- The iPhone 18 phones tipped to use A20 chips
- Those CPUs could be based on an improved 2nm process
- It means faster, more efficient chips
While the iPhone 18 series won’t be launching for another year and a half, we’ve already heard several predictions about it – and the latest one suggests all four models in the range are going to get a substantial performance upgrade.
This comes from well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has reiterated a prediction he made six months ago: that the A20 chipsets destined for the iPhone 18 handsets will use a 2-nanometer production process.
The current iPhone 16 devices use A18 processors made with 3nm technology. A switch from 3nm to 2nm essentially means more transistors can be packed inside a processor – making it speedier and more efficient.
iPhones get faster every year of course, but a change in the manufacturing process like this means significant performance gains, above and beyond the usual increases. It should mean the iPhone 18 can offer next-level processing power.
Still a ways away
Reiterating my prediction from six months ago: the 2H26 new iPhones (iPhone 18) will be powered by TSMC’s 2nm chips.Worth noting, TSMC’s 2nm R&D trial yields reached 60–70% three months ago, and they’re now well above that. https://t.co/ZoWXFqfUnSMarch 22, 2025
There remains some ambiguity around whether or not the chips for every iPhone 18 model will get this 2nm upgrade. Kuo now seems more optimistic about this than he was in September, but it may be an upgrade just for the Pro and Pro Max models.
This follows reports earlier this week from another industry analyst, Jeff Pu at GF Securities. Pu initially suggested the A20 chipsets would be based on a 3nm process, before revising his prediction to say that 2nm A20 silicon was a possibility.
It would well be that even Apple and its supply chain partners aren’t sure yet. The iPhone 18 handsets aren’t going to see the light of day until September 2026, so there’s a lot of time yet for the manufacturing processes to be refined.
In the meantime, we’ve got the iPhone 17 series to look forward to, which should be unveiled in September 2025. These phones should get upgrades to A19 processors – but they’ll be built using the existing 3nm process technology.
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