On Tuesday, Ming-Chi Kuo released a report stating that Eternal Materials has secured a packaging order from TSMC for next year’s iPhones and high-end M5 MacBooks. The key highlight is why Eternal won the contract, tied to a processor packaging change for the upcoming A20 chip.
In 2H26, the iPhone 18’s A20 processor packaging will shift from InFO to WMCM (Wafer-level Multi-Chip Module). WMCM uses MUF (Molding Underfill), which integrates underfill and molding processes, reducing material consumption and process steps to improve yield and efficiency. – Ming-Chi Kuo, August 12, 2025
Ryan Christoffel for 9to5Mac:
What does any of that mean? Great question.
Fortunately, my colleague Marcus already explained it well earlier this summer when another analyst shared similar expectations:
WMCM allows different components, like the SoC and DRAM, to be integrated directly at the wafer level, before being diced into individual chips.
It uses a technique that connects the dies without needing an interposer or substrate, which can bring both thermal and signal integrity benefits.
In other words, Apple’s next-gen chip won’t just be smaller and more power-efficient thanks to N2. It’ll also be physically closer to its onboard memory, enabling better performance and potentially lower power consumption for tasks like AI processing and high-end gaming.
MacDailyNews Take: Very good news for on-device AI and other taxing processes and also for even better battery life!
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Next year’s iPhones set for major upgrades with A20 chip appeared first on MacDailyNews.
