Rumor: iPhone 14 A16 Chip Will Stick To 5nm Process But M2 Chips Will Be 3nm

Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro devices are expected to benefit from a new A16 chip later this year, with the standard iPhone 14 models using the old A15 processor.

It doesn’t sound like that is likely to be a huge problem, however, with a new report claiming that the A16 chip will be manufactured on the same 5nm process as the A15.

Switching to a smaller manufacturing process normally allows for chips to run more quickly while creating less heat and using less power. If that isn’t happening, it’s likely that the A16 will perform similarly to the A15 in most tasks. The news comes via a MacRumors report citing leaker ShrimpApplePro on Twitter.

However, despite this news it sounds likely that the new A16 will benefit from faster RAM, potentially improving performance overall.

According to the information, the A16’s improvements will instead come from minor enhancements to the CPU, GPU, and memory. Mirroring a report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, ShrimpApplePro said that the A16 will specifically feature LPDDR 5 memory. LPDDR 5 memory is up to one and a half times faster and up to 30 percent more power-efficient than the LPDDR 4X memory paired with the A15 chip in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro.

The same report also claims that the new M2 Mac chips will use a 3nm process, compared to the 5nm process of the M1 chips. The M1 still has some life in its legs, though, with a new chip now expected to be announced that will power the future Mac Pro.

This final chip in the M1 family could be offered in the next-generation Mac Pro, which Apple explicitly teased earlier this year. Currently, Apple’s most powerful chip is the M1 Ultra, which is effectively a doubled-up version of the M1 Max with a 20-core CPU and a 64-core GPU. With the first Apple silicon Mac Pro, Apple is believed to be working on a chip that is even more powerful than the M1 Ultra.

It isn’t yet clear when we can expect Apple to announce that new Mac Pro, but with the WWDC event taking place from June 6 it’s possible that Apple could tease something during its opening keynote.