Apple A20 Pro Announced for iPhone 18 Pro: 2nm Architecture, 32-Core Neural Engine, and More

Apple has launched its new in-house A20 Pro chipset at its 'Surprise and Shine' event on Wednesday. This new chipset powers the latest iPhone 18 Pro series and the company's first foldable smartphone, iPhone Duo. The A20 Pro succeeds the A19 Pro chip used in iPhone 17 Pro models and brings upgrades across CPU, GPU, memory bandwidth and on-device AI processing. It is manufactured using a new technology. Here is everything you need to know about the Apple A20 Pro chipset.

Apple A20 Pro Chipset: Specifications, Performance

The Apple A20 Pro chipset is built using TSMC's 2-nanometre process technology. It features a six-core CPU with integrated Neural Accelerators and a new seven-core GPU. Apple says it is up to 40 percent faster than A19 Pro. The new chipset is also claimed to offer 50 percent more memory bandwidth than its predecessor. The company calls the A20 Pro "a powerhouse for everything from more advanced on-device AI workloads to demanding games, and is designed to deliver exceptional performance for years to come".

For AI-related tasks, the Apple A20 Pro features a dual 16-core Neural Engine and includes 32 total cores. This setup is said to offer up to twice the AI processing power of the A19 Pro. The GPU and NPU support high-intensity gaming. The new Neural Engine supports Apple Intelligence features, computational photography and other workloads without relying entirely on cloud processing. The chipset accelerates the Apple Intelligence and Siri AI experience introduced with the latest iPhone 18 Pro models.

Apple has used custom packaging for the A20 Pro. This redesign places the silicon die side by side with the memory, removing the memory from the thermal path of the chip and allowing the A20 Pro to attach directly to a next-generation vapour chamber. With this redesign, the new vapour chamber in iPhone 18 Pro models has three times more surface area than the previous generation. The new chip is also advertised to provide up to a 40 percent improvement in sustained performance.

The A20 Pro is also designed to work alongside Apple's new N1 wireless networking chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, and the C2 cellular modem.