value for consumers. Makes perfect sense for buyers to feel unhappy with this. Shareholders and fans who put corp above fellow consumers will obviously feel very different.
One of the Apple fanboy websites that runs endless benchmarks was testing the new iPhone 15 and stressing it the chip ran hotter than the same test on a iPhone 14. Thought part of attraction of 3nm was it was to run cooler.
The A17 chip designed for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be made using a fundamentally different manufacturing process to the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro to cut costs, according to a rumor that has now been clarified by a reliable source.
A Weibo user who claims to be an integrated circuit expert with 25 years of experience working on Intel's Pentium processors was first to float the rumor in June. Now, the same source has clarified Apple's apparent plan for its standard iPhones' chip in 2024.
The iPhone 15 Pro's A17 Pro chip is fabricated using TSMC's N3B process, but Apple reportedly plans to switch to the lower-cost N3E process for next year's standard A17 chip designed for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. This will mark the first time that Apple has designed a chip specifically for its standard iPhone models. In previous years, Apple simply gave the entire iPhone lineup the same chip before staggering them by one year between the standard and the Pro models starting with 2022's iPhone 14.
The A15 Bionic chip in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus is a higher binned variant with one additional GPU core than the A15 used in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini, so some cross-generational differences despite outwardly featuring the same chip would not be unheard of, but this would effectively be the retention of the same name on a fundamentally different chip.
N3B is TSMC's original 3nm node created in partnership with Apple. N3E, on the other hand, is the simpler and cheaper node that most other TSMC clients will use. N3E has fewer EUV layers and lower transistor density than N3B, resulting in lower efficiency. N3B has also been ready for mass production for longer than N3E, but it has much lower yield. N3B was effectively designed as a trial node and is not compatible with TSMC's successor processes including N3P, N3X, and N3S, meaning that Apple has to redesign its future chips to take advantage of TSMC's innovations.
Apple was originally believed to be planning to use N3B for the A16 Bionic chip, but had to revert to N4 because it was not ready in time. It is likely the case that Apple is using the N3B CPU and GPU core design originally designed for the A16 Bionic in the A17 Pro, before switching to the original A17 designs with N3E later in 2024. This architecture will presumably be iterated on through TSMC's successor nodes for chips like the "A18" and "A19."
The Weibo user was first to say that the standard iPhone 14 models would retain the A15 Bionic chip, with the A16 being exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro models – a rumor that went on to be widely corroborated and turned out true. Earlier this month, Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu corroborated the rumor about 2024's A17 chip being fabricated with N3E, adding that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will also feature 8GB of memory, up from 6GB on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
Article Link: iPhone 16 to Feature First A-Series Chip Designed Specifically for Standard Models
I am hopeful as well...
2024 iMac 30" 5.5K
- M3 (binned)
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB SSD
- $1799 MSRP
Those of us who supports a free market will always defend any company trying to make higher profits (exception being products needed to support life).
Also we would support any customers only buying stuff which provides enough value to justify the price they have to pay.
THEY'RE BINNED PROCESSORS, HAROLD
(Now, in all seriousness, I'm not sure they are, but I bet they are, and we shall see once that iFixit partner has a go at it and x-rays one of those…)
(Now, in all seriousness, I'm not sure they are, but I bet they are, and we shall see once that iFixit partner has a go at it and x-rays one of those…)
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That comment "more artificial crapping on the standard models to upsell!" makes no sense to me. Please explain. Do you expect Apple not to have a range of different phones?
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Oh darn. It appears that Pro Max sales are up, not lackluster. That should please Apple. Less lower end sales and more upper end sales is a good thing. We do need to see overall total numbers but we may not.
Get over it. Folks need to choose more RAM. Apple makes plenty of RAM available.
I support a free market, but I will never defend blatant corporate greed. That is the difference.
It's blindly defending Apple. It is difficult to see when you are blind. I can assure my understanding is well beyond the "basics" in terms of the chip manufacturing industry.
So you what’s your take on A17 regular likely being produced on N3E instead of N3B? Do you think it makes sense for them to spend more money on a dead end node process?
I would be happy with that. 3 iPhones, 3 sizes, same specs. Then one SE.
Because screw that. Stainless is heavy and I hate that Apple ever used it.
The best part of the regular model phones is the aluminum and the reduction in weight.
Yup. I'll be waiting for the iPhone 16 Pro for my next iPhone purchase. This year was basically titanium and USB-C (which was a forced "innovation" due to EU laws). Not enough to justify it as a buy for me...maybe if you really need 5x zoom and like the larger Pro Max but the larger iPhone is not for me. Maybe next year the normal Pro model will get 5x zoom and I pray Apple releases at least one cool feature to warrant paying 1K+ to upgrade my iPhone 13 Pro.
I'm sorry, but you have mistaken me for someone who wants to continue this conversation. Have a good evening! 😁
I’m much more interested in the possibilities and capabilities of the Apple TV than the iPhone tbh
If Apple get their act together they could seriously change the console gaming market completely
If Apple get their act together they could seriously change the console gaming market completely
Good to know about this. Pro models could get A18 Pro and the chip in non Pro models could be named simply A18
The main problem is with differentiation by crippling. Withholding a desireable feature from the baseline model, and then overcharging brutally for it on the device you actually want to sell (and buy) is borderline acceptable. But to outright cripple models, such as blocking ProRes functionality from the regular iPhones, disallowing user upgradeability of socketed flash memory, et cetera leaves a decidedly sour taste in any consumers mouth, and particularly so from a ”premium brand”.
The bean counters at Apple don’t really appreciate this. For instance, it’s easy to calculate the money Apple gains by shipping base macs with almost no RAM or SSD space and then sell the memory at 500-1000% mark-up. It’s not so easy to determine how many potential sales Apple looses when customers decide not to buy when they realize the actual cost, or how many would have upgraded to more if the cost had been lower, thus giving Apple the same income and happier customers, or the ugly feeling left in the pit of a customers stomach when they know they’ve been shafted.
This is not good for a premium brand. Apple should sell good products at high prices, not hamstrung products at high prices.
Why would one just add such an important information? The same amount of RAM in an iPhone, as in an iPad, as in an iMac. We truly live in the future, next year! 😜
