iPhone 18's Advanced A20 Chip Packaging Gains Momentum at TSMC

Next year's iPhone 18 will use TSMC's next-generation 2-nanometer fabrication process in combination with an advanced new packaging method, and the world's leading pure-play foundry has reportedly already established a dedicated production line for Apple in anticipation of mass production in 2026.

Apple Silicon Teal Feature
According to previous reports, Apple's A20 chip in iPhone 18 models will switch from the previous InFo (Integrated Fan-Out) packaging to WMCM (Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module) packaging. Technically, the differences between the two packaging methods are quite striking.

InFo allows integration of components, including memory, within the package but focuses more on single-die packaging where memory is typically attached to the main SoC (such as DRAM placed on top or near the CPU and GPU cores). It's optimized for reducing the size and improving the performance of individual chips.

WMCM, on the other hand, excels at integrating multiple chips within the same package (hence the "Multi-Chip Module" part). This method allows more complex systems, such as CPUs, GPUs, DRAM, and other custom accelerators (e.g., AI/ML chips) to be tightly integrated in one package. It provides greater flexibility in arranging different types of chips, stacking them vertically or placing them side by side, while also optimizing communication between them.

TSMC plans to start manufacturing 2nm chips in late 2025, and Apple is expected to be the first company to receive chips built on the new process. TSMC generally builds new fabs when it needs to increase production capacity to handle significant orders for chips, and TSMC is expanding in a major way for 2nm technology.

To serve its major client Apple, TSMC has established a dedicated production line at its Chiayi P1 fab, where WMCM packaging monthly capacity is expected to reach 10,000 units by 2026, reports DigiTimes. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, only "Pro" models in the iPhone 18 series are likely to use TSMC's next-generation 2nm processor technology because of cost concerns. Kuo also believes that the iPhone 18 Pro will feature 12GB of RAM as a result of the new packaging method.

Terms like "3nm" and "2nm" describe generations of chip manufacturing technology, each with its own set of design rules and architecture. As these numbers decrease, they generally indicate smaller transistor sizes. Smaller transistors allow more to be packed onto a single chip, typically resulting in increased processing speed and improved power efficiency.

Last year's iPhone 16 series is based on an A18 chip design built using a second-generation "N3E" 3nm process. Meanwhile, this year's upcoming iPhone 17 lineup is expected to use A19 chip technology that's likely built on an upgraded 3-nanometer process called "N3P." Compared to earlier versions of 3nm chips, the N3P chips offer increased performance efficiency and increased transistor density.

Related Roundup: iPhone 18
Related Forum: iPhone

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Top Rated Comments

bradman83 Avatar
3 weeks ago
More than being an advantage for the A20 chip, if WMCM is utilized for the M6 series in 2026 this could potentially be a gamechanger for Apple's desktop chips, as it provides an alternative to creating larger and more powerful workstation-grade chips than Apple's current approach of stitching two Max dies together. It would also allow Apple to do things with the regular chips that are impractical to do with monolithic dies, such as offer beefier GPUs or more memory.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
3 weeks ago

Apple is a hardware company first and foremost
..when it comes to their software, it shows.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anakin44011 Avatar
3 weeks ago

SoC is a failure for M series and now, they are using MCM at last.
This is about as bizarre of a comment as stating that Apple should have stayed with Intel. When my dreams turn into nightmares, I still hear the Intel MacBook Pro fans blowing at full speed every time I launch an app (yes, I have weird dreams).

Engineering is all about trade-offs...much like design, policy, and corporate strategy.

For all its faults...Apple has been killing it with its M chip strategy.

Do I wish there was an M4 Super-Extreme Ultimate Octo-Starkiller Edition? Sure. But the lack of one doesn't mean that their chip strategy hasn't been superb, far exceeding the needs of 95+% of its users.

Now, it seems that Apple can finally make its Super-Extreme Ultimate Octo-Starkiller Edition for the M6. I don't need one, but I might buy one just for the giggles and spits.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
socialwill Avatar
3 weeks ago
Whatever you may say about Apple, they have forced the tech industry to move forward. Kudos to them for what they have with chips and power efficiency.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlc1978 Avatar
3 weeks ago

More than being an advantage for the A20 chip, if WMCM is utilized for the M6 series in 2026 this could potentially be a gamechanger for Apple's desktop chips, as it provides an alternative to creating larger and more powerful workstation-grade chips than Apple's current approach of stitching two Max dies together. It would also allow Apple to do things with the regular chips that are impractical to do with monolithic dies, such as offer beefier GPUs or more memory.
It will be interesting to see the impact of using WMCM packaging across the A as well as M series of chips. While lower power consumption leading to longer battery life is nice, I suspect the battery life is more than adequate now for most users. If Apple does decide to use the tech to build workstation-grade chips, it will, as you suggest, be game changing, if the incorporate more powerful chips across teh entire M powered iPad and MacBook line. Keeping current battery life with much more powerful chips would be quite a feat. Besides the obvious advantages for gaming and power users; Apple could make AI actually useful the average user while maintaining privacy by doing everything on machine in terms of personal data. A spell checker could adapt to your writing style, such as if you use multiple languages; tech support for Apple supplied programs could be not only more robust but actually perform tasks beyond Siri. Spam filtering could be more robust as it gains info on typical spam messages or emails, especially ones that use very similar text but different phone numbers or email addresses.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
3 weeks ago
so will this make safari snappier?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)