iPhone 14 buyers could still get a performance boost despite missing out on iPhone 14 Pro's A16 chip

(Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

The upcoming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max might be rumored to use an older chip, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't expect at least some increase in performance over last year's iPhone 13. That's according to a new report by leaker ShrimpApplePro.

Previous rumors have the upcoming lower-end iPhone 14 models sporting the same A15 Bionic chip that already powers the current iPhone 13 lineup, while the high-end models are expected to get a new A16 chip. That had led some to expect that those wanting a speed improvement would need to go Pro, but a new post to Twitter suggests that might not be the case at all.

"Despite using some old hardware, iPhone 14 non-pro still have some overall performance boost over the iPhone 13 series," the leaker said via their anonymous account. They went on to say that the "new cellular modem, new internals design, etc" will be behind the speed boost despite the older chip being used.

Reasons to be optimistic

This report by ShrimpApplePro does make sense, of course. We've already seen reports that this year's iPhone 14 devices will all ship with at least 6GB of RAM, an increase over the 4GB of RAM that the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini have today. That, plus the aforementioned speedier modems and any iOS 16 software improvements should ensure that all of this year's new iPhones are more performant than last year's.

As for why only the best iPhones of 2022 will get A16 chips, some have suggested that Apple's improved photography features will require more horsepower. Others have pointed to the worldwide shortage of components as another potential cause, with Apple choosing to pick and choose which devices get the latest and greatest silicon.

Apple is expected to announce its iPhone 14 lineup this fall, with the first couple of weeks of September a likely announcement timeframe. Expect the new handsets to go on sale a week or two after they are announced.

Apple is also likely to announce new Apple Watches around the same time, while new iPad and Macs are also expected before the turn of the year.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.