Samsung Confirmed to Produce A9 Chips for Apple's Next-Generation Devices

[Keirasplace]

Isn't that the truth. That's why it's so funny when Apple fanboys make fun of Samsung when Apple does so well with the iPhone. Samsung is in the back saying "keep those components rolling..our largest client just ordered another batch of 1 billion"

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With the exception of a few non-biased posters, you pretty much summed it all.

I think the patent system is broken, especially for physical design and software patents, no matter who uses them. I find Apple suing for rounded corner ridiculous too BTW.

Still, copying a whole slew of design elements (even the whole marketing campaign) like Xiaomi for the Iphone, should be criminal, and not be allowed. That goes way too far.

Those mythical Apple "fanboi" tm (defined by the insult thrower of course), are bandied about so much that this straw man could now build a straw city...

What increasingly does exist, and it is not unique to Apple forums, are button pushers. They exist in all forum where major issues/products are discussed, especially ones with a high media profile and a typically polarized response : Apple fits the bill. They don't really care about tech or politics; they care to see how people react to their so called "truth bombs". This has degraded most forums these last few years.

In this forum, they are easy to spot (in an Android forum, they'd be doing about the same if any Android maker had any media traction at all) :
- Use fanboy, isheep, claim of worship to (product/cause), as putdown
- Entire posting history highly negative about (X company or cause) (no matter how long it is)
- Claim to own many (X company) products bought during that period (or have supported them until recently).
- Often, long lived account with few posts clustered around (X company/cause) releases
- Claim to be unbiased, above fray (independent/neutral when talking about causes or lapsed former X-company buyers or adherent of a cause), despite posting history telling differently

Yes, there is cognitive dissonance there..Takes commitment to hate something so much while still buying those products ;-). Not sure what to call them, if they buy Apple products and hate Apple, "Sheepish hatebois" ;-).

 

[Jakewilk]

Fairchild has been resurrected to build the A10...

Image

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Plus, for the scale that they're building, there is a huge cost in having people that build the chips design them as well. It's the Intel-AMD conundrum: Your competitors will help you build features that they design by spending resources coming up with great ideas that you can implement better.

Plus, there is a great impact when you say to your supplier:
"Hey! We want our chips to run faster and cheaper than you're doing now, and if you don't, we'll buy them from your competitor," which is much more difficult if you own the fab.

Apple designs their own chips; Samsung just mass produces them

 

[arturmeireles]

Well, Apple is no better, in my opinion. Almost every single iPhone has some major defect. Antennaegate, Wifried and Bendgate come to mind.



Best Buy. They've had them on display since last week.

Testing to the point of "catastrophic failure", the iPhone 6 Plus survived 179 lbs of pressure, beating out the Galaxy S6 Edge's 149 lbs stress test.

 

[nutjob]

Apple could still could have chosen to use TSMC, it just wouldn't have been the best option.

Unlike the people on this forum that blindly hate Apple, most corporations know that making business decisions based on grudges is not a good practice. Apple knows that Samsung will do the best job, so they choose Samsung to produce their chips. Simple as that.

Who's hating here exactly? Apple has systematically destroyed their relationship with Samsung while they still depended on them for cutting-edge tech. No, they couldn't have chosen TSMC because they have neither the capacity nor the technology that Apple require in this case.

 

[Tubamajuba]

Who's hating here exactly? Apple has systematically destroyed their relationship with Samsung while they still depended on them for cutting-edge tech. No, they couldn't have chosen TSMC because they have neither the capacity nor the technology that Apple require in this case.

They obviously have a pretty good relationship with Samsung. And I think the company that blatantly copied Apple's designs would be the one that caused any damage.

 

[JayIsAwesome]

But...but...Apple wouldn't dare use Samsung. Samsung isn't "relevant" enough.

 

[Keirasplace]

But...but...Apple wouldn't dare use Samsung. Samsung isn't "relevant" enough.

Its not relevant to the medias (that's what this refers too) in the mobile phone space. But, they are in the fab and memory production space, not sure the media cares about that though.

 

[SixtyK]

Does anybody still believe these two are bitter rivals?

 

[MacBH928]

Shouldn't Apple just manufacture their own chips given how much money they have and the iphone/ipad/future macbooks is not going away anytime soon.

