Sure, we haven’t seen the iPhone 17 yet, but a rumor about the 2026 iPhone 18 models is okay, right? Right?
In a research note with equity research firm GF Securities this week, Apple analyst Jeff Pu chimed in with a bit of info about Apple’s iPhone 18 lineup. Pu says he expects the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and so-called iPhone 18 Fold to be equipped with Apple’s A20 chip, which will be manufactured with TSMC’s 2nm process, and that will have some key design changes over the A18 and upcoming A19 chips.
The current A18 Pro chip in iPhone 16 Pro models is fabricated using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, while the A19 Pro chip that is expected to be used in the iPhone 17 Pro models is expected to use TSMC’s third-generation 3nm process.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in March said that he expects to see the A20 be fabricated using TSMC’s 2nm process.
Kuo noted that TSMC’s 2nm process trial yields reached 60–70% three months ago, and they’re now well above that. The yield is the percentage of functional chips that can be harvested from each silicon wafer, which is essentially a large, circular disc of chips.
By using the 2nm process in place of the 3nm process, the chips should prove to have more substantial performance and power efficiency improvements over the A19 chip for iPhone 17 models, which will likely be fabricated using TSMC’s third-generation 3nm process, called N3P.
Moving from the 3nm to the 2nm process allows for more transistors in each chip, boosting performance and offering better power efficiency. Some reports have indicated that A20 chips could be as much as up to 15% faster and up to 30% more power efficient than A19 chips.
Pu also revealed another notable change in the A20, saying he expects the A20 chip to use TSMC’s newer Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) chip packaging technology. The new design has RAM integrated directly onto the chip’s wafer with the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, rather than being adjacent to the chip and connected with a silicon interposer.
This packaging change could offer faster performance for both overall tasks and Apple Intelligence, longer battery life, and improved thermal management. The change could also result in the A20 chip having a smaller footprint than previous chips, which could provide space inside the iPhone for other uses.
