iPhones might not one-up Galaxy S-series for at least two years

Apple’s latest smartphone lineup, the iPhone 16 series, features the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets, which are made on TSMC’s enhanced 3nm fabrication process called the N3P. Samsung’s upcoming flagship smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S25 series, will most likely use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC, which could also be made on TSMC’s N3P fabrication process. It means that both brands will be neck-to-neck this time around. But what about the next-generation iPhones and Galaxy phones? Well, today we have new information on the matter.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 17 series will use chipsets made on TSMC’s N3P fabrication process, similar to the current models. As for Samsung’s flagship smartphone lineup for 2026, the Galaxy S26 series, it could use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, which is rumored to be made on TSMC’s N3P and Samsung Foundry's 2nm SF2 fabrication processes. It means that iPhone 17 models will not have a technological lead over the Galaxy S26 series phones.

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The analyst further claims that the iPhone 18 series will use chipsets made on TSMC’s 2nm fabrication process, which should offer a significant improvement over the N3P. Unfortunately, there’s no information at the moment about which chipset its direct rival from Samsung, the Galaxy S27 series, will use and on which fabrication process it will be made. That being said, one thing is clear: Apple will not be able to one-up Samsung in at least the next two years in the SoC space.