iPhone 16 could ship with A18 chip and 8GB RAM

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Apple could use A18 and A18 Pro chips on its upcoming iPhone 16 lineup. TSMC will fabricate both SOCs for the Cupertino company on its latest 3nm (N3B) node, delivering better efficiency and performance.

Since the launch of the iPhone 14, Apple has used a year-old A-series chip on its non-Pro iPhones. However, due to Apple Intelligence, the company will seemingly tweak its strategy this year.

Apple might unveil A18 and A18 Pro chips this year

Before the iPhone 14’s launch in 2022, Apple used the same A-series chip across its Pro and non-Pro iPhone lineup. But in 2022, it changed its strategy and equipped the iPhone 14 with the A15 Bionic. This SoC debuted a year before inside the iPhone 13 series. Apple reserved its latest and greatest chip of the year — the A16 Bionic — for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

With the iPhone 16 lineup this year, Apple again plans to tweak its SoC strategy. TrendForce analysts claim the iPhone 16 will use Apple’s A18 chip, while the Pro models will use the A18 Pro SoC. TSMC will fabricate both A-series chips on its N3B mode. The ‘Pro’ chip should deliver better performance to live up to its moniker.

The report also states that this year’s iPhones will pack 8GB LPDDR5X RAM for Apple Intelligence. Multiple rumors have previously suggested that all iPhone 16 models might ship with 8GB RAM.

Trendforce analysts claim the iPhone 16 and its Plus sibling will stick to a 60Hz display. This is despite early rumors suggesting non-Pro iPhones could get 90Hz screens this year.

No price hike for iPhone 16, but…

Despite an increase in the overall production cost, Apple supposedly will not hike the price of the iPhone 16 lineup this year. Even if there’s an increase, it will be marginal to help Apple “balance higher costs while driving sales and maintaining profitability,” said TrendFrorce. The higher cost is due to a steep hike in memory prices over the last year.

The analysts also believe Apple will bump the base storage on the iPhone 16 Pro to 256GB by following the same strategy as 2023’s iPhone 15 Pro Max. This will allow the company to raise the iPhone 16 Pro’s base price to $1,099, keeping its profit margins intact.

Apple will unveil the iPhone 16 series alongside the Apple Watch Series 10 at the “It’s Glowtime” event on September 9. You can read our iPhone 16 rumor roundup for a sneak peek at other features and upgrades coming.