For more than a decade, Apple has been implementing a quiet strategy to take advantage of processors that don't perfectly meet the specifications set for their flagship products. This practice, known in the semiconductor industry as chip binning, affects a large part of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and home device product lines.
The most striking thing is not that this procedure exists—it is actually common practice among large chip manufacturers—but the reach it has achieved within the Apple ecosystem and how it influences the models that end up in stores in Spain and the rest of Europe. The launch of the recent MacBook Neo has once again put the spotlight on a system that the company has been using, at least, since the days of the iPhone 4 and the first iPad.
What is the chip binning that Apple uses?
In any semiconductor factory, processor production begins with enormous silicon wafers where hundreds of chips are printed at the same time. The process is so complex that it's normal for some of these units not to be perfect: some chips have faults in certain cores, others consume more energy than expected, and a fraction end up being discarded altogether.
Chip binning comes into play at that point. It's a sorting procedure in which The chips are organized according to their actual behavior After testing, those that pass all requirements are reserved for high-end devices; those with minor defects undergo electronic deactivation of certain internal parts so they can be reused in less demanding products.
In practice, this means that a processor designed to have, for example, six graphics cores may end up mounted in a device with only five active cores. The chip functions in a fully stable mannerbut it offers slightly less performance than the "perfect" version for which it was originally designed.
From an industrial point of view, the logic is clear: The cost is calculated per wafer, not per valid chip.Leveraging partially functional processors increases the economic yield of each wafer, reduces silicon waste, and cuts production costs without the need to design a different chip for each product range.
At the same time, Apple uses this technique as catalog segmentation toolWith the same physical processor architecture, it can launch several versions of the same product, differentiated by the number of active cores or by energy consumption, something we have already seen in numerous iPhones, iPads and Macs sold in Europe and other markets.
MacBook Neo: the latest case with repurposed A18 Pro chips
The example that has once again put chip binning at the center of the debate is the MacBook NeoThis laptop has positioned itself as an affordable option within Apple's computer lineup, with a starting price of around €699. The secret to this lower price lies not in the exterior design, but in the heart of the machine.
Inside, the MacBook Neo uses variants of the A18 Pro chipIt uses the same processor found in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. However, these are not the full versions, but rather units in which only five of the six planned graphics cores function correctly.
Instead of throwing them away, Apple disables the faulty core and Save those cut-down A18 Pros for the MacBook NeoThis is a device that doesn't need to push the graphics capabilities of a high-end mobile phone to their limits. This allows the laptop to be launched at a lower price without requiring a completely new chip design.
According to published reports, this strategy has been so successful that Demand for the MacBook Neo reportedly depleted the initial stock of cut-down A18 Pro processors. accumulated during the manufacturing of the iPhone 16 Pro. This would have forced Apple and its partner TSMC to continue producing new batches of these chips specifically to meet the demand for the laptop.
For the average user, the clearest differences are most noticeable in demanding graphics tasks: advanced video games, video rendering, or professional applications that push the GPU to its limits. In web browsing, office applications and everyday useThe impact of having one less graphics core is usually quite limited, to the point that many buyers are not even aware of this technical detail.
From MacBook Air M1 to iPhone SE: a decade of making use of “failed” chips
Although the MacBook Neo is currently the most talked-about example, chip reuse through binning is not new to Apple. One of the cases that generated the most buzz in Europe was that of the MacBook Air with M1 chip, presented in 2020, which came to market in two versions differentiated mainly by their graphics power.
The base model of the MacBook Air M1 featured a seven-core GPU, while the higher-end configuration offered eight graphics cores. In reality, Both variants shared exactly the same M1 chip at the physical levelThe difference was that, in the cheaper version, one of the cores was disabled because it did not pass the most demanding tests.
In this way, Apple could bring a cheaper laptop to market starting from processors that did not reach the maximum standard This was set for the higher-end models, optimizing production costs. According to various reports, this same philosophy has been repeated in many other products within the ecosystem.
Sources cited by media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal indicate that Apple may have reused limited or partially defective versions of several A-series chips on various devices. Examples mentioned include:
- A15 Bionic with certain limitations intended for the iPhone SE.
- Variants of the Pro A17 used in the iPad mini.
- Crisps A18 with reduced features for the iPhone 16e.
- Versions of A19 geared towards the future iPhone 17e, a more affordable model.
- Models Pro A19 adapted for some mid-range iPads, such as the iPad Air.
In all these cases, the same pattern is repeated: processors that do not meet the strictest specifications Specifications designed for flagship models end up powering less demanding or more economical products. In this way, the company more precisely adjusts the relationship between performance and price across the different ranges sold in Spain as well.
Less efficient chips in Apple TV and HomePod
The chip binning applied by Apple is not limited to disabling CPU or GPU cores. In some batches, the main problem is not a localized functional failure, but rather energy consumption higher than desiredFor a portable device with a battery, this is a clear drawback, but for devices that are always plugged in, the situation changes completely.
A representative case is that of iPhone 4 A4 chipSome A4s proved too inefficient for a battery-dependent phone, but could be used without major problems in a device permanently connected to the mains electricity supply.
According to this information, those units had the worst energy performance They ended up being integrated into Apple TVThe company's multimedia player. Because it's constantly plugged in, the slightly higher power consumption is manageable and doesn't significantly impact the user experience.
Something very similar would have happened with certain processors S7s initially designed for the Apple WatchSome chips with lower-than-expected efficiency were reportedly redirected to the second-generation HomePod, a smart speaker that also remains plugged in at all times.
With this move, Apple achieves a double objective: Avoid discarding chips that fall short of specifications desired features and adapts them to products where those limitations have little real impact. It's a way to balance technical performance, manufacturing cost, and, to some extent, sustainability by reducing the volume of electronic waste.
Relationship with TSMC, industrial impact and effect on the European user
Apple's chip binning strategy cannot be fully understood without considering its privileged relationship with TSMCThe world's leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductors. The Cupertino-based company typically absorbs a significant portion of the initial production of each new manufacturing node, precisely during the phases where the defect rate per wafer is highest.
In that context, chip binning becomes a key pillar of the strategy: instead of the first production failures resulting in lossesApple can redirect a good portion of those "imperfect" chips towards cheaper product ranges or secondary devices.
The result is better overall utilization of each processor design. The same physical chip can appear in multiple iPhones, iPads, or Macs. with different performance levels, simply by activating or deactivating cores, limiting graphics power, or diverting the less efficient versions to devices that are always connected to the electrical grid.
For users in Spain and the rest of Europe, the main consequence is felt above all in very demanding usage scenarios: cutting-edge video games, 4K video editing and export, 3D rendering, or intensive workloads in professional tasks. In everyday use—browsing, social media, email, messaging, and content consumption—the differences between a "cut-down" and a full version of the same chip are usually quite imperceptible.
This policy also opens a debate about the information transparency that the buyer receives. Apple usually indicates the number of CPU and GPU cores in its technical specifications, but it's not always clear if a particular model is using a processor originally intended for a higher-end model. This is a point that some users and analysts in Europe scrutinize closely when evaluating the price-performance ratio of each device.
With all this in mind, a fairly clear picture emerges of how Apple internally manages its chip technology: reuses processors that do not meet the maximum standardIt adapts them to different products through chip binning and builds a very fine segmentation of models and prices around them. For most users, these decisions are only noticeable when pushing the devices to their limits or comparing technical specifications in detail, but they have a huge impact on how the catalog we see in European stores is configured and on how much the consumer ends up paying for each performance level.
