Apple had planned to include a next-generation GPU to update the iPhone 14 Pro’s graphics capabilities but was forced to drop those plans, due to “unprecedented” missteps in the development of the new GPU, says a paywalled report by The Information.
The report claimed that Apple engineers were “too ambitious” in adding new features to the graphics processor designed for the iPhone 14 Pro. Such features included features like ray tracing – a lighting technique to achieve a further level of realism in games. Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro prototypes with the new GPU drew much more power than expected, impacting battery life and thermal management.
The Information’s inside sources say Apple discovered the flaw in the iPhone 14 Pro’s GPU late in the device’s development, causing it to revert largely to the GPU from the A15 Bionic chip from last year’s iPhone 13 lineup.
If this is true, such an incident is unprecedented in Apple’s chip design history and would be the reason for the iPhone 14 Pro’s minor improvement in graphics performance.
The report says the misstep resulted in Apple restructuring the graphics processor team and moving some managers off of the project. Key figures that have contributed to Apple being a chip design leader exited.
The report indicates the foul-up could have been related to how Apple’s chip design team has lost personnel to other companies since 2019.