Apple faced ‘unprecedented’ setback in iPhone 14 Pro development leading to removal of new graphics processor, report claims

Apple reportedly faced an “unprecedented” set back during the development of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max that lead to the removal of a new GPU that would have brought majorly improved graphics capabilities to the devices, according to a report from The Information.

Highlighted on Friday, The Information claims that engineers were “too ambitious” with adding new features during the development of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, claiming that Apple planned “a generational leap for the graphics processor in the latest version of its high-end smartphones,” although prototypes of the new devices allegedly drew more power than what Apple had expected based on software simulations, claiming that the new graphics capabilities in the prototype “could have hurt battery life and made the device too hot,” citing two people with direct knowledge of the incident.

Because the issues that were discovered late in the development stages, Apple had to pull back on its original plans for a huge lead in graphics capabilities, resulting in the company basing the graphics processor in the iPhone 14 Pro lineup largely on the design of the chip that went into last year’s iPhone model, explaining the minimal gains in graphics performance the iPhone 14 Pro introduced over the iPhone 13 Pro.

Image: Apple