What processor or processors do the iPhone models use?

Originally, Apple provided no information regarding the processor and other internal components of the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G, or the iPhone 3GS simply stating that the iPhone is a "closed platform."

For the iPhone 4, Apple originally mentioned that the mobile was powered by its own A4 processor of an unspecified clockspeed, and still does in some marketing materials, but the company later apparently scrubbed the processor information altogether from official technical specs.

For the iPhone 4S, Apple mentions that it is a "dual core" A5 processor of unspecified speed in the press release, but not elsewhere in technical information. For the iPhone 5, the company press release heralds a "blazing fast A6 chip," but little more.

For the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s, Apple's dual press releases reveal "blazing fast performance of the A6 chip" and an all new 64-bit "A7 chip" as well as a new "M7 motion coprocessor," for the two devices respectively, but no other details are provided.

For the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple's press release boasts that the devices have an "Apple-designed A8 chip with second generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture for blazing fast performance and power efficiency".

For the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus (as well as the iPhone SE), Apple's press release promises that these models have "Apple’s third-generation 64-bit" A9 processor that is "70 percent faster" than the A8 processor before it.

For the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple's press release states that these devices use an A10 Fusion chip. Specifically, they have "four cores, seamlessly integrating two high-performance cores that run up to two times faster than iPhone 6, and two high-efficiency cores that are capable of running at just one-fifth the power of the high-performance cores."

For the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, Apple's press releases boast that these devices have an A11 Bionic processor. Specifically, they have a "six-core CPU design with two performance cores that are 25 percent faster and four efficiency cores that are 70 percent faster" than the A10 Fusion chip before it.

In the press releases for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, Apple reports that these devices pack "the first 7-nanometer chip in a smartphone -- the A12 Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine."

In the press releases for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple reports that they each have an Apple designed "A13 Bionic" processor designed for "machine learning, with a faster Neural Engine for real-time photo and video analysis, and new Machine Learning Accelerators that allow the CPU to deliver more than 1 trillion operations per second." The press release for the iPhone SE (2nd Gen) affirms that it contains the same processor.

In the press releases for the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, Apple notes that these devices share an Apple designed "A14 Bionic" processor that "features a 16-core Neural Engine -- for an 80 percent increase in performance -- that is capable of completing 11 trillion operations per second, enabling improved performance on even the most intense ML [machine learning] models."

In the press releases for the iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple boasts of an Apple "A15 Bionic" processor that combines a "6-core CPU with two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores" and "a new 4-core GPU" and a "new 16-core Neural Engine" that is "capable of 15.8 trillion operations per second." The press release for the iPhone SE (3rd Gen) states that it uses the same processor, too.

In the press releases for the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple explains that the company uses different processors for the two lower-end models and the two higher-end "Pro" models. The two lower-end models use a "6-core" "A15 Bionic" processor with a "5-core GPU" and a "16-core Neural Engine." The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, on the other hand, use a newer "6-core" "A16 Bionic" processor with "two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores" as well as "an accelerated 5-core GPU with 50 percent more memory bandwidth... and a new 16-core Neural Engine capable of nearly 17 trillion operations per second."

In the press releases for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple reveals that the lower-end iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus use the same "A16 Bionic" processor as their previously high-end iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max predecessors. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, use a new 3-nanometer "A17 Pro" processor with a "6-core GPU", a "2x faster" Neural Engine, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and a dedicated AV1 decoder for video.

Finally, in the press releases for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple notes that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use a new "A18" processor and the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max use an also new "A18 Pro" processor. Both are built on "second generation" 3 nm technology and have 6-core CPUs, but the A18 has a 5-core GPU whereas the A18 Pro has a 6-core GPU.

Third-Party Processor Sleuthing

However, for each iPhone model, the curious have used hardware disassembly, software probing, and technical analysis to determine the processor, or more precise information about each processor, that each device uses.

When the original iPhone shipped on June 29, 2007 iFixit disassembled it and learned that the primary processor is an Apple branded Samsung ARM 11 processor running at 412 MHz. Although there was some later speculation that the primary processor might have been provided by Marvell instead of Samsung, Marvell made the chip for 802.11b/g wireless networking, but not the primary processor.

For the iPhone 3G, iFixit and TechOnline (no longer online) collaborated to not only disassemble the device and confirm that like the original it also is powered by an Apple branded Samsung ARM 11 processor running at 412 MHz, but to go a step further and identify and label an exhaustive number of chips used in the iPhone.

Third-party teardowns from iFixit and RapidRepair -- as well as an analysis from AnandTech -- revealed that the iPhone 3GS has a significantly faster 600 MHz Samsung ARM Cortex A8 processor and a PowerVR SGX graphics processor.

