A16 Chip in iPhone 14 Pro Reportedly Costs Apple Over Twice as Much as A15 Chip
Apple's new A16 Bionic chip in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max costs $110 to produce, making it over 2.4× as costly as the A15 chip in iPhone 13 Pro models released last year, according to a Nikkei Asia report.

The A16's higher cost is likely due in part to the chip being manufactured based on TSMC's 4nm process, while the A15 is a 5nm chip. iPhone chips could continue to increase in price as miniaturization continues, with rumors suggesting the A17 chip in iPhone 15 Pro models will be based on TSMC's 3nm process, and a DigiTimes report this week claiming that TSMC will begin volume production of 2nm chips in 2025.
Geekbench 5 benchmark results indicate the A16 chip delivers around 15% to 17% faster multi-core performance compared to the A15 chip. Only the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are equipped with the A16 chip, while the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have the same A15 chip with a five-core GPU as found in iPhone 13 Pro models.
In collaboration with Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, a Japanese research firm specialized in reverse engineering and bill-of-materials analysis, Nikkei found that average production costs have increased about 20% across the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max compared to the equivalent previous-generation models.
The report claims that given Apple did not raise prices for its latest iPhone models in the U.S. and some other markets, the higher production costs mean that the company's profit margins have "likely shrunk," but prices did increase in key markets like the U.K., Australia, and Japan amid a strong U.S. dollar relative to other currencies.
Popular Stories
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models will feature a number of significant display, thermal, and battery improvements, according to new late-stage rumors.
According to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital," the iPhone 17 Pro models will feature displays with higher brightness, making it more suitable for use in direct sunlight for prolonged periods. The iPhone 16 Pro and...
We're only days away from Apple's "Awe dropping" fall event scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023.
By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for...
Apple is set to unveil the iPhone 17 series in just four days from now, and the biggest design mystery surrounding the Pro models has finally been solved.
In a report outlining his expectations for Apple's event next week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the iPhone 17 Pro models will have "a new cutout area on the bottom two-thirds of the phone that doubles as the wireless charging area."...
iOS 26 introduces an Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode.
Apple says Adaptive Power Mode can make "performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness, allowing some activities to "take longer," and automatically turning on Low Power Mode when the iPhone's remaining battery life...
Just one week before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series, an analyst has shared new price estimates for the devices.
Here are J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee's price estimates for the iPhone 17 series in the United States, according to 9to5Mac:
Model
Starting Price
Model
Starting Price
Change
iPhone 16
$799
iPhone 17
...