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Three Companies to Share Packaging Orders for Apple's Next-Generation A8 Chip

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Semiconductor companies Amkor Technology and STATS ChipPAC will each handle 40% of the packaging orders placed by Apple for its upcoming A8 processor, while Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) will obtain the remaining 20% of the orders, according to a new report from DigiTimes.
Apple's A8 chip will be a package-on-package (PoP) SoC solution comprising processors and mobile DRAM in a single package, said the sources.
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is also believed to have secured wafer-bumping orders for the processor, and will reportedly start ramping up production of the A8 chip using 20nm process technology in the second quarter of 2014, with the processor widely expected to be used in Apple's next-generation iPhone.

According to a report in September, it is also expected that Samsung will assist with production of A8 chip, with the Korean company expected to handle 20% to 30% of the manufacturing load.

Overall, production plans for the iPhone 6 seem to be gearing up, with a report earlier this month stating that TSMC would be producing fingerprint sensors for the next-generation iPhone using a larger 12-inch fab from the current 8-inch fab to increase production efficiency. It was also stated that TSMC would handle the packaging process for the sensors itself rather than contracting out to other firms in order to centralize control over the component.

Article Link: Three Companies to Share Packaging Orders for Apple's Next-Generation A8 Chip
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/27/three-companies-packaging-a8/
gto55

gto55

macrumors 6502a
Mar 14, 2010
650
0
Tel Aviv
how about Apple :apple: to invest in a company working on batteries researches, in order to get rid of the battery cases which are almost indispensable with the iPhone :eek:
 
M-O

M-O

macrumors 6502a
Mar 15, 2011
502
0
mdridwan47 said:
Will this be a quad core chip ?
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who cares?

----------
gto55 said:
how about Apple :apple: to invest in a company working on batteries researches, in order to get rid of the battery cases which are almost indispensable with the iPhone :eek:
Click to expand...

i've never had one, nor see them in the wild. i think this is a issue for a small percentage of users.
 
W

wizard

macrumors 68040
May 29, 2003
3,854
571
mdridwan47 said:
Will this be a quad core chip ?
Click to expand...

Good question!

I suspect that Apple will focus on GPU integration, they have hired many AMD engineers with the A series being the only obvious use for their talents. As such I wouldn't be surprise to see support for HSA.

The really question is what is the best use of chip real estate if you double that area. I can see the GPU being real important along with added features and support for that GPU. Support could be a real large L2 cache or dedicated frame buffer memory. As for the CPUs Apple could just double clock rate for another big performance jump. Quad CPUs while nice aren't required.
 
rtr1985

rtr1985

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2012
502
177
2/3 of MacRumor buyers will exchange their device in an effort to obtain an A8 from the non-defective manufacturer
 
Nevaborn

Nevaborn

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2013
1,086
327
gto55 said:
how about Apple :apple: to invest in a company working on batteries researches, in order to get rid of the battery cases which are almost indispensable with the iPhone :eek:
Click to expand...

they serve a purpose but have only seen one in the wild and I only saw it once as it added huge bulk and weight for what it really offered. I prefer wallet cases and really want Apple to get on board and do one.

rtr1985 said:
2/3 of MacRumor buyers will exchange their device in an effort to obtain an A8 from the non-defective manufacturer
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the trick will be knowing how to tell which comes from which manufacturer. I guess it is really just a case of lucking out. When I bought my iPhone 4 I never even thought that it might be horribly defective and need swapping out several times but with the 6 I am already expecting it which is kind of sad.
 
P

PrimozR

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2014
1
0
So... 40 % from one, 40% from the other and 20 % from another manufacturer, while TSMC will also help and Samsung is expected to make 20 to 30 % of the chips. I thought percentegas in cases like these should add up to (or at least close to) 100 %, not 150 %.
 
Menel

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
PrimozR said:
So... 40 % from one, 40% from the other and 20 % from another manufacturer, while TSMC will also help and Samsung is expected to make 20 to 30 % of the chips. I thought percentegas in cases like these should add up to (or at least close to) 100 %, not 150 %.
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Article said 40/40/20 is for 'packaging'.

Never heard of these companies for foundries, doubt they have 20nm capability. That will still be Samsung/TSMC's role.
 
Pakaku

Pakaku

macrumors 68040
Aug 29, 2009
3,134
4,440
rmatthewware said:
Why the hell would I turn off a feature I'm using? Should I power down the phone when I'm not making calls?
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So you are always on 3G? Sucks to be you, then.

In other cases, it's more than easy enough to toggle it on and off.
 
R

rmatthewware

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2009
493
125
Pakaku said:
So you are always on 3G? Sucks to be you, then.

In other cases, it's more than easy enough to toggle it on and off.
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I'm not arguing how easy it is or isn't. I paid for an LTE device so I'm going to use it when I can. The few times it's not available I use 4G. I think it's a valid desire to want better battery life from the iPhone without having to turn off half the device.
 
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