The 2020 iPad Pro appears to be running on the same chip as the previous generation

The latest iPad Pro for 2020 features a new A12Z Bionic Chip which is expected to be more powerful than the previous generation iPad Pro. However, turns out that the new A12Z chip is actually the same as the older A12X according to findings by TechInsights.

Based on TechInsights analysis, they confirm that the GPU on both A12Z and 12X are identical. The key difference is one of the GPU’s eight cores are disabled on the older A12X.

The previous A12X was one of the largest 7nm chips being fabricated by Apple partner TSMC in 2018. It first appeared in the first-gen 11 inch iPad Pro and the third-gen 12.9 inch iPad Pro back in 2018.

There are only guesses to why Apple would opt to reuse the A12X for their 2020 tablets. It would most likely be due to economics, as the tablet market is quite different from the smartphone market. The minor changes on the new chip is probably the reason why the new chip is called A12X instead of the anticipated A13X.

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