A new supply-chain leak is offering intriguing clues about the A20 Pro, the processor expected to power the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

If the information proves accurate, Apple’s next-generation iPhones could see noticeable improvements in two key areas: gaming performance and overall responsiveness in everyday use.

The information surfaced on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where the leaker claimed to have reverse-engineered the layout of the A20 Pro based on the positioning of its solder points.

The method can provide a rough picture of a chip’s internal structure, offering clues as to how Apple may have arranged the CPU, GPU, cache and other processing components.

A20 Pro could bring more cache to efficiency cores

According to the reconstructed layout, the A20 Pro’s efficiency CPU cores could share 8MB of L2 cache.

If accurate, that would represent a significant increase from the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro, which provides 6MB of L2 cache for its efficiency-core cluster.

L2 cache plays an important role in allowing the CPU to quickly access frequently used data, reducing the need to retrieve information from slower layers of memory.

Increasing L2 cache from 6MB to 8MB could therefore help the A20 Pro handle routine tasks more efficiently, particularly when users frequently switch between multiple apps or perform operations that demand rapid responses.

Meanwhile, the A20 Pro’s high-performance cores are expected to retain 16MB of L2 cache, unchanged from the previous generation.

The leaker also said it remains unclear how much system-level cache the A20 Pro will feature, although Apple is considered unlikely to reduce it.

If the final design matches what the leak suggests, Apple appears to be focusing on optimizing processing efficiency for the iPhone 18 Pro chip rather than simply chasing higher clock speeds.

The approach also reflects a broader trend in mobile chip design, where performance per watt and real-world responsiveness are becoming increasingly important.

Seven-core GPU could deliver a major gaming boost

The GPU on the A20 Pro could also receive a notable upgrade. Based on the layout inferred from the chip diagram, the GPU is positioned in the upper section, with the CPU located below it.

More importantly, the source claims the A20 Pro could feature a seven-core GPU, up from six cores on the A19 Pro.

Adding another GPU core could, in theory, boost the graphics capabilities of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The possibility is particularly noteworthy as Apple has increasingly emphasized gaming performance on the iPhone.

Games with demanding graphics, complex visual effects or the need for stable frame rates could benefit from the additional graphics processing power.

Actual performance, however, will depend on a range of other factors, including GPU architecture, clock speeds, memory bandwidth, thermal management and software optimization.

If Apple increases the GPU core count while also improving the underlying architecture, the A20 Pro could deliver a substantial leap in graphics performance for the iPhone 18 Pro, rather than the modest incremental gains typically seen from one generation to the next.

Hai Phong