Apple’s next flagship chip could bring one of the biggest under-the-hood upgrades in years.
Fresh images shared on Weibo by leakers WHYLAB and Ice Universe appear to show the motherboard for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro.
This shows Apple’s rumoured A20 Pro chip already in place and lines up with previous reports that Apple is preparing a major change to its next-generation silicon.
Rather than focusing on raw clock speeds, the biggest upgrade could come from a new packaging method. The A20 Pro will reportedly adopt TSMC’s newer Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) technology. It will replace Apple’s long-standing package-on-package (PoP) design that places the memory directly on top of the processor.
The change moves the DRAM alongside the processor rather than stacking it above it, helping reduce heat buildup during demanding workloads. Better heat dissipation should allow the chip to sustain higher performance for longer. In particular, this matters during gaming, video editing and other intensive tasks.
The leak also points to LPDDR6 memory paired with a 96-bit memory bus. This could offer faster bandwidth while using less power than previous generations. Although the chip itself reportedly remains roughly the same size as the A19 Pro, the Neural Processing Unit appears noticeably larger. Therefore, this suggests Apple is putting even more emphasis on on-device AI features.
Previous rumours claim that TSMC will manufacture the A20 Pro using its next-generation 2nm process. Compared with the current A19 generation, the new process could deliver up to 15% better performance while improving power efficiency by as much as 30%.
The chip will also use new super-high-performance metal-insulator-metal (SHPMIM) capacitors. These significantly increase capacitance density and improve power delivery. Combined with the new WMCM packaging, the result could be a chip that’s not only faster. But also more stable and efficient under sustained use.
Consequently, the A20 Pro will reportedly power the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and Apple’s long-rumoured foldable iPhone. Those devices will also feature 12GB of RAM. In addition, they are expected to have 48-megapixel rear cameras and Apple’s in-house C2 modem. Additionally, a launch is expected in September.
As always with early hardware leaks, it’s worth treating these claims with a healthy dose of scepticism until Apple makes things official. However, if this leak proves accurate, the A20 Pro could represent one of the biggest architectural leaps for the iPhone in several generations.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
