When it comes to the battle of making the best performing smartphone of the year and beyond, Apple may have secured a huge advantage for its iPhone 15 Pro models.
The Pro versions of this year’s iPhone 15 update are expected to use Apple’s A17 Bionic chipset. This silicon will reportedly be built using a 3nm process — an improvement over the 4nm design used for the A16 Bionic chipset, not to mention the 5nm A15 currently found in the standard iPhone 14 models.
TSMC, which makes the chips that Apple designs, says it has begun mass production on 3nm chips, and is widely believed to be headed for the iPhone 15 Pro (and possibly the iPhone 15 Ultra if that rumored model is real). And on the basis of a Digitimes report (Opens in a new tab)This could be the only 3nm silicon we see in 2023.
Specifically, Digitimes says that rival chipmakers Qualcomm and MediaTek are unlikely to produce 3nm chips this year, due to a number of factors involving cost and market size. MediaTek, which doesn’t own a large slice of the flagship phone market, is almost certain to surpass 3nm silicon this year, according to Digitimes, while Qualcomm is taking a “wait-and-see” attitude.
Why nanometers matter
If true, it could have a significant impact on smartphone performance that lasts beyond 2023. Under this scenario, the iPhone 15 Pro will debut with the 3nm A17 Bionic chipset in the fall, assuming Apple sticks to its usual schedule. to release the iPhone 15. But the Galaxy S24 series coming in early 2024 will still use a 4nm chip, likely produced by Qualcomm.
This should help Apple increase its performance on Android phones. Typically, the smaller the chipset, the higher the density of transistors you can fit into the dye. Not only does this translate to performance improvements, but it also means that the chip can be more energy efficient as well.
In other words, the 3nm A Series chip inside an Apple phone beats the 4nm silicon inside an Android phone, while consuming less power as part of the bargain.
This would be a less than ideal development for Android phone makers at any time, but especially now that the 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is starting to show up in flagship phones like the OnePlus 11 and, presumably, the Samsung Galaxy S23.
We had the opportunity to test the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered reference device provided by Qualcomm and found that it closed the gap between the best Android devices and the iPhone 14. Specifically, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 benchmarks showed that the device posts better numbers than the iPhone 14 which It runs the A15 Bionic in several tests and even tops the iPhone 14 Pro Max and its A16 Bionic chipset in graphics benchmarks.
A look at the iPhone 15 Pro
With rumors of Samsung using an overclocked Snapdragon chipset for its Galaxy S23 release, Android phones seemed poised to give the iPhone a run for its money in terms of performance. But the lack of a 3nm chip to counter the A17 Bionic may hinder this progress.
This may cause some phone makers to step in. The Digitimes report suggests that Samsung, in particular, may pressure Qualcomm to make a 3nm chipset the Galaxy S24 can use in 2024 rather than allow Apple to enjoy more than a year of having sole 3nm silicon for its phones. It’s a development worth watching as the year goes on to see what kind of power advantage the iPhone 15 family can offer — and how long Apple can extend it.
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