[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Apple’s next-generation A20 Pro chip is expected to be 18 percent faster than the previous A19 Pro and improve power efficiency by 30 percent.

NineToFiveMac reported on Aug. 17 that the chip is expected to be used in the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra to be unveiled next month.

The figures were posted by Weibo leaker Fixed Focus Digital, citing supply chain sources. The key question is whether Apple can deliver a bigger year-on-year chip performance gain than in past years. The A20 Pro is said to be Apple’s first chip produced using TSMC’s 2-nanometre process, and the possible adoption of wafer-level multi-chip module (WMCM) packaging was also raised.

If the supply chain figures are accurate, the shift may be weighted more toward power efficiency than raw processing speed. With the bigger improvement in efficiency, the impact users feel first may show up in battery life.

Apple typically breaks out improvements to the central processing unit, graphics processing unit and neural engine when unveiling a new chip. The latest figures indicate only the overall direction, so differences by component are expected to be confirmed at next month’s launch event.

From a product strategy standpoint, the A20 Pro is seen as the core change in the new iPhone lineup. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra are highlighting chip performance and efficiency improvements ahead of design or some features. In particular, the move to a 2-nanometre process has been discussed as a meaningful inflection point in Apple’s silicon roadmap. If a new packaging technology is added, it could move in a direction that improves processing performance while reducing power consumption.

Its combination with software is also a point of interest. The outlet mentioned that, if paired with iOS 27’s own speed gains, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra could become notable news on performance. If hardware improvements and operating system optimisation occur at the same time, perceived performance could expand beyond the chip figures alone.

What has emerged so far is supply chain-based leak information, not an official announcement. The figures Apple presents at the event could differ by category, and it has not been confirmed whether the performance benchmark refers to the CPU, GPU or the overall system level. As a result, market attention is expected to focus on where the A20 Pro shows the biggest improvement and how much that translates into battery life and real-world speed.