A fresh iPhone 18 Pro leak is making the rounds online, and it comes with some pretty bold claims. According to leaker Reptalicant, the alleged motherboard for Apple’s upcoming flagship reveals a redesigned A20 Pro chip package with improved cooling, a beefier Neural Engine, and faster memory. That’s a lot to unpack, especially considering motherboard-level Apple leaks like this are exceptionally rare.
The leak claims better thermals, faster memory, and a stronger NPU
According to the post, Apple is said to be moving the DRAM to the side of the A20 Pro package using WMCM (Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module) packaging instead of the current layout. The idea is that separating the memory from the main die could improve heat dissipation, potentially allowing the chip to sustain higher performance for longer under heavy workloads.
The leak also claims the A20 Pro will retain a die size similar to the A19 Pro while adopting LPDDR5X 96-bit memory and a larger Neural Engine for on-device AI tasks. If accurate, it would suggest Apple is focusing less on making the chip physically bigger and more on improving efficiency, thermals, and AI performance through packaging changes.
Interesting? Yes. Convincing? Not quite yet.
The funny thing is that leaks like this almost never happen with Apple. While supply chain reports about specifications are fairly common, detailed motherboard layouts and chip packaging information rarely surface this far ahead of launch, making this rumor particularly difficult to verify.
That’s not to say it’s impossible. Apple has been steadily investing in better thermal management as its chips become more powerful, and improved packaging would be a logical next step. Better thermals would be a welcome upgrade, especially as on-device AI workloads continue to grow. But with no corroboration from Apple’s supply chain or other reliable leakers yet, this remains firmly in rumor territory.