How Apple profits from defective chips
For many years, Apple has implemented a strategy of using processors with manufacturing defects or those not operating at full capacity in cheaper devices instead of discarding them. This method, introduced since the era of the iPhone 4 and the first iPad, involves disabling faulty graphics or computing cores in SoC (System-on-a-Chip) units and installing them in budget models. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .
A clear example of this strategy is the MacBook Air M1, which used a 7-core GPU version instead of the 8-core one. Similarly, the iPhone 17e released in 2026 is equipped with processors that were not suitable for the more expensive iPhone 17 models but still maintained functionality. This approach allows Apple to reduce production losses and lower product costs.
The recently introduced MacBook Neo also demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy. The $600 device is equipped with the A18 Pro processor from the iPhone 16 Pro, but with one graphics core disabled. As a result, this laptop has had a major market impact, offering higher performance than Windows devices in its price segment.
Although this method is common in the semiconductor industry, Apple has perfectly integrated it into its business model. It allows the company not only to increase production volume but also to flexibly distribute performance across devices in different price categories. As a result, users get quality technology at a more affordable price.
