iPhone 6s Uses Different-Sized A9 Chips From Samsung and TSMC

[MacRumors]

Ahead of the launch of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, there were rumors suggesting both TSMC and Samsung were developing Apple's A9 chip for the device. There was some confusion over how the split would work, because the two companies used different technologies - TSMC was rumored to be using a 16-nanometer process while Samsung used a 14-nanometer process.

Chipworks has now confirmed via several iPhone 6s teardowns that the new devices do indeed contain application processors from both Samsung and TSMC. Comparatively, the die size of the Samsung processor is smaller than the die size of the TSMC processor.

The APL0898 chip was developed by Samsung and measures in at 96 square millimeters, while the APL1022 chip manufactured by TSMC measures in at 104.5 square millimeters. Chipworks suggests Apple's decision to use processors from both companies points towards "major sourcing problems," but over the last few years, Apple has opted to diversify its supply chain to prevent manufacturing hurdles that can potentially lead to delays.

It is not yet clear how the size difference between the chips will affect the performance of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, but Chipworks plans to benchmark each of the processors to figure out whether iPhones equipped with Samsung chips and those equipped with TSMC chips perform differently.

Article Link: iPhone 6s Uses Different-Sized A9 Chips From Samsung and TSMC

 

[TechGod]

Oh what the hell Apple...

 

[zakarhino]

Oh God... It's coming isn't it.

Exchanges for a different chip model. Complaints about battery life being different.

"My one gets 1 degree hotter than my brother's. Is this a major problem?"

EDIT:
Waiting for: http://stevejobswouldnever.com/

 

[jmh600cbr]

this is just asking for a problem. soon people will only want one or the other

 

[Warddijk]

Does this also mean a slightly better battery-life for the 'Samsung chip version'?

 

[JFazYankees]

How would we go about figuring out which one we have?

 

[alex2016g]

I wonder what that would to to Apple's share price

 

[bradl]

[conspiracy_theory]
Subterfuge on Samsung's part while dissing the iPhone?
[/conspiracy_theory]

BL.

 

[winston1236]

this is just asking for a problem. soon people will only want one or the other

True but one has to be better than the other.

 

[epiksol]

And I'm sure majority of people, including myself, would like to know they received the version with the Samsung chip...

Any way to check what version you have without doing a teardown?

 

[_illusionistk]

So one will run hotter, slightly, than the other and thus will probably throttle first.(reducing clocks) As a result battery life shouldn't be effected, but I could be wrong.

Apple definitely designed redundancy into their hardware to account for this difference. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[WiiDSmoker]

LOL. I'll be damned if my 7 is slower or has worst battery life than another 7. Lots of returns incoming

 

[TechZeke]

Oh God... It's coming isn't it.

Exchanges for a different chip model. Complaints about battery life being different.

"My one gets 1 degree hotter than my brother's. Is this a major problem?"

Samsung vs LG screen, TLC vs MLC memory, and now Samsung vs TSMC silicon. It never ends.

 

[Rogifan]

Seriously? That many people read MacRumors or other tech sites and will be concerned about this? Jeezus people just enjoy your devices and stop looking for problems!

 

[cicalinarrot]

I totally knew that. 2 processors... 2 different companies... 2 nanometers more...

Half Life 2 confirmed.

 

[MentalFloss]

If Apple can't fulfil the demand when a new device is released, people complain.

If Apple sources components from two different manufacturers to alleviate supply constraints, people complain.

I think the only way people will be satisfied is if Apple recruits Albus Dumbledore himself to make the phones by magic.

 

[dannys1]

DIFFERENT-SIZED-CHIP-GATE!!!

 

[chrmjenkins]

How would we go about figuring out which one we have?

You probably can't. Unless they do it uniformly across model (this AT&T vs. Sprint model e.g.) or size (6S vs. 6S Plus), there's no way to know without cracking it open. I doubt there's any difference of references in the OS to distinguish.

 

[5105973]

Oh for crying out loud, this is going to drive the picky people crazy. I will state for the record I do not give a flying fig, pig or poo which of the two manufacturers made my chip. So far my IPhone runs great and it's my favorite iPhone since my beloved iPhone 4. Well done to whomever made the chip that's in it.

 

[dannys1]

LOL. I'll be damned if my 7 is slower or has worst battery life than another 7. Lots of returns incoming

Where did you get an iPhone 7 from bro?

 

[nepalisherpa]

Soon we are going to see threads about people asking what size their A9 is or if they get a better battery life because of smaller A9.

 

[phillipduran]

I'm pretty sure the gold iPhones get the better of the two chips.

 

[dannys1]

This is amazing though, people who 10 minutes ago had been happily using their phone for 4 days problem free are now asking "HOW DO I FIND OUT IF ITS GOT A SAMSUNG CHIP???!"

 

[Steviejobz]

WOW. Turns out my wife and I have same phone, one runs hot and has been more laggy. I bet this is the reason. How do I find out which chip we have? Will definitely return one. Why Apple would do this is beyond me.

 

[nutjob]

Why is this a story? Different processes, different foundries, different sizes. It's be more newsworthy if the were exactly the same size.