A19 And A19 Pro Chips, Set To Power The iPhone 17 Lineup, Will Leverage TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3P’ Technology, Promising Significant Performance And Efficiency Gains

Apple has major changes in store for its iPhone 17 and while we are expecting the ‘Air’ model to open new doors for the rest of the lineup, the company also plans to make some internal changes. According to the latest, Apple’s next-gen A19 and A19 Pro chips for the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models will be manufactured using TSMC’s new third-gen 3nm “N3P” process. The new technology will bring more benefits than the current generation of technology.

Apple to shift to TSMC’s “N3P” 3nm technology for A19 and A19 Pro chips, slated to bring better performance

The current A18 and A18 Pro chips in the new iPhone 16 lineup are manufactured using TSMC’s “N3E” technology, and the previous generation A17 chip in the iPhone 17 Pro featured the supplier’s 3nm ‘N3B” technology. If you re not familiar, the upcoming N3P 3nm technology will house an even larger number of transistors compared to the current version.

With higher transistor density, we can expect the A19 and A19 Pro chips to feature better performance and power efficiency than the current models. Jeff Pu shared the news in his research notes, obtained by MacRumors, but there are no further details available on the chip’s manufacturing. The analyst did not share the yield ratio, when it would go into production, or if there are any prevailing issues in manufacturing the chip.

We have previously seen how the company aims to develop new technology for the next-gen iPhone models, but most of the time, there are issues with the production where yield is lower than it should be. However, we will possibly hear more details on the production of the chip in the near future as it is still too early to draw final conclusions.

The iPhone 17 Air is also expected to be the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made, with a thickness of possibly less than 6mm. In contrast, the iPhone 6 was 6.9mm thin and it appears that the company will break its own record. Samsung is also working on a mysterious model of the Galaxy S25 which will compete against Apple’s ‘Air’ model of the iPhone 17.

The iPhone 17 ‘Air’ will feature the same A19 chip built on TSMC’s 3nm “N3P” process, allowing the device to bolster enhanced computational and graphical output. While it will be capable, the A19 Pro will remain the highlight of the lineup with its increased number of cores and overall faster processing power.

It was previously reported that TSMC will begin mass production of A19 and A19 Pro chips for the iPhone 17 and ‘Pro’ models in the second half of 2024, but we haven’t heard if the manufacturing has started. The A19 series of chips will potentially be the last iteration of 3nm chips, as Apple is slated to jump to TSMC’s 2nm process in 2026.