Apple’s upcoming A17 Bionic, the 3nm chip that reportedly will power iPhone 15 Pro, could feature a six-core CPU and six GPU cores. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro’s A16 Bionic uses a five-core GPU.
Based on TSMC’s advanced 3nm node, which increases transistor density to boost processing power while simultaneously reducing power consumption, the A17 Bionic reportedly will ship with 6GB LPDDR5 RAM. (That’s the same as the iPhone 14 Pro series.)
iPhone 15 Pro could sport the same amount of RAM as iPhone 14 Pro
Leaker @URedditor, who previously shared some accurate Apple-related leaks, provided more details about the company’s next A-series chip Wednesday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. While the A17 Bionic apparently will possess the same number of CPU cores as the A16 Bionic, Apple will bump its clock speed. Code-named Coll (t8130), the A17 Bionic’s high-performance A17 cores will run at 3.7GHz, according to the leaker. That’s a notable jump from the A16’s 3.46GHz clock speed.
Coupled with other architectural improvements, the A17 Bionic should deliver a 15% to 20% jump in CPU performance. While there’s no mention of the GPU’s clock speed in the leak, the additional core should help with performance. And coupled with TSMC’s 3nm node, the A17 Bionic should deliver a performance boost without consuming more power.
Sadly, it does not appear that Apple will bump the RAM on the iPhone 15 Pro series. These phones will ship with 6GB RAM, the same as the iPhone 14 Pro. As per the source of the leak, “8GB seems unlikely (but maybe 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
A17 Bionic chip is exclusively for 2023 iPhone Pro models
As with the iPhone 14 series, Apple will reserve its latest Bionic chip for the Pro models. The regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus reportedly will use last year’s A16 Bionic instead. Similarly, the leaker claims the 2024 iPhone 16 models will use the A17 Bionic. That year’s Pro models will use the A18 Bionic, referred to internally as the t8140.
Last year’s A16 Bionic brought modest improvements. Based on the latest rumors, the iPhone 15 Pro’s A15 Bionic should offer a bigger performance jump. More importantly, it appears Apple will focus on efficiency this year, which should bode well for battery life.
