The A17 Bionic chip for next year's high-end models of the iPhone 15 lineup could be 35% more efficient compared to current iPhone processors thanks to the use of newer 3nm chip process technology.
Apple is expected to adopt the smaller 3nm process technology for the 2023 iPhone chip, destined to be the A17 Bionic. The current A16 Bionic chip uses TSMC's 4nm process, which offers improved efficiency and performance compared to the A15 Bionic chip based on the 5nm process from the year prior.
Mass production of TSMC's 3nm process began this week, and Bloomberg cites TSMC's chairman Mark Liu as saying the newer process will require 35% less power while also providing better performance than its previous 5nm process. Apple is expected to be TSMC's biggest customer of the 3nm process, reportedly using it for the upcoming M2 Pro and M2 Max chips and the A17 Bionic for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Last week, a report uncovered new challenges Apple faced while developing the A16 Bionic chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. According to the report, Apple had more aggressive plans to further improve the GPU on the chip, calling it a "generational leap." Apple initially wanted to include ray tracing for the A16 Bionic's GPU, but those plans failed after the chip overheated, leading to poor battery life. Ultimately, Apple changed plans last minute and included a GPU based on last year's A15 Bionic chip.
The lack of a more advanced GPU in the A16 Bionic chip could mean we see more considerable improvements with the A17 Bionic chip on high-end iPhone 15 models next year. For the first time with the iPhone 14 lineup, Apple only gave the higher-end Pro models the newer A16 Bionic chip while keeping the lower-end models with the one-year-old A15 Bionic chip. That same precedent is expected to continue next year, with only the higher-end models of the lineup gaining the A17 Bionic while the rest of the lineup will use this year's A16 Bionic chip.
Details on the iPhone 15 and higher-end iPhone 15 Pro and possibly iPhone 15 "Ultra" are scant, but we are expecting improvements with the cameras, including a periscope lens, the expansion of Dynamic Island to all models of the lineup, and more. For everything we know about the iPhone 15, check out our roundup.
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing.
Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1.
Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
Tuesday March 25, 2025 11:52 am PDT by Juli Clover
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions.
Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup
The return button, a button for going back to the Messages list, and the FaceTime button have a deeper...
Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost.
The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month.
In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4.
For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which...
The iOS 19 mockup images that leaker Jon Prosser shared today are not representative of the actual iOS 19 design, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on social media.
According to Gurman, the images that are "floating around" are based on "very old builds" or "vague descriptions," and are lacking key features. Gurman says that we can "expect more from Apple in June."
Gurman made the same comment ...
Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site.
The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a "first look" at Apple's upcoming iOS 19 update, providing mockups of what different apps and features will supposedly look like. Prosser claims the mockups are based on "the real deal" version of iOS 19 that he has seen, but says he is sharing replica images in order to prevent his sources from getting into trouble.
Confusingly, Prosser's video features some ...
USB-C and 35% better battery life? The 15 Pro is sounding better and better. Finally, a significant upgrade worthy of my money!
35% more efficient chip is not the same as 35% better battery life. Anyway, that’s what we hear every year - efficient this, efficient that - but we run for the charger at nearly the same intervals.
"According to the report, Apple had more aggressive plans to further improve the GPU on the chip, calling it a "generational leap." Apple initially wanted to include ray tracing for the A16 Bionic's GPU, but those plans failed after the chip overheated, leading to poor battery life."
It will be interesting to see if Apple can continue to push the GPU envelope on 3nm chips whilst maintaining or improving the current awesome battery life of the iPhone?
