Many years ago, Apple launched new iPhones with the exactly same processor on board. However, with the iPhone 14 series this practice changed. Apple began reusing older processors in the entry level new devices. So the iPhone 14 launched with the processor from the iPhone 13 Pro.
This seems set to change again with leaks suggesting all new iPhone 16 devices will share the same A18 Bionic chips.
Some of Apple’s code revealed unused model numbers that follow Apple’s usual naming conventions for flagship devices.
The discovered model numbers are:
- iPhone17,1
- iPhone17,2
- iPhone17,3
- iPhone17,4
- iPhone17,5
The fact that all five model numbers start with “17” strongly suggests that they will share the same chip. This differs from the iPhone 15 lineup, where different model numbers were associated with different chips (A16 and A17 Pro).
Will this make choosing the new iPhone 16 that suits you best a little bit harder? Possibly. However, it’s likely that Apple is moving back to normality after years of chip shortages led to reusing older chips in the first place.