New rumors suggest that Apple could rebrand the current A15 Bionic chips as A16 when the company launches the iPhone 14 later this year, while an actually new processor – fitted into the higher-end phones in the range – will be called the A16 Pro.
This isn’t the first time we have heard of the possibility of devices across the iPhone 14 lineup differing in terms of their processor performance. The noted analyst of all things Apple, Ming-Chi Kuo, suggested a few weeks ago that the Cupertino firm might save its new chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
It is widely expected that there will be an iPhone 14 and an iPhone 14 Max, the latter a larger ‘non-pro’ iPhone. It has been reported that those cheaper devices could house what is currently called the A15 – in other words, the same chip that the iPhone 13 range and the iPhone SE have.
Now, the iDrop News website has backed up the notion that this could indeed be the plan, with the A15 effectively being renamed the A16. The report suggested that this could be a good thing for keeping manufacturing costs down, as Apple and its partners prioritize manufacturing of the M2 chip ahead of the A16 (what will now seemingly be called the A16 Pro).
This move with the respective chips could also, however, help Apple to justify a higher price point for the iPhone 14 Pro. The iDrop News article pointed out that the iPhone 14 Max is expected to be priced at $899, which would be just $100 less than the iPhone 13 Pro.
The suggestion, then, is that Apple will seek to maintain the $200 price difference between the non-pro and pro versions of an iPhone, by charging $1,099 – or perhaps even more – for the 14 Pro.
