iPad mini 8 motherboard leak shows Apple's A20 Pro chip with a radical new memory design

Leaker @LusiRoy8 posted photos on X of what appears to be the iPad mini 8 motherboard, and the chip sitting on it tells an interesting story. Apple’s A20 Pro uses WMCM packaging — a departure from the PoP (Package on Package) method found in the A19 Pro. Instead of stacking DRAM on top of the chip, Apple moved the memory modules to the side of the package. That shifts heat away from the processor die, which should help the chip hold performance under sustained loads without throttling.

The A20 Pro also supports LPDDR6 with a 96-bit memory bus — a 50% jump over the 64-bit LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X in current iPads. That means faster data throughput for heavy workloads like video exports or running complex 3D scenes.

The leak matches earlier reporting that Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro chip — also called A20 Pro — would use WMCM packaging, better thermal handling, and an upgraded NPU. If the iPad mini 8 ships with the same silicon, it would be one of the most capable small tablets Apple has ever made.

Apple hasn’t announced the iPad mini 8 yet. But motherboard leaks at this level of detail usually surface a few months before launch.