Reply to thread

Message

[QUOTE="Queen, post: 87822, member: 27"]
TSMC's InFO-PoP packaging physically fuses RAM onto the A18 Pro die, and that single design choice is why the MacBook Neo is stuck at 8GB.

Why 8GB is baked in
[LIST]
[*]DRAM sits directly on top of the A18 Pro as one fused package.
[*]Swapping to a 12GB module would have blown past the $599 target.
[*]Board-level RAM upgrades are impossible with this packaging approach.
[*]Max Weinbach and High Yield both flagged this limitation on X.
[/LIST]
A19 Pro was never realistic
[LIST]
[*]Component sourcing and product design happen months or years ahead.
[*]An ongoing DRAM shortage pushed 12GB LPDDR5X costs to $70 per unit.
[*]Absorbing that expense would have wrecked the budget-friendly price point.
[*]A19 Pro availability would also cannibalize iPhone 17 Pro production.
[/LIST]
Hidden GPU situation
[LIST]
[*]MacBook Neo's A18 Pro carries a full 6-core GPU inside.
[*]Apple locked one core through software via chip binning.
[*]iPhone 16 Pro runs the same silicon with all cores enabled.
[/LIST]
[/QUOTE]

Name