The iPhone 16 has only just appeared, but there have already been many reports about the upcoming iPhone 17, including what kind of chip it may have. The question about the size of the chip has been an open question, but we may get some answers.

Early rumors suggested that a 2nm chipset could appear next year, but recent reports suggest that we will have to wait until iPhone 18 for that to happen. However, this does not mean that the 2025 iPhone will not receive a performance upgrade. According to analyst Jeff Pu, the A19 and A19 Pro chips will be manufactured using an entirely new version of TSMC's 3nm process.

Pu claims (via MacRumors) that the iPhone 17 chips will be manufactured on a third-generation 3nm process called N3P. The A18 and A17 Pro chips, on the other hand, were manufactured using the N3E and N3B processes, respectively. While these older chips benefit from a smaller chip design compared to the older 4nm chips, the A19 chip will likely be a step ahead.

The N3P process appears to involve a “shrink” compared to A18's N3E process, which means an increase in transistor density; whatever the past iterations of TSMC's 3nm chips, this should provide an additional boost in performance and energy efficiency should provide. It is not at all clear how much of a boost this will be, though certainly not as much as if Apple uses 2nm chips in the iPhone 17.

The smaller the chip, the denser it will be, and these big landmark changes should provide the biggest boost in this area. Nevertheless, it is not clear how big a leap this early will be; TSMC does not intend to stay at 2nm, and reports earlier this year suggested that it could begin producing 1.4nm chips as early as 2027.

That was back when everyone thought 2nm chips would debut next year. That probably won't happen, so those schedules could easily change. In the meantime, we should turn our attention to the iPhone 17, and you can find out all the latest news and rumors at the iPhone 17 Hub.