Rumor: TSMC now building quad-core 'A8' chips for Apple's next-gen iPhone
While rumors of a partnership between Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have lingered for years, yet another report on Wednesday claims once again that the Taiwanese chipmaker is now producing chips for the company -- namely a next-generation "A8" processor for the 2014 iPhone.
TSMC's 12-inch wafer fab
The latest claims about Apple and TSMC were published by Taiwan's Commercial Times, and were summarized by AFP. The report suggests that TSMC has won "most" of the orders for Apple's next mobile processor, said to be a quad-core CPU, taking business away from rival Samsung.
Any claims regarding Apple and TSMC, however, should be taken with a grain of salt, as reports have suggested for years that the Taiwanese company would begin producing chips for the iPhone in the near future. To date, Samsung has produced all of the mobile CPUs for Apple's iPhone and iPad, including the 64-bit A7 processor found in the iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display.
The latest such claims came in January, when it was said TSMC was ramping up production of its 20-nanometer chipmaking process to begin building Apple's rumored "A8" processor. At that time, production was allegedly slated to begin in the second quarter of 2014, which doesn't start until April.
Also suspect is the claim that TSMC will occupy most of the chip production capacity for Apple's iOS devices. While Samsung has proven capable of providing adequate silicon to Apple, there have been some concerns that TSMC may not be able to keep up with consumer demand for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple has been gradually moving away from its reliance on Samsung for components in its devices as the two companies have become fierce competitors. Claims of a chip partnership between Apple and TSMC date back to 2012, and have been incorrectly linked to both the A6X and A7 processors, both of which were actually manufactured by Samsung in Austin, Tex.
As for the next iPhone, it's expected that Apple will continue with its annual release cycle and debut a new handset in late 2014. Numerous rumors have suggested Apple is planning to increase the display with a so-called "iPhone 6," though it is not expected to be any larger than 5 inches.
TSMC's 12-inch wafer fab
The latest claims about Apple and TSMC were published by Taiwan's Commercial Times, and were summarized by AFP. The report suggests that TSMC has won "most" of the orders for Apple's next mobile processor, said to be a quad-core CPU, taking business away from rival Samsung.
Any claims regarding Apple and TSMC, however, should be taken with a grain of salt, as reports have suggested for years that the Taiwanese company would begin producing chips for the iPhone in the near future. To date, Samsung has produced all of the mobile CPUs for Apple's iPhone and iPad, including the 64-bit A7 processor found in the iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display.
The latest such claims came in January, when it was said TSMC was ramping up production of its 20-nanometer chipmaking process to begin building Apple's rumored "A8" processor. At that time, production was allegedly slated to begin in the second quarter of 2014, which doesn't start until April.
Also suspect is the claim that TSMC will occupy most of the chip production capacity for Apple's iOS devices. While Samsung has proven capable of providing adequate silicon to Apple, there have been some concerns that TSMC may not be able to keep up with consumer demand for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple has been gradually moving away from its reliance on Samsung for components in its devices as the two companies have become fierce competitors. Claims of a chip partnership between Apple and TSMC date back to 2012, and have been incorrectly linked to both the A6X and A7 processors, both of which were actually manufactured by Samsung in Austin, Tex.
As for the next iPhone, it's expected that Apple will continue with its annual release cycle and debut a new handset in late 2014. Numerous rumors have suggested Apple is planning to increase the display with a so-called "iPhone 6," though it is not expected to be any larger than 5 inches.
Comments
Bring those rumors up, its been boring lately. I want iphone, ipad, tv, watch rumors, or better, leaked parts.
Can someone explain why they manufacture rectangular chips on a round wafer?
Claims of a chip partnership between Apple and TSMC date back to 2012, and have been incorrectly linked to both the A6X and A7 processors, both of which were actually manufactured by Samsung in Austin, Tex.
This is why I choose not the believe this rumor. Fool me once (and twice)...
Glad we saved 2 bytes by not using the full name of the state. Could have saved 3 by using a proper abbreviation...
I can see Apple finally making the move to quad core with a smaller process (like 20-22nm). The A7 cores are so far ahead of everyone else who uses ARM I just don't see how Apple is going to be able to make their usual "double the performance of last year" claim with the A8 simply by sticking to two cores and the same clock speed. But a quad core A8 (using A7 cores) would be a beast.
I think Intel should be worried. Apple has been making huge improvements to their processors at a rate that surpasses Intel. When's the last time a new Intel processor doubled the performance of the previous version?
Can someone explain why they manufacture rectangular chips on a round wafer?
The wafers are cut from silicon ingots which are large cylinders.
http://apcmag.com/picture-gallery-how-a-chip-is-made.htm
Cotton Candy!
Back in the early 1960s I worked for Hoffman Semiconductor -- they made devices from Silicon.
The process begins with growing [pulling] an ingot from a container of molten silicon... Hoffman had a clean room visible from the lobby that showed this process in action -- like watching paint dry. AIR, the ingots were 5 or 6 inches in diameter.
I found the following, which shows how little this part of the process has changed in 54 years:
[VIDEO]
Growing the ingot is analogous to making cotton candy!
