According to MacRumors, the iPhone 18 series will launch with the A20 chip, but Apple did not choose TSMC’s latest N2P 2nm process, but chose the basic version of the N2 process.It is reported that TSMC’s 2nm family has switched from FinFET transistors to all-around gate (GAA) technology for the first time. N2 is the basic version and mass production has started in 2026.
N2P is an enhanced version, positioned for higher performance, and is planned for mass production in the second half of 2026. It only improves performance by about 5% compared to N2 under the same power consumption, but the manufacturing cost increases significantly.
Analysts believe that for Apple, which has a huge shipment volume, this performance increase is not cost-effective enough, and N2 can already meet the core needs of its products——Compared with the 3 nm process, N2 can achieve 10-18% performance improvement or 30-36% power consumption reduction. With WMCM wafer-level packaging technology, it can further optimize efficiency and cost.
Moreover, new iPhones are usually released in the fall, while N2P only goes into mass production in the second half of the year and cannot catch up with the product development and assembly cycle. In contrast, N2 has now entered the mass production stage, which can ensure a stable supply of chips.
In addition, Apple's 2026 chip layout has multiple product lines in synergy. In addition to the A20, there is also the M6, and it also includes the 2 nm R2 coprocessor planned to be launched for Vision Pro 2. The unified use of the N2 process can simplify supply chain management.
