Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
TL;DR
- All iPhone 17 and lower-end iPhone 18 models will reportedly feature 3nm processors, as Apple could restrict the 2nm ones to its highest-end 2026 iPhones.
- Apple has been offering inferior processors on non-Pro iPhones for a few years now, so this potential move isn’t surprising.
- Compared to 3nm chips, 2nm ones could offer more processing power while maintaining their size and efficiency.
In 2022, Apple widened the gap between its regular and Pro iPhones by packing inferior chips in the lower-end models. The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max got an exclusive taste of the A16 Bionic, while the standard variants stuck to the iPhone 13 line’s A15 Bionic chipset. That is still the case today; while the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus don’t feature last year’s processor, they get a less capable version of the A18 Pro chip offered by the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. This horsepower distinction will seemingly persist in the coming years, as Apple could exclusively pack 2nm chips in the highest-end iPhone 18 models.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, all “iPhone 17 models will be made by TSMC’s N3P process/3-nanometer technology.” Meanwhile, due to cost concerns, 2026’s iPhone 18 line could feature a mix of 3nm and 2nm chips.
While Kuo’s tweet doesn’t specify which iPhone 18 models will get what, it’s safe to assume that the standard ones will get a 3nm processor. Whether only the Pro Max or both Pro models receive the 2nm upgrade is yet to be seen.
For those unfamiliar, 2nm chipsets can generally fit more transistors than their 3nm counterparts. This allows companies to increase the devices’ power while maintaining the processor’s size and energy efficiency.
The iPhone 18 series will likely debut in September 2026, along with the Apple Watch Series 12 and possibly new AirPods models.
