The big picture: TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will stray from its familiar formula with the upcoming iPhone 14 family. Should it prove true, the change would further differentiate base model iPhones from their Pro counterparts and perhaps justify the latter's higher price tag.
To date, Apple's Pro-series iPhones have utilized the same processor as their base model counterparts. That could change with the iPhone 14 family as Kuo believes the two Pro models will ship with a new A16 CPU while the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will stick with the A15 Bionic from the iPhone 13 lineup.
All are likely to come with 6GB of RAM, but the Pro models will sport LPDDR5 while the others will ship with the same LPDDR4X from the current-gen iPhone. Today's Pro models feature 6GB of LPDDR4X memory while the standard iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini ship with 4GB of the same.
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
If true, the move would make the Pro models even more desirable and further differentiate them from the mainstream models. The change could additionally set a precedent where Apple introduces a new chip in Pro models first before it trickles down to the more affordable lines the following year.
It's unclear what sort of adjustments would be made to pricing as a result of the changes. Presumably, the Pro models would get a slight price bump to account for the new processor and faster RAM but that is pure speculation at this point.
Apple is expected to unveil its next-gen iPhones sometime in early September 2022.
Image credit Jason Leung