It’s been widely rumored that all four iPhone 16 models will use the A18 chip inside, and now we have more details backing those rumors. According to code changes discovered by Nicolás Alvarez, five new iPhone models have surfaced in Apple’s backend code, with evidence each of them is powered by the A18 chip.
As explained by MacRumors, the code refers to the following iPhone identifiers:
- iPhone17,1
- iPhone17,2
- iPhone17,3
- iPhone17,4
- iPhone17,5
Based on Apple’s past naming conventions, the fact that each of these model identifiers starts with the same number suggests each device will use an A18 chip. “Apple’s iPhones typically tie identifier to chip,” the report explains.
For example, here’s a look at the iPhone 15 lineup:
- iPhone 15: iPhone 15,4 with an A16 Bionic chip
- iPhone 15 Plus: iPhone 15,5 with an A16 Bionic chip
- iPhone 15 Pro: iPhone 16,1 with an A17 Pro chip
- iPhone 15 Pro Max: iPhone 16,2 with an A17 Pro chip
As you can see, the iPhone 15 lineup is bifurcated based on which chip is inside. The lower-end models use the less powerful A16 Bionic, while the higher-end models use the A17 Pro. This, combined with differences in RAM amounts, is why the iPhone 15 Pro models support Apple Intelligence and the non-Pro models do not.
Based on the unified model numbers, Apple is expected to use the A18 in all four models of the iPhone 16 this year. One thing we don’t know, however, is whether the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will use an even more powerful version of the chip.
Another change coming this year is that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will feature more RAM, increasing from 6GB to 8 GB. There have also been rumors that the iPhone 16 will offer a significantly faster Neural Engine.
It’s unclear why there are five model identifiers in Apple’s backend. One of them could refer to an upcoming version of the iPhone SE, but that’s just speculation. We are only expecting four iPhone 16 models.
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