iPhone 18 to pack enhanced 2nm chip with 12GB RAM, claims rumor

Apple is rumored to embed an enhanced 2nm chip inside the iPhone 18 models, expected to launch in 2026. These iOS smartphones would feature 12GB of RAM, claims a new rumor.

Apple embedding TSMC’s enhanced 2nm chip in the iPhone 18

Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 series recently. The company started shipping the latest iPhones to early buyers last month. However, this hasn’t stopped the rumors about the iPhone 17 series as well as the iPhone 18 series from surfacing.

In a Weibo post, a “Phone Chip Expert” claimed that Apple will embed its A20 SoC in the iPhone 18 models. The Chinese-language user also added that the Apple A20 chip, manufactured by TSMC, will be fabricated on the latter’s 2nm process.

To manufacture the Apple A20 chip, TSMC is allegedly adopting WMCM (Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module) packaging. The Taiwanese company is presumably moving away from the previous InFo (Integrated Fan-Out) packaging, used for the iPhone 16 Pro models, owing to its design constraints.

The InFo design allows tight integration of components. However, the process focuses more on single-die packaging. Simply put, the InFo process is geared towards reducing the size of the chipset, while improving the performance of individual chips.

As the name implies, the WMCM design is better at incorporating multiple chips within the same package. It reportedly provides greater flexibility in arranging different types of chips.

Using the WMCM Apple can design a chipset wherein individual chips can be arranged horizontally or stacked vertically. Needless to say, this could help reduce gap between chips and improve communication speed, while reducing the ship of the chipset.

Apple is upgrading the RAM in iPhone 18 models to run Apple Intelligence

The current generation iPhone 16 models feature 8GB of RAM. Apple recently indicated it chose to upgrade the RAM to ensure Apple Intelligence runs reliably on these smartphones.

Apple Intelligence reportedly needs at least 8GB of RAM to function. Hence, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently claimed Apple could embed at least 12GB of RAM in the iPhone 17 Pro models. Some reports suggest 12GB of RAM could become the minimum RAM configuration for the iPhone 18 models as well.

The entry-level iPhone models usually pack hardware that was reserved for the previous generation’s Pro variants. Hence, the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max could feature more than 12GB of RAM.