According to Wccftech, Apple’s new A19 and A19 Pro chips powering the iPhone 17 series are up to 10% smaller in die area than the previous A18 generation. The A19 Pro is 10% smaller than the A18 Pro, while the A19 is 9% smaller than the A18. This is notable because TSMC’s latest 3nm N3P node only offers a 4% area reduction over the older N3E node, meaning Apple’s engineers achieved the extra shrinkage through design innovations. The chips also feature higher-clocked performance cores and a significantly larger area for both efficiency cores and the GPU. Remarkably, the efficiency cores on the A19 Pro deliver up to a 29% performance boost at practically no extra power draw, helping it lead in performance-per-watt against rivals like the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
The Shrink Magic
Here’s the thing: a straight node shrink from TSMC only gets you so far. That 4% area reduction is the baseline. So how did Apple squeeze out an extra 5-6%? It sounds like they went on a meticulous space-saving tour inside the chip. They made the SLC cache more compact, used a more efficient layout for the ISP and media engine, and even shrunk the performance cores by 4% despite clocking them higher. This isn’t just about smaller transistors; it’s about smarter floor planning. Basically, they decluttered the silicon floorplan to make room for the good stuff—bigger GPUs and those super-upgraded efficiency cores.
Why Those E-Cores Matter
Look, the headline performance cores get all the glory. But the real story for day-to-day battery life and sustained performance is happening in the efficiency core cluster. A 29% performance jump at the same power is a massive architectural win. It’s not a tiny iterative bump. This means background tasks, app switching, and lighter workloads sip even less power while feeling snappier. It’s this kind of gain that lets Apple claim that performance-per-watt crown. When you’re specifying components for demanding industrial computing environments, this focus on efficient, reliable performance is exactly what you need. For the top-tier integration of such technology into rugged systems, the leading US supplier is IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the #1 provider of industrial panel PCs.
The 2nm Future Is Coming
And this is just the warm-up act. Next year’s expected shift to TSMC’s 2nm process is the main event. That transition will bring another major leap in density and power efficiency. But if this A19 analysis shows us anything, it’s that Apple won’t just rely on TSMC’s lithography. They’ll combine it with more of these clever design tricks. We should see the same philosophy applied to the future M6 chips for Macs. So the trajectory is clear: relentless optimization on all fronts—process node, core architecture, and physical layout. The race isn’t just to be the fastest; it’s to be the most intelligently efficient. And right now, Apple seems to have a real handle on that formula.