If a far lower clocked dual CPU with less Ram can still compete very well with the Galaxy S5 which is a far newer phone, I am excited to see benchmarks and real world use tests with a quad-core that is likely to be clocked higher and also might bump up the Ram. Couple that CPU/Ram advancement with a larger display and that could be the death knell for Samsung's foray into high-end phones. Their sales could plummet. The only reason people had to buy a Galaxy type phone was the larger display and bragging rights about quad-core and more Ram. Sure there will still be some Apple haters who will always buy anything as long as it is not made by Apple but they are a vocal but tiny minority of actual customers. The iPhone will have a more premium feel thanks to the metal and sapphire glass, and will no longer be penalized in the minds of some due to a smallish display. Samsung will have a very tough job to convince people to buy one of their phones. They can't continue to make the displays any larger like they have done in the past since they have already reached the limit. If they offer metal that could increase their costs. They can't introduce 64-bit without Google making sure Android is optimized for that which is unlikely anytime soon. Their fingerprint scanner is likely to be widely panned in comparison to Touch ID. There is really not much they will be able to add or change to differentiate a Galaxy as they have done in the past. They better hope Google introduces a new version of Android after Kitkat that makes a large number of people want to stick with that platform because otherwise I see Apple dominating market share at the high-end next year.
Can someone explain why they manufacture rectangular chips on a round wafer?
I believe it is because when you grow the base silicon it comes out as a long cylinder which is then sliced to make the wafers.
The wafers are cut from silicon ingots which are large cylinders.
http://apcmag.com/picture-gallery-how-a-chip-is-made.htm
In addition to the way the silicon is grown, they spin the disk while applying each layer of coating. Having a square disk would cause uneven distribution of the coating and would require a larger machine to spin it.
If a far lower clocked dual CPU with less Ram can still compete very well with the Galaxy S5 which is a far newer phone, I am excited to see benchmarks and real world use tests with a quad-core that is likely to be clocked higher and also might bump up the Ram. ...They can't introduce 64-bit without Google making sure Android is optimized for that which is unlikely anytime soon. Their fingerprint scanner is likely to be widely panned in comparison to Touch ID. There is really not much they will be able to add or change to differentiate a Galaxy as they have done in the past. ...
I have yet to see information showing Android use all four cores or a quad core at the same time. OS X does this with many applications so I have no doubt iOS will be adjusted (if not already) to use more than two cores at the same time. Couple this with 64bit and I agree Android will be even further behind. The quad-core would be great for an iPad and possibly for a MBP Air if Apple sees any advantage in using an A8 over an Intel chip.
I have yet to see information showing Android use all four cores or a quad core at the same time. OS X does this with many applications so I have no doubt iOS will be adjusted (if not already) to use more than two cores at the same time. Couple this with 64bit and I agree Android will be even further behind. The quad-core would be great for an iPad and possibly for a MBP Air if Apple sees any advantage in using an A8 over an Intel chip.
back in 2011
current
ARM/Apple will never catch to Intel in high end raw performance.
back in 2011
current
ARM/Apple will never catch to Intel in high end raw performance.
True, no ARM cpu will ever catch Intel on raw performance because they don't play with the same basic rules.
But Its also true, Intel will never catch ARM on efficiency or performance per watt.
Same applies to overhyped Nvidia Tegra, will having a more powerful graphics processor than Imagination PowerVR used by Apple, they can't compete on the efficiency level.
I can see Apple finally making the move to quad core with a smaller process (like 20-22nm). The A7 cores are so far ahead of everyone else who uses ARM I just don't see how Apple is going to be able to make their usual "double the performance of last year" claim with the A8 simply by sticking to two cores and the same clock speed. But a quad core A8 (using A7 cores) would be a beast.
I think Intel should be worried. Apple has been making huge improvements to their processors at a rate that surpasses Intel. When's the last time a new Intel processor doubled the performance of the previous version?
Personally, I think this will be the year we see the iPad leap away from the iPhone in terms of performance. If Apple really wants the iPad to become the "Post-PC" productivity computer they always claimed it to be, it has to move past what mobile phones are capable of and really push the bounds of performance. Yes, I understand they are currently extremely capable and powerful now, but to many, that performance has to approach what's available in traditional computers; granted, it'll be a long while before they reach high or even mid level systems, but they could enter low end territory. Especially in real world use due to iOS being an extremely efficient OS with a fraction of the overhead that can bog down traditional desktop operating systems.
With that in mind, I think the iPhone 6 will have a dual core A8 clocked about the same or even less than it is now. Instead of trying to woo everyone with a huge performance leap, they'll concentrate on maximizing efficiency to extend the battery life beyond what any competitor will be able to match. The performance of the Cyclone cores found in the A7 are still far and away higher than anything else in the industry. (I'm not talking raw performance numbers, I'm talking about efficiency; performance per clock cycle.)
The next iPad Air will get a much beefier A8, the A8X. With four CPU cores running at an increased speed (1.5GHz or 1.7GHz) it will definitely push passed the bounds of "mobile" performance, but still be able to retain its industry leading battery performance at 10+ hours. With iPad Air becoming the "Pro" productivity tablet, the iPad mini will assume the role of the "consumption" device and as such will not have the A8X, but will use the same A8 that's found in the iPhone 6. (Or it may well in fact continue to use the A7.)
Suddenly quad core CPU's are the best!
True, no ARM cpu will ever catch Intel on raw performance because they don't play with the same basic rules.
But Its also true, Intel will never catch ARM on efficiency or performance per watt.
Same applies to overhyped Nvidia Tegra, will having a more powerful graphics processor than Imagination PowerVR used by Apple, they can't compete on the efficiency level.
In the case of Intel, they'll be moving to 14nm production by the end of this year, even if the architecture is not as power efficient, the 14nm process will offer them a reasonable leap.
NVIDIA's Kepler based K1 has improved efficiency by a considerable margin making it pretty close to PowerVR 6. Assuming the jump to Maxwell based SoC is anything like the cores seen in the 750/750 ti, it should allow NVIDIA to overtake Imagination.
ARM/Apple will never catch to Intel in high end raw performance.
True, but Apple could start designing their own x86_64 (AMD64) cores to use in Macs.
Say it enough and eventually it’ll be true.
That 2.5” iPhone is coming out any day now.