New Apple leak reveals iPhone 15 release surprise

Apple’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro design changes continue to leak, but one detail had been missing: details about the next-generation A17 chip that will power the pros. Until now…

In a series of posts, trusted Apple insider Unknownz21 has broken down the A17 chip in detail, revealing the CPU and GPU composition, their clock speeds, and the amount and type of RAM:

The delicious goes on to add additional detailsand notes that:

• D83 = iPhone 15 Pro
• D84 = iPhone 15 Pro Max
• D47 = iPhone 16
• D48 = iPhone 16 Plus
• D9x = iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max

Additionally, Unknownz21 states that the 6-core CPU will consist of two performance cores and four efficiency cores while in one last update they say the A17 could still debut with 8GB of RAM, as Apple has tested both 6GB and 8GB configurations, and it’s currently unclear why or which of these was chosen as final. Unknownz21 says the two versions are labeled “POP, COLL + 6G” and “POP, COLL + 8G” inside the company.

So what does all this mean? Potentially, it yields big gains. The combination of performance improvements along with increased battery life is the holy grail for smartphone buyers

First, the move to 3nm manufacturing alone means that Apple can run chips faster, cooler and with less power consumption than the 4nm A16. Something that allows Apple to balance both performance and battery gains. This can be seen in the faster maximum clock rate (3.7GHz vs. 3.46GHz) in the A16 chip.

Second, expect big graphics improvements because the A17 has an extra graphics core compared to the 5-core A16. Adding cores can increase power consumption, but again the 3nm manufacturing process should more than offset this.

Analysts’ early calculations suggest an increase in CPU speed of around 10%, but the biggest gains should come in GPU performance and a drop of around 30% in power consumption. The iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular, when combined with new stacked battery technology, can be champions of battery life.

All of this fills another big gap ahead of the iPhone 15 series’ much-leaked September release. Other highlights include adoption of the Dynamic Island design by the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, with the standard models also getting the aforementioned A16 chip and a new 48-megapixel primary rear camera.

iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models will have slightly larger screens (6.12 and 6.69 inches, respectively) due to record-thin bezels (which have caused production issues) and a wider range of upgrades, such as the 3nm A17 chip, lighter titanium chassis, upgraded UWB and WiFi 6E and Apple’s first periscope zoom camera, which will be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

All iPhone 15 models will also ditch the Lightning port in favor of USB-C ahead of upcoming 2024 regulatory requirements. And yes, the gap between the iPhone 15 Pros and standard models is growing again, but so will the price difference.

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