A20 Chips in iPhone 18 Models Again Rumored to Feature New Design

cancelling my iPhone 17 Pro preorder then

In any case, at least some A20 chips would have RAM integrated directly onto the same wafer as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, rather than sitting adjacent to the chip and connected via a silicon interposer. This could contribute to faster performance for both overall tasks and Apple Intelligence, and longer battery life from improved power efficiency. A20 chips may take up less space in the iPhone compared to previous chips.

TSMC InFO Pop , which Apple has historically used, is already vertical.



https://www.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/InFO

There is also an InFO-OS. ( on substrate. ) which is another 'tab' on the above link. THe 'in' in Info was always about being 'integrated'. More a matter of which mechanism for integration.

More likely that Wafer-level Multi-chip Module (WMCM) packaging is switching to side by side. Both Logic and DRAM are 'attached' to a substrate chip ( 'wafer' ... in so much that the chip on bottom is larger than the the chips being attached on top).

The InFo-POP involves creating that 'canyon' in the blue/black area above. If just bond the two smaller chips to the larger substrate chip then do not have to 'build up' that support foundation structure to host the DRAM on. Also limited in how many wires can run to the DRAM on top if logic chip is 'large-ish' relative to the DRAM .

Switching to 'side-by-side' would be moving toward what the M-series has always used.

Two-dimensional 'space savings' is probably not happening. Some chance that the overall volume might go down if had to keep the height over the 'logic' higher to deal with thermal issues (e.g., can't attach a heat sink directly to the logic chip. ) . The two dimensional bloat of the phones over time contribute to enabling that change in trade-off. Also what get is incrementally 'thinner' .

If Apple is going to be pushing. A-xx-Pro chips into service as Mac SoCs then bounding the logic chip with disconnection from heat sink makes even less sense.

They should name them A55 in accordance with liquid ass

The only change I want to see...

"iPhone 18 Mini"

I don't think I can use my XR that long.
Problem is, the current generation just doesn't really entice me.
Stupid colors.
Horribly large camera bumps.

Why can't they make another nice phone like the iPhone XR? How hard can it be?

Apple already has made a nice phone comparable to the XR -- it's called the iPhone 16e. If you're still rocking a XR, the 16e will likely suit most of your needs. It would be a major upgrade in terms of technical capabilities, and as a bonus, it's also smaller (in all 3 dimensions) and lighter, with the same 6.1" screen size. The only major reason I can think of not to get a 16e is its lack of MagSafe, but you already don't have that on your XR.

cancelling my iPhone 17 Pro preorder then

Its getting out of hand. I have been cancelling since iPhone 14.