Apple A19, A19 Pro chips to use TSMC’s newer 3nm ‘N3P’ tech, iPhone 17 Air to replace Plus variant

Apple’s 2025 iPhone lineup is set to shake things up a bit, with the slim ‘iPhone 17 Air’ reportedly replacing the iPhone 16 Plus. This new addition to the family isn’t just about design, it also signals a major leap in chip technology with the Apple A19 and A19 Pro AP.

Both chips will be built on TSMC’s cutting-edge third-generation 3nm process, known as N3P.

This next-gen node allows TSMC to pack even more transistors into the silicon, promising faster performance and greater energy efficiency compared to the A18 and A18 Pro powering the current iPhone 16 series.

For reference, the A18 lineup uses TSMC’s earlier N3B process.

Interestingly, despite its premium price, the iPhone 17 Air will run the standard A19 chip, not the beefier A19 Pro.

According to Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu, who shared details in a note obtained by MacRumors, the Pro variant will come with more GPU cores and faster clock speeds.

Furthermore, TSMC is already prepping up for its 2nm transition in 2026, introducing Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors. GAA tech wraps the gate entirely around the channel, reducing current leakage and boosting performance while slashing power consumption—a game-changer for future processors.

Speculation about transistor counts for the A19 Pro suggests it could pack a staggering 25-30 billion transistors.