A20 Pro Matches GTX 1650 in GTA 5 With Low Power Draw

Apple's A20 Pro has been shown matching the performance of an Nvidia GTX 1650 running Grand Theft Auto 5, while reportedly delivering a far higher power efficiency. Wccftech's piece by Omar Sohail, published September 27, 2026, highlights a claim of 1,180 percent higher performance-per-watt for the A20 Pro, based on a demonstration running the game through emulation on an iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The demonstration was posted by X user Vapor and uses GTA 5's built-in benchmark. In the clip the iPhone 18 Pro Max averages 66 frames per second during a city driving sequence and 80 frames per second in other scenes, at 1080p with DirectX 11 enabled. The in-game settings reported were high textures, FXAA and 16x anisotropic filtering, 75 percent population density, 50 percent distance scaling, sharp shadows, and MSAA disabled. Vapor notes that GTA 5 on iOS remains a work in progress with some minor issues to address.

The A20 Pro match to GTX 1650 in this test, achieved under emulation and at similar video settings, is accompanied by the claim of 1,180 percent higher performance-per-watt.

Packaging, cooling, and sustained performance

Apple attributes part of the A20 Pro's sustained performance to a packaging change and improved thermal design. The A20 Pro uses a Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module, abbreviated WMCM, for its 2 nanometer chipset. According to the reporting, WMCM moves DRAM to the side of the package, which reduces thermal constraints on the compute die. Apple also increased the size of the vapor chamber in the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which together allow higher sustained performance than previous generations while relying on passive cooling.

The reliance on passive cooling still imposes limits. The A20 Pro can hit a thermal wall during extended play sessions, which is why the packaging and a larger vapor chamber are important to maintain higher sustained clocking and graphics throughput over time.

Earlier comparisons support measurable gains between generations. A test by YouTuber Dame Tech cited in the reporting found the A20 Pro on the iPhone 18 Pro Max achieved roughly a 50 percent GPU performance improvement over the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with a 77 percent improvement in 1 percent lows.

The new results also mark progress in emulation. When Wccftech last reported on GTA 5 running on an iPhone, an XeniOS Xbox 360 emulator on the iPhone 17 Pro Max rarely exceeded 20 frames per second, so Vapor's benchmark represents a substantial step forward in getting AAA PC titles to run at playable frame rates on-phone.