Apple iPhone 15 release date and iPhone 15 Pro release date and design modifications have been leaked repeatedly, but one item has been missing: information regarding the next-generation A17 chip that will power the Pros. Until today, that is…
Unknownz21, a trusted Apple insider, has broken down the A17 chip in detail, revealing the CPU and GPU makeup, clock speeds, and RAM amount and type:
Apple A17 – t8130 – Coll
6 CPU Cores + 6 GPU Cores
3.70 GHz
6GB LPDDR5 DRAM – Micron/Samsung
TSMC 3nm ProcessLPDDR = Low Power Double Data Rate SDRAM
The A17 is used by both the D83 and D84, also likely planned for D47 and D48 (16 series), as the D9x will use t8140 (A18).
— Unknownz21 🌈 (@URedditor) August 9, 2023
The leaker goes on to provide more information, noting that:
- D83 = iPhone 15 Pro
- D84 = iPhone 15 Pro Max
- D47 = iPhone 16
- D48 = iPhone 16 Plus
- D9x = iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max
Furthermore, Unknownz21 claims that the 6-core CPU will have two performance cores and four efficiency cores, and that the A17 could still launch with 8GB RAM because Apple has been testing both 6GB and 8GB configurations, and it is currently unknown why or which of these was chosen as final. According to Unknownz21, the two versions are labeled “POP, COLL + 6G” and “POP, COLL + 8G” within the company.
So, what does it all mean? It has the potential to result in significant gains. The holy grail for smartphone buyers is the combination of performance enhancements and greater battery life.
For starters, the switch to 3nm production means Apple can operate chips quicker, cooler, and with less power consumption than the 4nm A16. Something that allows Apple to balance performance and battery gains. This can be observed in the A16 chip’s greater maximum clock rate (3.7GHz vs. 3.46GHz).
Second, because the A17 has an additional graphics core compared to the 5-core A16, expect significant visual enhancements. Adding cores can increase power consumption, but 3nm fabrication should more than offset this.
Analysts’ preliminary calculations indicate a 10% improvement in CPU speed, while the greatest increases should be in GPU performance and a 30% decrease in energy consumption. The iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max, in particular, could be battery life champions when combined with new stacked battery technology.
All of this fills another significant void ahead of the widely anticipated September arrival of the iPhone 15 series. Other highlights include the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus adopting the Dynamic Island design, as well as the aforementioned A16 chip and a new 48-megapixel primary rear camera.
Due to record-breaking thin bezels (which have caused manufacturing issues), the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models will have slightly larger displays (6.12 and 6.69 inches, respectively) and a wider array of upgrades, such as the 3nm A17 chip, lighter titanium chassis, upgraded UWB and WiFi 6E, and Apple’s first periscope zoom camera, which will be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
All iPhone 15 models will also lose the Lightning port Apple favor of USB-C in order to meet forthcoming regulatory requirements in 2024. Yes, the pricing gap between iPhone 15 Pros and normal models is expanding again, but so is the gap between iPhone 15 Pros and standard models.
