The A17 Bionic chip for next year's high-end models of the iPhone 15 lineup could be 35% more efficient compared to current iPhone processors thanks to the use of newer 3nm chip process technology.
Apple is expected to adopt the smaller 3nm process technology for the 2023 iPhone chip, destined to be the A17 Bionic. The current A16 Bionic chip uses TSMC's 4nm process, which offers improved efficiency and performance compared to the A15 Bionic chip based on the 5nm process from the year prior.
Mass production of TSMC's 3nm process began this week, and Bloomberg cites TSMC's chairman Mark Liu as saying the newer process will require 35% less power while also providing better performance than its previous 5nm process. Apple is expected to be TSMC's biggest customer of the 3nm process, reportedly using it for the upcoming M2 Pro and M2 Max chips and the A17 Bionic for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Last week, a report uncovered new challenges Apple faced while developing the A16 Bionic chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. According to the report, Apple had more aggressive plans to further improve the GPU on the chip, calling it a "generational leap." Apple initially wanted to include ray tracing for the A16 Bionic's GPU, but those plans failed after the chip overheated, leading to poor battery life. Ultimately, Apple changed plans last minute and included a GPU based on last year's A15 Bionic chip.
The lack of a more advanced GPU in the A16 Bionic chip could mean we see more considerable improvements with the A17 Bionic chip on high-end iPhone 15 models next year. For the first time with the iPhone 14 lineup, Apple only gave the higher-end Pro models the newer A16 Bionic chip while keeping the lower-end models with the one-year-old A15 Bionic chip. That same precedent is expected to continue next year, with only the higher-end models of the lineup gaining the A17 Bionic while the rest of the lineup will use this year's A16 Bionic chip.
Details on the iPhone 15 and higher-end iPhone 15 Pro and possibly iPhone 15 "Ultra" are scant, but we are expecting improvements with the cameras, including a periscope lens, the expansion of Dynamic Island to all models of the lineup, and more. For everything we know about the iPhone 15, check out our roundup.
Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
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Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week.
The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included.
macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.
Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
USB-C and 35% better battery life? The 15 Pro is sounding better and better. Finally, a significant upgrade worthy of my money!
35% more efficient chip is not the same as 35% better battery life. Anyway, that’s what we hear every year - efficient this, efficient that - but we run for the charger at nearly the same intervals.
"According to the report, Apple had more aggressive plans to further improve the GPU on the chip, calling it a "generational leap." Apple initially wanted to include ray tracing for the A16 Bionic's GPU, but those plans failed after the chip overheated, leading to poor battery life."
It will be interesting to see if Apple can continue to push the GPU envelope on 3nm chips whilst maintaining or improving the current awesome battery life of the iPhone?