Only when anything is at odds with Apple. When Apple is endorsing anything- even if it was formerly (or even currently) at odds with anything- we flip it back to love. The primary rule is:
-whatever Apple is against or is against Apple, we're against.
-whatever Apple is for or is for Apple, we're for.

Classic Examples:
-Patent system is broken when a patent is working against Apple. Patents are meant "to protect intellectual capital" when a patent is working for Apple.
-Analyst is stupid when he says something negative about Apple. Analyst is quoted and referenced when he says something positive.
-Big screen phones are abominations, stupid, "99% don't want" when Apple is endorsing small screens. Then Apple goes to big screens and they are the "best iPhones ever".
-NFC is a gimmick, 99% don't need, "my credit cards work fine" when Apple doesn't implement it. Then Apple implements it and we want to boycott stores who won't let us pay with Apple pay.

Personally, I'm with many here who know that Samsung makes great guts for Apple hardware. I'd much rather get any Apple product built upon Samsung guts than hope for "as good" with someone else's. Glad to see this for the next iPhone.

You need more upvotes

 

[AleXXXa]

I'm getting confused, I thought we hated anything to do with Samsung.

Hate Samsung? Why? They make the best components in the industry: best CPU (8-core), best screens (AMOLED), fastest RAM, fastest flash storage in phones, etc.
It's a good thing Apple uses Samsung components. They had lots of problems with LG displays, Toshiba storage, etc.

 

[CrazyForApple]

Was this a surprise to anyone?

 

[Saucesome2000]

I have money for a chicken farm.

Should I make one?

No, that would be dumb if it's not my business.

That's one of the worst metaphors I've ever read. If buffalo wings were your business, it might very well benefit you to buy a chicken farm instead of buying them from a farmer.

 

[rampancy]

At $159B, Apple could buy Intel, but there are other costs of that as well, chief among them is the culture at Intel vs. the culture at Apple.

But, as I said, and others have said in this article, just because you can doesn't mean you should. There is great value in being the customer of another company, rather than your own customer in terms of leverage.

...one of the first things that Tim Cook did when Jobs hired him was get rid of Apple's manufacturing facilities. It's one of the things that's made them one of the most profitable companies in history. Their job is to conceive and design great products and services. There are other companies, such as Samsung that are better at manufacturing the components that go into those products, and they take on the risks and vagaries of doing so.

That's pretty much it -- Apple isn't interested in the business of component manufacturing; everytime they've needed something they've either teamed up with, or funded another company to do it for them.

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That's one of the worst metaphors I've ever read. If buffalo wings were your business, it might very well benefit you to buy a chicken farm instead of buying them from a farmer.

But that would only be true if (a) you produced enough wings to make it economically sustainable, (in addition to justifying the startup costs) and (b) you had the know-how on-hand to produce a high quality product in the volume you need.

 

[Keirasplace]

Hate Samsung? Why? They make the best components in the industry: best CPU (8-core), best screens (AMOLED), fastest RAM, fastest flash storage in phones, etc.
It's a good thing Apple uses Samsung components. They had lots of problems with LG displays, Toshiba storage, etc.

Really, 8 core is a sign that they'Re the "best", you're going with that line. Apple has beat 8 core CPUS for several year. The number of cores is pointless unless the OS can effectively use them without killing the battery and they're functioning at full speed.

Also, funny, they actually don't use Samsung's CPU, they only fab their own design there with 2 core SOC, the A7 which was the quickest when it was released. Right now, TSMC produces the bulk (if not all) of Apple' A8 and A8X SOC.

It this particular case, Samsung is just a Fab for Apple's design, not Samsung's design. Next, year they could go to TSMC again, who knows were they'll go.

 

[Palladium SG]

Shouldn't Apple just manufacture their own chips given how much money they have and the iphone/ipad/future macbooks is not going away anytime soon.



You need more upvotes

Like I said before, chip fabrication is an enormously risky business with gigantic fixed costs that Apple should not invest in. These days it's ~$10B for a fab alone before you even see the first chip, and the effective lifespan of a leading edge fab is pretty short. Why bother dealing with the hassles when current big fab companies are already doing it out of sheer inertia themselves? They aren't TSMC where outdated fabs can be kept running for years to produce low value products like audio DACs, op amps, router chips etc.

