TSMC enters mass production of 'A13' chips in preparation for 2019 iPhone launch
Apple chip partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has commenced production of the next iPhone System-on-Chip, the Apple-designed "A13," one that is thought to start mass production in May ahead of the annual iPhone refresh in September.
Firms in the iPhone supply chain are expected to be working to produce components in preparation for assembly of the latest iPhone models at this time of year. According to one report, this includes TSMC, the company tasked with manufacturing the all-important A-series chip that goes into the new releases.
According to an internal TSMC source of Bloomberg, the company went into early test production of the new A-series chip in April, with mass production planned for "as early as this month."
The A-series chip for 2019's iPhones is thought to be the "A13," a name that follows the trend of an annual numerical increment. While few details about the chip's capabilities are rumored, it is likely to include both general and graphical performance increases over earlier iterations.
TSMC's manufacturing capacity for its 7-nanometer production process will likely be pushed to the limit for this year's models, and could possibly freeze out TSMC's lines for its other clients entirely for the quarter. TSMC is also tipped to be using a new enhanced process for the "A13" from other previous 7-nanometer chips, with "N7 Pro," though exactly what the differences are from the established process remains unknown.
The "A13" could be the last A-series chip TSMC produces for Apple using a 7-nanometer process. The "A14" for 2020 may use a 6-nanometer process, while a 5-nanometer process is also under development that could be used for future versions.
The remainder of Friday's report contains no new information in regards to the new iPhones, that Ming-Chi Kuo from TF Securities hasn't already discussed. The 2019 iPhones are rumored to be called the "iPhone XI," "iPhone XI Max," and the "iPhone XE," updated variants of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. While staying relatively similar in terms of design, with an expected spec bump, the main change is the addition of an extra camera for each, with the two premium models having three cameras to the "XE" having two.
Firms in the iPhone supply chain are expected to be working to produce components in preparation for assembly of the latest iPhone models at this time of year. According to one report, this includes TSMC, the company tasked with manufacturing the all-important A-series chip that goes into the new releases.
According to an internal TSMC source of Bloomberg, the company went into early test production of the new A-series chip in April, with mass production planned for "as early as this month."
The A-series chip for 2019's iPhones is thought to be the "A13," a name that follows the trend of an annual numerical increment. While few details about the chip's capabilities are rumored, it is likely to include both general and graphical performance increases over earlier iterations.
TSMC's manufacturing capacity for its 7-nanometer production process will likely be pushed to the limit for this year's models, and could possibly freeze out TSMC's lines for its other clients entirely for the quarter. TSMC is also tipped to be using a new enhanced process for the "A13" from other previous 7-nanometer chips, with "N7 Pro," though exactly what the differences are from the established process remains unknown.
The "A13" could be the last A-series chip TSMC produces for Apple using a 7-nanometer process. The "A14" for 2020 may use a 6-nanometer process, while a 5-nanometer process is also under development that could be used for future versions.
The remainder of Friday's report contains no new information in regards to the new iPhones, that Ming-Chi Kuo from TF Securities hasn't already discussed. The 2019 iPhones are rumored to be called the "iPhone XI," "iPhone XI Max," and the "iPhone XE," updated variants of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. While staying relatively similar in terms of design, with an expected spec bump, the main change is the addition of an extra camera for each, with the two premium models having three cameras to the "XE" having two.
Comments
There won’t be anything big from Huawei this year. They (and Qualcomm) got lucky last year in that ARM finished their A76 core design in time to coincide with TSMC 7nm production. The “stars aligned” as they say, and that’s why the Kirin 980 was good (though still behind Apple).
This year there’s no new ARM cores to use, so all they can hope for are minor improvements from the slight change that N7 Pro will bring to their existing cores.
Meanwhile Apple gets the upgrade from N7 along with whatever changes they make to their custom cores. Nobody is going to touch the A13 this year, or well into 2020.
Both the Kirin 970 and the Kirin 980 were formally presented at IFA 2017 and IFA 2018 respectively.
These are not 'announcements' but official launches of the new SoCs. The reason the launches are not tied to a product presentation is that Kirins end up in much more than typical mobile devices.
IFA is usually held in August. Logically, the SoC becomes official at launch and if there are firsts involved, they get mentioned.
This clearly irritates you for some reason as you continually jump on these stories. It shouldn't irritate you. It's how things work and there is no mystery involved.
The chipset on my phone is a full generation behind my wife's A12. The big news is that my phone is as fast as her phone on everything we use it for with one exception (camera readiness). But then my camera can take pics that she can't.
CPU Speed stopped being real news to consumers - years ago!
On the other hand wifi and modem speed are something else. Reception is something else. Battery life is something else. Charging is something else. The camera versatility is something else etc
It might be wise to consider these aspects before becoming obfuscated with CPU speed.
WTF.
Apple actually delivered iPhones with A12's in volume 30 days before Huawei delivered the P20 series, so "launch" dates mean diddly. I argued with you at the time that Huawei was in fact following Apple's TMSC production, which is, as again in this case, absolutely true. Why else would Huawei have held back delivering the P20's? If they did, It would demonstrate how poor their logistics were.
Bullshit.
You’re just a Huawei shill who’s trying to change industry accepted practices so your employer can claim to be first at something.
The first company to ship silicon to consumers is the only one who counts. Announcements months ahead of this are meaningless.
You're the one who gets irritated when we call out you and Huawei’s bullshit.
Ah yes, more bullshit from the shill.
Were talking about processors. As in CPUs and GPUs. And as your history shows, you always try to weasel in WiF or modem speed and pretend that it has a bigger impact on performance than a CPU/GPU.
Nothing pisses off trolls more than talking about Apple processors. They can’t stand that Apple is vastly superior.
They should just skip straight to 0-nanometer and deliver the truly transparent all-glass iPhone that is the future!
Intel launches new processors. No one doubts they exist and have been launched. No one claims they only exist once they appear in a product. That's crazy.
That's what happens with HiSilicon/Huawei. The difference is that in this case the first shipping end product is reserved exclusively for Huawei and Huawei products run to a schedule that depends on many other factors - not only SoC availability.
That's why, to give you a clear example, sites such as Anandtech make clear in their references to the A12 for example that it was the first commercial 7nm SoC.
What grates on you is that Huawei dares use the word 'first'. I'm sorry for you.
It's not even that important given the difference in shipping products from both vendors, but there you go....
At that time, Apple had been in production on the A12 at TMSC for months, in order to get enough A12's for iPhone delivery's in September.
I reiterate. If Huawei was first on that 7nm production, then why did they delay the delivery of the P20 series until after the iPhone was launched?
It was the whole shebang ready for development.
It had been in mass production in parallel to the A12! IIRC since around April/May. Like is rumoured to be happening now.
Kirin 980:
https://www.gizchina.com/2018/04/07/huawei-to-commence-mass-production-of-7nm-process-kirin-980-this-quarter/
Kirin 985:
https://www.gizmochina.com/2019/04/15/huawei-kirin-985-q2-2019-tsmc-7nm-euv/
Rumours, rumours ...
And the Mate 20 Series was not 'delayed'. It shipped in accordance to Huawei's plans.