Apple is rumored to be ditching its current trend of using older chipsets in its base iPhone models, and instead equip all four iPhone 16 models with the A18-branded chips, according to supply chain analyst Jeff Pu.

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are powered by the A16 Bionic chip, which was used in last year’s iPhone 14 Pro models. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, feature the latest A17 Pro chip, which is based on TSMC’s 3nm node.

Pu believes that Apple will use the A18 chip for all four iPhone 16 models, which would be manufactured using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm chip fabrication process, known as N3E. This process will be less expensive and has improved yield compared to TSMC’s first-generation 3nm process, N3B, which is being used for the A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro models.

Pu also shared his predictions for the chipsets that will be used in each iPhone 16 model. He believes that the standard iPhone 16 models will get the A18 chip, while the Pro models will use the A18 Pro chip. As said earlier, all of the chips will be manufactured using TSMC’s N3E fabrication process.

However, it’s important to note that Pu is likely making an educated guess about the marketing names since the iPhone 16 lineup is still a year away from launch (via MacRumors). It remains to be seen whether Apple will actually use the A18 and A18 Pro branding, or stick with the A17 and A18 Pro branding, as it has done in recent years.

Despite the uncertainty about the marketing names, Pu has a good track record when it comes to predicting Apple’s plans. He was the first source to report that the iPhone 15 Pro models would be equipped with an increased 8GB of RAM, and that the iPhone 15 Pro Max would have a higher starting price than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

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