According to NoteBookCheck, though Apple stopped short of specifying the exact node, Apple’s A20 Pro — introduced at yesterday’s “Surprise and Shine” event — has long been rumored to use TSMC’s base N2 process, while competing offerings such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro are expected to adopt the more advanced N2P node.
As noted by TrendForce, Tom’s Hardware further explains that Apple’s first 2nm chip overall is the M6, unveiled in August. Sharing some of the M6’s architecture, the A20 Pro reportedly features dual neural engines as well as new CPU and GPU cores.
The report adds that A20 Pro packs a six-core CPU with two performance cores that are 20% faster than the previous generation, plus four efficiency cores with neural accelerators, as Apple calls it a “desktop-class” processor and the fastest smartphone CPU.
According to Tom’s Hardware, its seven-core GPU delivers a 40% generational performance boost, with higher bandwidth and new neural accelerators that enable up to 2x faster FP8 compute. The two neural engines pack 32 cores in total, while memory bandwidth reportedly jumps 50% to what Apple calls the widest memory interface in an iPhone.
Beyond the chip itself, Apple has also revamped the A20 Pro’s packaging. The new approach places the silicon and memory dies side by side, keeping memory out of the SoC’s thermal path and allowing the dies to connect directly to the vapor chamber.
The redesigned chamber has three times the surface area of the iPhone 17 Pro, helping Apple achieve up to 40% higher sustained performance than the 17 Pro and twice that of the 16 Pro, according to MacRumors.
On the other hand, while Apple has unveiled its C2 modem to reduce the company’s reliance on Qualcomm, MacRumors points out that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max may use different modems, at least in the U.S.
Apple’s technical specifications page lists its C2 modem for the iPhone 18 Pro, but does not specify a modem for the U.S. version of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the report notes, adding that pre-launch reports suggested that some iPhones could continue to use Qualcomm modems. With the C2 also powering the iPhone Duo, supply constraints could be one possible explanation, according to the report.
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