New iPhones To Use Next-Gen Arm Chip Technology For AI
Hours before the It’s Glowtime event commences at the Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple Park on Monday, there are some updates coming out as to the chips that will be used in the new iPhone 16 range which will be unveiled at the event.
Apple’s iPhone 16 will launch with a next-generation chip based on Arm’s newest design architecture, as the Cupertino-based company aims to bring generative artificial intelligence features to its smartphones, reported the Financial Times.
Apple will reveal the A18 chip with the company embracing Arm’s newest V9 chip design in its smartphones.
Apple’s adoption of V9 for the iPhone — a product which makes up close to half of its total revenues — represents a boost for Arm, which has a multiyear licensing agreement with Apple.
Arm chief executive Rene Haas has previously said that V9 brings in twice the royalties of the previous generation V8.
Apple is already using Arm’s V9 architecture for its newest line of M4 MacBook chips, which it announced in May.
At the time, it said that the M4 brought a “giant leap” in performance for the next generation of its PCs expected to be announced over the coming months.
In July, the company unveiled its Apple Intelligence offering, though has said that some markets, including Europe, may not receive it this year. A developer beta test of iOS 18.1, the update to iOS18 that will bring Apple Intelligence to the iPhone, is ongoing.
Apple Intelligence can only work on the company’s most advanced iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max devices that have its A17 Pro chip, which uses Arm’s previous generation of architecture, the V8.
The decision to use Arm’s V9 architecture is crucial since Apple will have to compete head-on with manufacturers including Google, Samsung and Motorola who are pushing AI-enabled smartphones across their respective lineups.
According to data by research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research, the share of GenAI-equipped smartphone shipments to overall smartphone shipments will reach 11 per cent by 2024 and 43 per cent by 2027 to pass 550 million units in 2027, a nearly 4X growth.