iPhone 17 will not be getting the processor upgrade we were hoping for

Meanwhile, Samsung has been planning to start producing and using even smaller chips — 1.4 nm — by 2027. But that might not be happening either given the company has just begun recalling personnel from its plant in Texas after failing to improve yield.

Samsung is also planning mass layoffs: 30 percent of its global workforce in fact. So the viability of 1.4 nm chips and the triumphant return of Exynos to the Ultra phones may not be as assured as Samsung had hoped.

If Kuo is right in thinking that not all iPhone 18 models will feature 2 nm chips due to cost concerns then it might mean hikes in pricing as well. We can reasonably expect to pay even more for the iPhone 18 Pro models whenever they come out. If the performance upgrades will be worth the greater price tags remains to be seen.

Despite sticking to 3 nm chips the iPhone 17 will probably be a more memorable upgrade than the iPhone 16. With Apple Intelligence not even out yet — not to mention its absence in the EU and China — the iPhone 16 has seen a very awkward launch.

Couple this with visionOS 2 launching with missing features and iPadOS 18 bricking M4 iPad models and this year seems like a very poor one for Apple.

And I haven’t even mentioned how Apple stock began dropping the moment iPhone 16 was announced. Talk about a punch in the gut.