After the 5 nm process for the A14 Bionic processors present in the iPhone 13 series, then 4 nm for the iPhone 14 Pro, the even more advanced 3 nm version should arrive on the iPhone 15 Pro next year. This is reported by the Japanese site Nikkei Asia, corroborating a similar rumor that appeared a short time ago.
Engraving of 3 nm processors signed by Taiwanese TSMC
One of Apple's main customers, the Taiwanese processor manufacturer TSMC is indeed developing chips with the 3-nanometer engraving process. TSMC has for example produced the processor at the heart of the very latest iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Thus, it will most certainly be the iPhone 15 for the start of the 2023 school year that will benefit from this technology. More specifically, it is the Pro and Pro Max models that will be affected, Apple having decided to differentiate the iPhone Pro and non-Pro with, among other things, separate processors from the iPhone 14.
For reference, in the world of processors, the smaller the burning process, the more powerful the chip. Indeed, the smaller the size of an engraving, the smaller the space between the transistors, and therefore more transistors can be placed on the same surface.