Leaker Unknownz21 claims Apple’s upcoming A17 chip, which will power this year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, boasts a 6-core CPU, as well as a 6-core GPU. Apple’s current top-of-the-line chip, the A16, has a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU, so the A17 should offer impressive GPU improvements to the new higher-end iPhone 15 Pro lineup.
The A17 chip is said to feature a 3.70GHz maximum clock rate, up from 3.46GHz in the A16. Unknownz21 also indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro models will feature the same 6GB RAM that’s currently available in the iPhone 14 Pro models. While we’ve seen previous rumors that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max would boast 8GB RAM, the leaker says the increased RAM is “unlikely,” but not impossible.
Apple A17 – t8130 – Coll
6 CPU Cores + 6 GPU Cores
3.70 GHz
6GB LPDDR5 DRAM – Micron/Samsung
TSMC 3nm ProcessLPDDR = Low Power Double Data Rate SDRAM
The A17 is used by both the D83 and D84, also likely planned for D47 and D48 (16 series), as the D9x will use t8140 (A18).
— Unknownz21 🌈 (@URedditor) August 9, 2023
The A17 chip will be fabricated using TSMC’s new 3-nanometer process, which will boost its speed and be more efficient than the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The extra GPU core should bring a decent increase in graphics performance. Meanwhile, we should also see faster CPU speeds and improved battery life compared to the 4-nanometer A16. The A17 could show as much as a 10 to 15% performance boost while improving power consumption by as much as 30%.
Since the A17 is expensive to manufacture, due to its use of the new 3nm fabrication technology, it will only be available in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models. iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are expected to use the same A16 chip that currently powers the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Apple is likely to hold its annual iPhone event on Tuesday, September 12. That means pre-orders for the new iPhones should go live a few days later on Friday, September 15, and the new iPhones will likely hit store shelves one week later on September 22.
