According to PhoneArena , a recent report indicates that Apple estimates it will sell between 90 million and 100 million units of the upcoming iPhone 16.

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Apple expects to sell between 90 million and 100 million units of the upcoming iPhone 16. (Image: PhoneArena)

Therefore, TSMC, the world's leading contract foundry, is expected to produce 100 million A18 chips. There will be two different variants of the A18 chip. Both variants will be manufactured using TSMC's second-generation 3nm (N3E) process.

The A18 processor will power the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, while the A18 Pro will power the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Apple will make some design changes between the A18 and A18 Pro so that the latter chip is more powerful than the former. Since all four iPhone 16 models will support Apple Intelligence, the entire new iPhone lineup will come with 8GB of RAM.

Last month, TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that, in order to support Apple Intelligence, iPhones must have at least 8GB of RAM.

According to Kuo, this is why the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, both with 8GB of RAM, will be the older iPhones that can work with Apple Intelligence, while the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will not. The standard iPhone models of 2023 will only have 6GB of RAM.

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Two new chips will power the iPhone 16 series. Photo: PhoneArena

With the A18 and A18 Pro, there have been rumors that these chips will have larger die sizes to accommodate a larger Neural Engine for enhanced AI capabilities.

Additionally, the report mentions that the GPU on the A18 and A18 Pro may continue to have a 6-core configuration like the A17 Pro. This could limit any improvements in graphics performance.

While Apple forecasts demand for up to 100 million iPhone 16 units, earlier this year Kuo suggested that Apple wouldn't launch new iPhone models with significant design changes and a full GenAI ecosystem/applications until 2025.

Otherwise, it could harm the momentum of Apple's iPhone ecosystem and sales.

The iPhone 16 series is expected to be unveiled by Apple this September. The new AI features – Apple Intelligence – that Apple introduced at WWDC 2024 are expected to be the focus of attention not only for the iPhone 16 Pro models but also for the standard iPhone 16 models.