[News] Decoding Apple’s Latest Silicon: How A19, A19 Pro, C1X, and N1 Power the iPhone 17 Lineup

Apple, at the September 9 launch event, has unveiled its full iPhone 17 lineup, introducing the Air model for the first time. Powering these devices are the company’s latest in-house silicon, including new smartphone APs, modem and networking chips. Here’s a quick overview of the new chips revealed.

A19, A19 Pro: Likely Tap TSMC’s N3P

As noted by Tom’s Hardware, the standard iPhone 17 runs on Apple’s A19 chip, while the Air, Pro and Pro Max models step up to the more powerful A19 Pro, both likely built on TSMC’s latest N3P process—also expected to underpin the upcoming M5 chips for iPads and Macs.

According to Apple, the A19 Pro is the company’s most advanced iPhone processor yet. Its 6-core CPU is reportedly the fastest in any smartphone, while the upgraded 6-core GPU—with built-in Neural Accelerators, larger cache, and more memory—works alongside a 16-core Neural Engine to power advanced AI capabilities.

Apple also highlights that, when paired with a custom vapor chamber, the A19 Pro delivers up to 40% better sustained performance than its predecessor, making it ideal for gaming, video editing, and running large language models.

On the other hand, Tom’s Hardware notes that the A19 runs on six CPU cores—four efficient, two high-performance—and packs five GPU cores that level up ray tracing, mesh shading, and MetalFX upscaling.

Apple Moves Beyond Qualcomm, Broadcom with N1 and C1X

Notably, Apple is also expanding its footprints to networking and modem chips, as Reuters points out that the debut of “N1” for Wi-Fi connectivity and a “C1X” modem for cellular data marks a break from longtime suppliers Broadcom and Qualcomm.

ZDNet highlights that the newly unveiled iPhone Air and iPhone 17 series mark the debut of Apple’s N1 chip, supporting Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 6, and the Thread standard for IoT connectivity. While last year’s iPhone 16 series and iPads relied on Broadcom chips for wireless connectivity, Apple has since launched development of its own replacement chip, codenamed “Proxima,” starting late last year, the report suggests.

Apple also notes that exclusive to the ultra-thin iPhone Air, Apple pairs N1 with the A19 Pro chip and the new C1X modem. The C1X delivers up to twice the download speed of the C1, outperforms the iPhone 16 Pro’s modem on the same networks, and consumes 30% less power—making it the most efficient modem ever in an iPhone, the company says.

However, as ZDNet indicates, the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max continue to rely on Qualcomm’s 5G modem.

While it remains unclear about on which node/ foundry C1X and N1 are expected to be manufactured, the Economic Daily News previously noted that that Apple’s first 5G modem, the C1, reportedly features a baseband modem built on TSMC’s 4nm process and a receiver fabricated on 7nm.

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(Photo credit: Apple)