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The report, citing unnamed sources within Apple’s supply chain, claims the A12 chip will be manufactured based on a 7nm process and incorporate extreme ultraviolet technology, allowing for more transistors to be packed into a smaller wafer, and paving the way for continued performance improvements in the next iPhones.
TSMC is already the exclusive supplier of A11 Bionic chips for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, and it was also said to be the sole manufacturer of A10 Fusion chips for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
If the report is accurate, it would be a loss for Samsung, which has been attempting to win back orders from Apple for around two years. Both Samsung and TSMC supplied Apple with A9 chips for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE, but Apple has relied upon TSMC as its sole supplier for newer devices.
The Korea Herald last July reported that Samsung had secured a deal to supply some of the A12 chips for new iPhones in 2018, but two days later, DigiTimes reported that TSMC was still likely to obtain all of the next-generation A-series chip orders for Apple’s upcoming 2018 series of iPhones.
TSMC’s in-house InFO wafer-level packaging is said to make its 7nm FinFET technology more competitive than Samsung’s. Our own Chris Jenkins provided an in-depth technical look at this package process last September.
