Apple may switch technology behind A17 Bionic chip to cut costs next year

SAN FRANCISCO: Tech giant Apple will reportedly switch technology behind theA17 Bionic chip in order to cut costs next year.

According to a rumour, the A17 Bionic chip that will be initially employed in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max later this year would fundamentally differ from a version of the same chip set that will be produced in 2024, reports MacRumors.

It is anticipated that the A17 Bionic will be the tech giant's first chip made using a 3nm fabrication process, offering major performance and efficiency improvements over the 5nm process utilised for the A14, A15 and A16 chips.

The A17 Bionic chip is expected to be produced initially using TSMC's N3B technology, but Apple intends to move the A17 to N3E sometime in 2024.

This move is said to be a cost-cutting strategy that could come at the expense of reduced efficiency.

"N3B is TSMC's original 3nm node created in partnership with Apple. N3E, on the other hand, is the simpler, more accessible node that most other TSMC clients will use," the report said.

Earlier, it was reported that the A17 chip, which is expected to be used in the iPhone 15, might potentially focus more on battery-life improvements than processing power.