Apple has reportedly increased its order for next-generation chips from TSMC from 90 million to 100 million units after anticipating increased demand for the iPhone 16 series.
According to a source in Taiwan, the initial chip order volume for the iPhone 15 series launch last year was probably around 80 million to 90 million units, suggesting that Apple is seeing high demand for its 2024 devices in the region of an expected 10 million units. CTEE.
The introduction of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 is expected to boost initial sales of the devices. One reason for this is that Apple Intelligence requires at least one iPhone 15 Pro to work, meaning owners of last year’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will miss out on Apple’s new AI features unless they upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro or opt for one. iPhone 16 model.
Last year’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus featured the A16 Bionic chip – the same chip found in the iPhone 14 Pro models – while the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have the A17 Pro chip made using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, also known. As “N3E”. According to TSMC, the N3E is more cost-effective and generates better returns than the previous generation N3B.
All four models in this year’s iPhone 16 lineup are expected to use A18-branded chipsets made using the N3E process. Despite the move to N3E, the A18 chip in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will likely adopt the A17 Pro design that was used in the iPhone 15 Pro models. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro– Max will likely use a chip branded A18 Pro– which may feature an advanced neural engine with more cores, enabling improved AI/ML performance.
Standard iPhone 16 models can be upgraded to 8GB of RAM, up from 6GB on iPhone 15 models. That means all four iPhone 16 models will have 8GB of RAM, which Apple says is the minimum required to run major languages (the algorithms that power AI) locally on the device, rather than in the cloud.
Based on previous years, Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 16 series in the fall, mid-September. For more information, check out our dedicated iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro reports.
