TSMC to Be Sole Supplier of A11 Chip for Apple's 'iPhone 8'

[MacRumors]

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reportedly secured exclusive orders for the A11 processor expected to power Apple's 2017 "iPhone 8".

According to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN), the Taiwan-based foundry will be the sole supplier of Apple's next-generation A11 chip, which will be built on a 10nm FinFET process.

TSMC co-CEO Mark Liu announced at the company's recent investors meeting that its first 10nm customer product has been produced with "satisfactory yield" and that three products had already been "taped out".

Taping out refers to the initial design of the chip having been completed for creation of the masks that will be used to print the actual chips, although further tweaks are likely as test production is carried out. TSMC is said to have begun taping out the design for Apple's A11 processor in May. Xilinx, MediaTek, and HiSilicon are said to be the other customers that will use the company's 10nm process technology.

TSMC is already the exclusive manufacturer of Apple's A10 chip which will power the iPhone 7 range expected to launch this September. TSMC is thought to have reached the deal with Apple thanks to its advanced device packaging techniques, capable of higher-width memory buses and lower-power operation, which for consumers means better performance and efficiency.

TSMC's production for Apple's A11 chips is expected to start generating revenues for the company in the first quarter of 2017, with revenues to "ramp steeply" throughout the rest of the year, according to Liu.

Apple is said to have a radical redesign planned for 2017's "iPhone 8", possibly coming with a glass body and edge-to-edge OLED display that includes an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor and front-facing camera.

(Via DigiTimes.)

Article Link: TSMC to Be Sole Supplier of A11 Chip for Apple's 'iPhone 8'

 

[smacrumon]

This will power the device. Hold strong. Patience.

 

[farewelwilliams]

no 7s?

 

[MH01]

Boring . No long threads about pros/cons about one phone being superior to the other .

Maybe Apple learned from unecessary returns

 

[cableguy84]

TSMC is superior to Samsung

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Suck is Samsung. Delighted! They stand for nothing and thusly deserve some karmic repercussions for all the mindless copying they do. It just happens to be called an S7? Amazing coincidence!

 

[filmantopia]

no 7s?

No, the 2017 phone will be a radical departure... not an "s" model.

 

[jayducharme]

I thought Apple always diversified, with more than one supplier. Either Apple isn't planning on producing a huge number of chips or they're extremely confident in TSMC's ability to meet demands.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

The good chip wins.

 

[MH01]

Suck is Samsung. Delighted! They stand for nothing and thusly deserve some karmic repercussions for all the mindless copying they do. It just happens to be called an S7? Amazing coincidence!

Wow. Talk about trying to derail a thread into something it's not about. How hypocritical of you posting on every thread when the "haters" do it.

My recent devices that have had TSMC chips were great. The Apple devices that I have with Samsung components have also been superior.

 

[Avieshek]

See, those who keep arguing iPhone 7 is more than just looks. This is what's coming for iPhone 8, other than AMOLED screens.

 

[Scottsoapbox]

The good chip wins.

I was hoping the best chip would win.

 

[maflynn]

no 7s?

We're currently on the 6s, so the next logical model will be the 7, then in 2017, we should see the s version of the 7

My bad, I reread the OP, and I erred, so it seems Apple is breaking the S cycle for 2017

 

[2010mini]

No, the 2017 phone will be a radical departure... not an "s" model.

Wonder what they mean by radical? Hope is not just the naming convention

 

[maflynn]

I thought Apple always diversified, with more than one supplier.

they had to include Samsung because TSMC couldn't handle the demand at one point, so either the demand has decreased, or TSMC's ability to supply Apple has decreased (or both)

 

[Sunny1990]

Thank God!!NO MORE CHIPGATE

 

[samcraig]

Isn't this rumor repeated every iPhone?

 

[testcard]

Will this make Pokémon GO snappier?

 

[MH01]

Will this make Pokémon GO snappier?

It's phase 2 of Japan going for global domination . Pokemon + ARM = Nintendo owning Apple in 2 years time

 

[2457282]

For the phone, I think chips are already amazingly fast. My 6s running iOS10 has no real lag. I cannot complain about performance at all. My ipad air2 is great, but could use a performance boost. It is here and the big ipad where I hope they push the ARM chips. the 10nm is great, but I am looking for multi-core performance that can beat not just the intel Atom chips (which they can) but the higher end i5 and i7 chips. I think when we have significant chip performance, Apple can open up iOS to do more macOS functions (since the kernal is the same) and my dream of buying a big ipad to replace my computer will be fulfilled. It may be TSMC or Samsung or even Intel (which now produces ARM chips as well). But give us the power and then the OS to do it all on the iPad.

 

[gigapocket1]

I just have this weird feeling that the iPhone 6Ss/7 will just be a temporary product.. With the iPhone "8" returning to the original iPhone release schedule of July or even April... Basically. We will get one phone for 6 months before they release the real next iteration

 

[dominiongamma]

I just have this weird feeling that the iPhone 6Ss/7 will just be a temporary product.. With the iPhone "8" returning to the original iPhone release schedule of July or even April... Basically. We will get one phone for 6 months before they release the real next iteration

Lots of people will be pissed if that happens lol I do miss iPhones released during the summer though.

 

[Zirel]

See, those who keep arguing iPhone 7 is more than just looks. This is what's coming for iPhone 8, other than AMOLED screens.

Yeah, we read rumor sites too… the difference is that we know what rumours and confirmations are.

 

[ValO]

They already seem to have taped out A11 10 nm socs and a few other 10nm ' s .
Could be the Apple Watch 2.0 soc.
It would make sense to make a 10nm soc for the Apple Watch , so they can perfect the manufact process for the a11(x) socs. Apple Watch needs a very low power soc even more than the iPads and iPhones, and because of the lower quantities, there would be less pressure to meet demand.
I think watch 2 will be amazing.

I guess it has to be amazing.
A great MacBook (pro) update and a great watch update will have to make up for the slightly disappointing iPhone 7 release. To release pressure on Apple till iPhone 8.
I am also hoping for a great iOS 10 ipdate with special surprise features for iPad Pro , to make it even more a pro machine. (Simple filemanager, 3D Touch by Apple Pencil , etc) this fall or winter.

 

[Savor]

No, the 2017 phone will be a radical departure... not an "s" model.

All glass design. OLED. It will be an "s" model for Samsung-ish.

Suck is Samsung. Delighted! They stand for nothing and thusly deserve some karmic repercussions for all the mindless copying they do. It just happens to be called an S7? Amazing coincidence!

Um, ok.

Samsung also makes SSD storage and displays too, ya know? Something Apple and other brands still uses.

The irony here is while the Samsung chip has worse battery life than the TSMC for iPhones last year, their Exynos is more power efficient than Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 for their S7 this year. Samsung screwed the Americans by only giving the Qualcomm ones while saving the Exynos S7's for the other continents.

Maybe Samsung wanted to screw up iPhone users last year and focus more on their own chips lately. Love-hate-love-hate-gets taken to court-makeup sex-wash-rinse-repeat. Screw the hate. Samsung and Apple deserve each other like any typical married couple. Al & Peggy Bundy.