Recently, foreign media MacRumors and Alvarez @Nicolás released news that the identifiers of 5 new iPhones were found in Apple's back-end code. Of these, 4 are expected to be related to the iPhone 16 series, while the 5th model could be the future iPhone SE 4.
As you can see, the identifiers of these 5 new iPhones all start with the same number. According to Apple's usual logic, this type of identifier is usually associated with the chip, such as last year's iPhone 15 Pro series started with 16, and the standard and Plus started with 15.
Therefore, this also means that all four new phones in the iPhone 16 series this year (including the subsequent SE 4) will be equipped with the same generation of A-series chips. However, it is important to emphasize that even if the iPhone 16 Standard and Pro are the same generation of chips, it does not mean that they will be the same.
Apple may still be able to widen the gap in terms of CPU/GPU core count or NPU performance, and may also use the A18 and A18 Pro in the name to distinguish between them.
Regardless, this is also good news for users who want to switch to the standard version of the iPhone 16. Because the chip name is finally no longer a year behind, it will also help it eat the Apple Intelligence features of iOS 18. This feature not only requires chip performance, but also eats memory, so the iPhone 16 standard version will also be upgraded to 8GB of RAM.
In addition, according to the latest report from Taiwanese media CTEE, Apple has raised the order volume of next-generation chips, and is expected to purchase 90 million to 100 million A18 chips from TSMC. For comparison, the number of chips purchased in the early stage of the iPhone 15 series last year was about 80 million to 90 million.
This reflects Apple's expectation of strong demand for the iPhone 16 series this year. Personally, I think it's very likely that the iPhone 16 series will be a big hit. On the one hand, based on the previous revelations, the upgrade of this new generation of machine in hardware configuration is much more obvious than that of previous generations.
On the other hand, Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 requires at least iPhone 15 Pro series models to function. This means that users of the iPhone 15 Standard or older models will have to upgrade to a new device if they want to use Apple's AI features.
Finally, a brief talk about the 5th model, the iPhone SE 4, this new device has also been leaked before, and it is said that it will use a similar body design to the iPhone 14. The front features a 6.1-inch OLED all-screen display with a USB-C port and Action buttons instead.
As you can see from the exposed renderings, this is a major facelift, although it is still a bit of a suspicion of "clearing inventory", but at least the mold has been changed, which can bring a little freshness. It's just that it's not so user-friendly to LCD users, and the last decent option is about to disappear.
Which model of the iPhone 16 series are you going to change this year?