iPhone 18 Pro chip may bring two major upgrades

Apple’s A20 Pro chip for this fall’s iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra could bring two significant upgrades: a move to 2-nanometer fabrication and a new memory-packaging design.

A20 Pro could be Apple’s first 2nm iPhone chip

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Apple is expected to use TSMC’s 2nm process for the A20 Pro, moving beyond the current 3nm technology. The smaller process should allow the chip to deliver more performance and improved efficiency within a similarly sized footprint.

Apple has historically worked years ahead to secure TSMC’s most advanced manufacturing capacity. The company has not revealed which specific areas it plans to improve with the A20 Pro, but the 2nm process should provide more room for performance gains than a typical generation-to-generation update.

WMCM packaging could improve memory performance

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The second rumored upgrade is Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) packaging. Apple is reportedly preparing to use it in an iPhone processor for the first time, integrating components such as the system-on-chip and DRAM at the wafer level before individual chips are cut from the wafer.

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WMCM connects the dies without an interposer or substrate, potentially improving thermal behavior and signal integrity. Placing the processor closer to its onboard memory could also improve performance and reduce power consumption during demanding workloads, including AI processing and high-end gaming.

The packaging change may be particularly useful for AI tasks, an area expected to receive heavy emphasis in iOS 27.

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