Apple A20 Pro Chip Update: Is a New GPU Heart on the Way?

The upcoming Apple A20 Pro chip, set to be featured in the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, as well as the speculated foldable iPhone, is rumored to include a seventh GPU core, according to a schematic shared on Weibo. The six-core CPU configuration is expected to remain unchanged, with two high-performance cores and four efficiency cores.

The depicted schematic was reportedly reconstructed from details about the motherboard’s printed circuit board where the chip will be mounted. This motherboard appeared online in late June following a cyberattack on Tata Electronics. While this information should be approached with caution, it aligns with some previous rumors.

According to the same source, the L2 cache memory of the efficiency cores in the A20 Pro might see an increase from 6 MB in the A19 Pro to 8 MB. The high-performance cores would maintain a 16 MB cache. The A20 Pro’s RAM is expected to be positioned on the side with a 96-bit bus, an upgrade from the 64-bit bus in the current A19 Pro. This change could potentially increase bandwidth, though MacRumors suggests it might still utilize LPDDR5 instead of advancing to LPDDR6. Rumors so far indicate that the RAM capacity will remain at 12 GB.

Similar to the M6 chip introduced in the Mac mini, the A20 Pro chip by Apple will be manufactured using TSMC’s 2-nanometer process. This advancement promises enhanced energy efficiency and compactness. Such improvements could lead to better battery life, although it’s entirely feasible that Apple might use this opportunity to develop a more complex and power-hungry chip, possibly incorporating the additional GPU core. Apple notably doubled the Neural Engine in the M6 chip, and it remains to be seen if similar enhancements will be made to the A20 Pro chip. We expect to learn more at the Apple Event on September 9.