Forget iPhone 16 — iPhone 18 tipped for this chip breakthrough

A new report claims that next year's iPhone 17 lineup will feature an enhanced 3nm processor but also claims that the 2026 iPhone 18 series, specifically the Pro models, will come with a next-generation 2nm processor.

The latest iPhone 17 and 18 rumors come to us from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo , spotted by MacRumors .

Of course, 3nm chips are the current standard for most high-end smartphones, with the recently announced iPhone 16 lineup featuring the second generation 3nm chips in the A18 and A18 Pro . So the iPhone 17 news isn't surprising, but that iPhone 18 wrinkle sure is.

The 2nm and 3nm refer to chip technology; each type has its own architecture. As these numbers in front of the measurement get smaller (4nm, 3nm, etc.), the chip features smaller transistors. The smaller the transistor, the more that can be packed onto a chip. Generally, this will increase processing speed, power and efficiency.

Apple introduced 3nm chips to various devices last year with the A17 Pro processor featured in the iPhone 15 Pro models. The M3 chips in Macs are also built on the 3nm architecture.

According to Kuo, the Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC is working on the 2nm process, but only the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max handsets will feature the chip because of the high costs.

A previous report from a Korean site claimed that TSMC is already working on the 2nm process and that we might see the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 feature the 2nm architecture. A Taiwanese paper suggested a similar timeline in January of 2024. These are just a handful of reports that claim the 2nm chip will come out next year .

TSMC is Apple's partner in producing its chips instead of relying on companies like Qualcomm, which will introduce its next-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chips in October (also built by TSMC).

Kuo has a record of being reasonably correct in his predictions regarding Apple and their production moves. It'll be interesting to see if his prediction of 2026 holds up or if 2025 will be the year of 2nm chips.

In the meantime, TSCMC is expected to enhance the 3nm chips for even more performance between now and the 2nm release.

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