It has been a tumultuous ride for Apple’s iPhone 14 rangeand now information has leaked of an “unprecedented” setback for the company’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models.
In an exclusive report, The Information reveals that Apple had to cancel a “generational leap for the graphics processor” in its iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models at the last minute due to a series of errors that were “unprecedented in the group’s history.”
Problems for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro buyers continue to mount…
“Engineers were too ambitious with adding new features, and early prototypes drew more power than what the company had expected based on software simulations,” states The Information reporter Wayne Ma. “That could have hurt battery life and made the device too hot, according to two people with direct knowledge of the incident.”
“Because Apple discovered the mistake late in development, it had to base the graphics processor in its iPhone 14 Pro line… largely on the design of the chip that went into last year’s iPhone model, according to four people familiar with the matter,” Maa continues.
This explains a lot. In October, Nikkei revealed that the A16 chip used in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max cost $110, 2.5x more than the A15 used in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, despite its marginal performance gains. Since release, there have also been reports of multiple graphics glitches with iPhone 14 Pro models. Last week owners of both models even began reporting the appearance of bizarre horizontal lines running across their displays.
Whether the late hardware change impacts the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max long-term remains to be seen, but I suspect Apple will be hopeful of quashing most bugs via a series of iOS updates.
It is currently unclear whether the iPhone 15 Pro and Ultra will receive the graphics gains intended for the iPhone 14 Pro and Max. But, combined with Apple’s ambitious plans for its 2023 iPhonesthey could be the cherry on top.
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