Apple launched the A18 and A18 Pro just in time for the iPhone 16 series, and the Pro is said to have a more powerful GPU for intensive graphics tasks such as augmented reality, 3D rendering and ray tracing.
Now photos of the actual chips have been posted online, showing that the platforms are quite different, despite being built by TSMC on the same 3nm process technology.
Front of Apple A18 • A18 Pro
TSMC used the InFO-PoP (Integrated Fan-Out Package-on-Package) method, which stacks DRAM packages directly on the SoC chip, with high-density RDL (Redistribution Layers) and TIV (Through InFO Via ). In this way, the overall chip size is reduced, ensuring strong thermal and electrical performance.
A deeper look at the die shot reveals that the A18 Pro has more transistors, which means more power for the Pro, allowing for better overall performance.
Back of Apple A18 • A18 Pro
Apple would reserve all TSMC 2nm process technology capabilities for the A19 chips. However, analysts claimed that Cupertino will only launch the iPhone 17 Pro duo with 2nm chips as the Taiwanese maker have problems with revenues.