For the iPhone 4 models, disassembly did not provide any precise details regarding the clockspeed of the Apple-branded "A4" processor and initial software probing with the Geekbench benchmark only spit out an unhelpful and obviously untrue "0.00 Hz."

However, based on in-depth analysis from both ArsTechnica and AnandTech, two highly reliable sources, and speed tests, it was determined that the iPhone 4 is powered by a 1 GHz A4 processor (S5L8930) of variable clockspeed that typically runs around 750 MHz to 800 MHz. The always excellent Geekbench benchmarking tool also was updated to report a particular processor's variable clockspeed at the time of testing.

The Geekbench benchmark pinpoints that the iPhone 4S uses the "Apple A5" processor like the iPad 2 models, but more specifically it uses a 1 GHz dual-core Apple A5 (S5L8940) processor of variable clockspeed, commonly "downclocked" to 800 MHz to conserve battery life.

For the iPhone 5 models, AnandTech determined that it has a custom dual core processor and a three core graphics processor, most likely a 266 MHz PowerVR SGX 543MP3. Early Geekbench software analysis indicated that it had a 1 GHz processor, but a subsequent version of the software more accurately determined that it has a variable speed processor that commonly runs around 1 GHz with a top speed of 1.3 GHz. The Geekbench benchmark confirmed that the iPhone 5c uses the exact same processor as the iPhone 5.

For the iPhone 5s, AnandTech was first to determine that the Apple A7 processor is a ARMv8 derivative of Apple's "Swift" dual core architecture called "Cyclone" and it runs at 1.3 GHz. It also is 28 nm, has a 64k/64k level 1 (instruction/data) cache and a 1 MB level 2 cache.

For the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, in a detailed hands-on technical analysis, Chipworks determined that the "Apple-designed" A8 formally is a 20 nm APL1011 processor manufactured by TSMC. It has dual cores and runs around 1.4 GHz.

For the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, third-party analysis from Chipworks determined that there actually are two different "A9" processors used in these models. Some have a 14 nm Samsung-produced APL0898 processor and others have a 16 nm TSMC-produced APL1022 processor with slight variation in heat and battery life. Both have dual cores and run around 1.8 GHz.

For the iPhone SE, Chipworks again performed detailed analysis and determined that it was "the same flagship processor found in the iPhone 6s" or more specifically, the 16 nm TSMC-produced APL1022 processor.

For the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, evaluation from Chipworks determined that the processor is TSMC 16FF-based and is specifically a APL1W24 processor. Software analysis shows that it runs around 2.3 GHz.

For the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, evaluation from ChipRebel determined that the processor is based on the 10 nm "FinFET" process from TSMC and is specifically an APL1W72 processor. Software analysis shows that it runs around 2.4 GHz.

For the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, evaluation from Anandtech and third-party benchmarks added that the 7 nm processor is manufactured by TSMC is specifically an APL1W81 processor running at around 2.49 GHz.

For the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, detailed analysis from Anandtech, a teardown from iFixit, and hands-on benchmarks concluded that the processor in these models is a 7 nm processor (N7P) manufactured by TSMC and specifically an APL1W85 running at around 2.66 GHz. Hands-on benchmarks confirm that the iPhone SE (2nd Gen) uses the exact same processor at the same clockspeed.

The iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max all share a 5 nm processor manufactured by TSMC running at 2.99 GHz.

The iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max all share a 5 nm "second generation" processor manufactured by TSMC (N5P). It operates at a clockspeed around 3.2 GHz. Third-party benchmarks confirm that the iPhone SE (3rd Gen) uses the same processor running at the same clockspeed.

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus use a processor very similar to their predecessor, and that also runs at 3.2 GHz, but it has an extra GPU core. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max use a 5 nm "third generation" processor from TSMC that runs at 3.5 GHz. This processor is referred to as "N4" but it is considered an "enhanced version" of the N5 and N5P that came before it rather than a new "4 nm" processor.

The iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max run at a variable rate up to 3.78 GHz, determined by software analysis. It is a 3 nm chip (N3B), reportedly identified as APL1V02; like other recent processors, it is manufactured by TSMC.

Finally, the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max models run around 4.04 GHz according to third-party software tests. It is a 3 nm processor (N3E), considered an "enhanced version" of the N3B (A17 Pro), rather than an entirely new chip. It is manufactured by TSMC.

Ultimately, most users probably don't need to know or even care to know about processor details for the iPhone models, but for those who do, this variety of methods to evaluate clockspeeds and internal components is interesting nevertheless.