Over the past few years, we have witnessed exciting changes in the world of smartphones. First, there was a competition between manufacturers in the number of processor cores, then came the turn of the race for screen resolution and the amount of RAM. But now we are witnessing a new stage in the development of mobile devices — focus on speed. Despite this, today most smartphone manufacturers hardly focus on the speed of their devices.
Previously, each new flagship smartphone was accompanied by statements about a significant improvement in the speed of the processor and graphics subsystem. Brands competed to see who could demonstrate the greatest productivity gains. But today the situation has changed: now you rarely hear about clock speeds or benchmark results, and if you do, it's often from lesser-known companies.
Modern smartphones have already reached their maximum speed, and it is difficult for software developers to find a task that could use the full power of modern devices. We live in the era of 3-nanometer semiconductors, and the clock speeds of mobile processors are approaching 4 GHz. However, overcoming this limit or, more precisely, achieving a significant improvement in performance is practically impossible. The current stage of development can be compared to a plateau, where each new millisecond in speed will require enormous efforts from manufacturers.
Rumors that Samsung is preparing chipsets using a 2-nanometer process add to the intrigue. Such chips are expected to be only 10-15% faster than 3nm models, such as Apple's A18, which will be used in the iPhone 16. This increase, while present, is not impressive and reflects the general trend of slower speeds the increase in productivity, which began with the transition to 7-nm technology.
So, moving from the 5nm chips in the iPhone 12 to the second-generation 3nm chips in the iPhone 16 won't bring as much of an improvement as moving from 20nm to 14nm or from 10nm to 7nm in previous chips models. Technological progress has reached a limit, and chip manufacturers will likely remain on the same processes for several years, unless there are radical innovations that break Moore's Law.
What does this mean for users? The lack of a significant increase in performance does not mean that smartphones will stop developing. Manufacturers will begin to focus on other aspects:
- Artificial intelligence – integration of new opportunities for data processing and task automation.
- Graphics – improved graphics capabilities, including new features to improve image quality.
- Communication – improving the quality and speed of connections, including new communication standards.
- Image processing – introduction of new technologies to improve photos and videos.
- Energy efficiency – lower power consumption and longer battery life.
So, even if your next smartphone won't be significantly faster than the previous one, it may offer new features, an improved user experience and better energy efficiency. And this may turn out to be no less important than the increase in speed.