The A19 Bionic could be the first iPhone chipset manufactured using a 2nm process node
This list of CPU ID numbers shows that Apple is working on the A19 Bionic for the iPhone 17 Pro series
With this year’s A17 Bionic the first smartphone application processor (AP) to be made using the 3nm node, it means that its feature sizes are smaller, including transistor size. That, in theory, means more transistors inside each die which makes a chip more powerful and energy efficient. There are 16 billion transistors inside each A16 so we can expect a decent hike for the A17 Bionic.
As an example, the 7nm A13 Bionic used on 2019’s iPhone 11 series contained 8.5 billion transistors. The A14 Bionic powering the iPhone 12 line, the first iPhone SoC made using a 5nm process node, featured 11.8 billion transistors. The number rose to 15 billion for the iPhone 13’s 5nm A15 Bionic and at the risk of repeating ourselves, hit 16 billion with the iPhone 14 Pro series’ A16 Bionic. The latter was made using an enhanced 5nm process that was dubbed 4nm.
Apple is also believed to be working on the M5 chip
The A19 Bionic, which should be found inside the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max/Ultra, could be the first chip inside the iPhone to be produced using TSMC’s 2nm process node which would also make it the first iPhone to use Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors. These transistors allow the gate to contact the channel on all four sides which results in less current leakage, increased performance, and more energy efficiency.
Now that Apple is working on the A19 Bionic, perhaps it has nearly finished its work on the A18 Bionic SoC which should be found inside the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max/Ultra. The A18 Bionic will probably be produced using TSMC’s N3E process node which is expected to produce some cost savings for other phone manufacturers compared with the N3E node TSMC is using to build the A17 Bionic.
