New leak confirms: All Apple iPhone 16 models with A18 chip
As usual, Apple will launch four iPhone 16 models this year. This is confirmed by lines of code that programmer Nicolás Alvarez discovered in Apple’s backend. However, the code also confirms that the smartphones will all have the same chipset. The new model numbers therefore do not correspond to any existing iPhones. However, the numbering scheme has exactly the pattern that Apple uses for its flagship smartphones.
The code contains the following iPhone identifiers:
- iPhone17,1
- iPhone17,2
- iPhone17,3
- iPhone17,4
- iPhone17,5
All five start with the same number, which suggests that Apple plans to use the same chipset in all models. For the iPhone 15 series, which uses different chipsets, the internal identifiers have different numbers.
- iPhone 15: iPhone 15,4
- iPhone 15 Plus: iPhone 15,5
- iPhone 15 Pro: iPhone 16,1
- iPhone 15 Pro Max: iPhone 16,2
The iPhone 15 models feature the A16 Bionic chip, which was first used in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. The corresponding model numbers were iPhone 15.2 for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15.3 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have a different chip, the A17 Pro, hence the different identifier 16.x. For Apple’s iPhones, the identifier is usually linked to the chipset. All devices with the A16 chip have an identifier that starts with 15, all A15s have a 14 in front. The same goes for the identifier 13.x (A14) and the identifier 12.x (A13).
So if Apple sticks to its normal scheme, according to today’s leak, all four Apple iPhone 16 models will have the same chip. This also matches previous rumors and previous leaks. The first lines of code appeared back in March, which also contained the common identifiers.
If you haven’t noticed yet – the leak contains five model numbers, of which probably only four belong to the Apple iPhone 16 series. The fifth could mark the next iPhone SE, after the current iPhone SE (2022) slowly but surely gets old.
Although we assume that all four Apple iPhone 16 models will get a new A18 chipset, there will, as usual, be clear differences between the standard and Pro models. Even the chips could have their own designations such as A18 and A18 Pro. Apple could use A18 chips with a lower number of GPU cores (either in bins or disabled) while reserving the higher-quality GPUs for the Pro models.
However, there is a strong argument that all four Apple iPhone 16 models and a future iPhone SE will get the same A18 chipset, namely Apple Intelligence. Apple’s upcoming AI suite is part of iOS 18 and is set to launch in September. However, a powerful processor is required so that the AI functions can run directly on the device. Currently, this only includes the iPhone 15 Pro and the Pro Max. However, Apple is unlikely to miss out on this selling point for all of its new devices with iOS 18.
