Apple has thoroughly established itself as a leader when it comes to designing its custom silicon. Even so, it's not above emulating innovative ideas, as it appears to be doing with the upcoming A20 Pro chip, which borrows heavily from Samsung's new 'Side-by-Side' or SbS architecture.
Both Samsung's Exynos 2700 and Apple's A20 Pro chip place the DRAM alongside the AP, and employ a thermal solution that remains in contact with the AP
Samsung's Exynos 2600 broke the prevailing mobile chip architecture mold by placing the DRAM on top of a part of the AP, right alongside a copper-based heat sink, dubbed the Heat Path Block or HPB.
With the Exynos 2700, however, Samsung is adopting a new architecture, called FOWLP-SbS, or simply Side-by-Side (SbS) for short, where the DRAM is placed alongside the AP, with a much larger HPB covering both the die and the DRAM, allowing for enhanced heat dissipation.
Now, Apple's upcoming A20 Pro chip appears to be adopting chip architectural principles that are strikingly similar to those Samsung is expected to go with in its Exynos 2700 chip. Consider the fact that the A20 Pro's WMCM packaging also places the DRAM alongside the die. What's more, the A20 Pro die now appears to be in contact with a vapor chamber for efficient cooling.
In fact, the only major difference lies in the length of the cooling mechanism employed. The Exynos 2700's HPB covers both the DRAM and the die. In the case of the A20 Pro, however, the vapor chamber is in direct contact with only the die.
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Apple's A20 Pro chip has adopted Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module (WMCM) packaging, which uses a chiplet design that allows for the combination of multiple individual dies - such as the CPU, GPU, and the Neural Engine - onto a single package, providing an unprecedented level of flexibility due to the sheer number of die configurations that become available.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
