TSMC, short for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Global UniChip have secured a three year agreement with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is set to manufacture new A-series chips for future iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices, according to a report.
This report comes from a hit and miss Chinese blog named as DigiTimes. This new A-series chips will be built on 20-nanometer, 16-nanometer and 10-nanometer process nodes for the upcoming iOS devices. TSMC will start to manufacture the new 20-nm A8 chips in small volume starting in July 2013. However, the production is expected to ramp up after December.
Apple iPhone 6 To Feature A8 Processor
The source further says that the upcoming Apple A8 processor will be found in the new iPhone which is “slated to release in early 2014.”
The upcoming Apple A8 processor will be found in a new iPhone slated for release in early 2014, and the A9/A9X chips will be used in the newer-generation iPhone and iPad products.
TSMC’s phase-4, -5 and -6 facilities at its Fab 14 location in southern Taiwan will be solely dedicated to manufacture Apple’s A-series processors. TSMC is scheduled to begin volume production of the A9 and A9X processors starting from the end of the third quarter of 2014.
Apple Has Not Released Any Model with A7 Processor Yet
What’s worth noting is that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has not introduced any new device with the A7 processor until now. It is rumored that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5S willfeature an A7 chip. This chip would bring improvement in terms of performance, but it wouldn’t be any closer to the performance of the A8 chip which is scheduled to go with the iPhone 6 in early 2014.
If rumors are true, then the upcoming iPhone 5S would come with dual-flash LED, A7 chip, and of course with Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 7 which is due to release sometime this fall. And most likely, as always, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) won’t be making any significant design changes.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed to see either the iPhone 5S, or iPhone 6 this year. With the launch date approaching, we’ll likely see more rumored facts and pictures of these devices. As always, we’ll keep you updated.