 

[Belmont31R]

I hope people realize Samsung has many different divisions, and their fab people cannot share trade secrets with their mobile division. Samsung is a HUGE company even outside of their mobile division, and you can do business with them despite having competing products. They would be shooting themselves in the foot to become untrustworthy as a fab, and display OEM producer.

 

[Max(IT)]

I'm getting confused, I thought we hated anything to do with Samsung.

Samsung Semiconductors and Samsung Mobile aren't the same.
Samsung Semiconductors are a very competent company.
Samsung Mobile..... they have no clue

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No not everything, just the idea that they are beyond reproach and that they have invented everything and make everything better than everyone else. Apart from those things I do actually own Apple products.

But they actually make everything better. At least better than Samsung.

 

[Max(IT)]

No point fixing something that isn't broken. Samsung makes good components, so why not continue using them? I just wish Apple would use their Super AMOLED screens. I love the deep colours and deep blacks. Plus if iOS ever got a real dark mode then we could look forward to better battery life too.

With the actual iOS, an AMOLED display wouldn't fit.

 

[Max(IT)]

We do , until we get a device that has non Samsung components and complain that it is inferior to the same device with Samsung components

There is no Samsung components on any Apple iPhone or iPad.
A9 will be an Apple component manufactured by Samsung.....

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WIthout Samsung, Apple is nothing, it seems.

Without Samsung, Apple would give the contract to TSMC ....

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Apple needs Samsung's hardware pretty much but that is old news.

Again. There isn't any "Samsung's hardware". The A9 is a chip designed and developed by Apple.
Samsung is just manufacturing it.

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Hate Samsung? Why? They make the best components in the industry: best CPU (8-core), best screens (AMOLED), fastest RAM, fastest flash storage in phones, etc.
It's a good thing Apple uses Samsung components. They had lots of problems with LG displays, Toshiba storage, etc.

Best CPU ? Lol.
The A8 is by far the best SoC on the market. The number of cores doesn't make a SoC any better.

 

[michelepri]

Samsung also has the very best keyboard around. The new IPhone should integrate that too, and the product would be spectacular. We know Apple never made any decent mouse and keyboards, and their own typing system is 10 years old, but Samsung could really give them an advantage that even Google and other Android systems don't have./

 

[Agent-P]

With the actual iOS, an AMOLED display wouldn't fit.

I don't quite understand what you are saying. Would you mind clarifying?

 

[skratch77]

There is no Samsung components on any Apple iPhone or iPad.
A9 will be an Apple component manufactured by Samsung.....

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Without Samsung, Apple would give the contract to TSMC ....

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Again. There isn't any "Samsung's hardware". The A9 is a chip designed and developed by Apple.
Samsung is just manufacturing it.

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Best CPU ? Lol.
The A8 is by far the best SoC on the market. The number of cores doesn't make a SoC any better.

The exynos 7 is the best soc out right now.cores aside it is the best soc right now.

Sata memory controller interface to use ufs2.0 nand that is like an ssd drive (first soc to use)

Ddr4 regular system ram (first to use in a soc)

14nm 3d finfet (first to use in a soc)

 

[nutjob]

They obviously have a pretty good relationship with Samsung. And I think the company that blatantly copied Apple's designs would be the one that caused any damage.

LOL, so hating on Samsung now, are we? Look up hypocrisy in the dictionary.

 

[Tubamajuba]

LOL, so hating on Samsung now, are we? Look up hypocrisy in the dictionary.

Only if you look up "facts" in the dictionary. Unless you really and truly believe that none of Samsung's products look like Apple products.

 

[samcraig]

There is no Samsung components on any Apple iPhone or iPad.
A9 will be an Apple component manufactured by Samsung.....

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Without Samsung, Apple would give the contract to TSMC ....

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Again. There isn't any "Samsung's hardware". The A9 is a chip designed and developed by Apple.
Samsung is just manufacturing it.

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Best CPU ? Lol.
The A8 is by far the best SoC on the market. The number of cores doesn't make a SoC any better.

I think you undermine the complexity of producing the chips that Samsung does. There are very few (if any) that has the ability to do so. If it was easy and commonplace, than everyone would be doing it and Apple would have several vendors to choose from.

That's not the case. Stating that Samsung doesn't make the components is really splitting of hairs. I'm not going to argue it with you as it's a matter of opinion. But I disagree.