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iPhone 14 Pro May Get A16 Chip, While Others Stick With A15 Bionic

Analyst predicts the new top-tier iPhone will get a higher-end chip.

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Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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iPhone 13 Pro Max

The new iPhone lineup may feature two different processors.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The premium iPhone 14 may also come with a premium performance upgrade, according to one analyst's prediction.

The new lineup of iPhones isn't expected to debut until the fall, but when it does, the iPhone 14 Pro will feature an A16 chip, while the other models will sport the A15 Bionic, the chip that powers the current iPhone 13 lineup, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Sunday.

"Only two Pro models would upgrade to the A16 processor, while the 14 & 14 Max will remain the A15," Kuo said in a tweet Sunday.

But all iPhone 14 models are expected to have 6 gigabytes of RAM, he said, with the base models getting a 6.1-inch screen and the Max variants sporting a 6.7-inch display.

Apple's last two iPhone lineups have featured the same 6.1-inch size for the base model, going up to 6.7 inches for the Pro Max. According to the same July Nikkei Asian Review report, Apple will stick with these screen sizes for the iPhone 14, nixing the 5.4-inch Mini.

The iPhone 14 could also be equipped with Wi-Fi 6E and may be the first iPhone to ditch the physical SIM cards entirely.

Apple is expected to hold its annual fall iPhone event in September 2022, as it does almost every year, with the phones being released shortly thereafter.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.