Unlike previous iPhone releases, the iPhone 14 lineup may feature two different chipsets. This change may help the Pro and Pro Max models of iPhone 14 stand out a bit, as they will finally offer “pro” performance with exclusive, high-end processors.

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple may reuse the A15 chipset in the base model iPhone 14. Only the Pro and Pro Max variants will feature new A16 processors. This rumor sounds very un-Apple, though Ming-Chi Kuo’s leaks tend to be accurate, and his report was independently confirmed by 9to5Mac’s sources.

That said, we have trouble believing that the iPhone 14 will reuse last year’s chip. Unless the new phone comes with a price drop, reusing an old processor would upset some customers. It would also undermine the iPhone 14’s flagship status a bit—I mean, the new iPhone SE also uses an A15 chip.

Only two Pro models would upgrade to the A16 processor, while the 14 & 14 Max will remain the A15. All four new models will likely come with 6GB RAM, with the difference being LPDDR 5 (14 Pro & 14 Pro Max) vs. LPDDR 4X (14 & 14 Max). https://t.co/tHcszIz6gX

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 13, 2022

It seems more likely that Apple will debut two tiers of A16 processor. That’s what Apple did with the M1 chipset, and hey, the iPhone 13 lineup technically uses two tiers of A15. Apple stuck extra GPU cores and RAM in the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max’s A15 processor—it just didn’t put much effort into advertising the difference.

I should note that this rumor doubles down on the idea of an “iPhone 14 Max.” Apple is expected to discontinue the iPhone Mini this year and replace it with an iPhone 14 Max, which will be a slightly-upgraded or larger version of the basic iPhone. (Unless Apple plans to discount the base-model iPhone 14, this particular rumor is a bit hard to swallow.)

We still have a few months to wait for the new iPhone 14 lineup, so get ready for more leaks and rumors. Apple will probably announce the new phones this September, as it did with the iPhone 13 series last year.