New report reiterates Apple will use A18 chipsets for all iPhone 16 models

iPhone 16 series to come with A18 chipset

• Jeff Pu originally shared the prediction last month and shared this yet again in a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities.
• In the latest note, Pu says "We expect all iPhone 16 models to feature A18."
• He further expects that the chips to be manufactured with chipmaker TSMC's second-generation 3nm process "N3E."
• The Apple A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro models is based on TSMC's first-generation 3nm process "N3B" and he refers to this as a "transition design."

Furthermore, Pu outlines his model-specific expectations in response to an email from MacRumors:

• iPhone 16: A18 chip (N3E)
• iPhone 16 Plus: A18 chip (N3E)
• iPhone 16 Pro: A18 Pro chip (N3E)
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: A18 Pro chip (N3E)

N3E is believed to be less expensive and has improved yield compared to N3B, as per TSMC. The standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus currently ship with an A16 Bionic chip, so the A18 chip will be a big upgrade and will skip the A17-branded chip.

But then again, the iPhone 16 series launch is still 11 months away, and Pu appears to be making educated guesses with the marketing names. There are chances that the brand might tag the iPhone 16 series chips as A17, while the Pro model chip could be called A18 Pro.

Pu was the first one to report that Apple abandoned its plans for solid-state buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro models. He also rightly predicted that the Pro models would be equipped with an increased 8GB RAM and the Pro Max would see a higher starting price compared to 14 Pro Max.