As expected, TSMC will continue to be responsible for Apple’s A14 chip production this year. The Taiwan-based chipmaker has been the sole factory of Apple’s A-series chips for several years. The A14 chip will utilize TSMC’s latest 5nm process, according to a report from DigiTimes.
When A12 first arrived in the iPhone XS, which adopted the 7nm process, was already the most advanced tech at that time, and Apple was also the world’s first smartphone manufacturer to use 7nm technology chips. Now that TSMC’s 5nm process is mature, there’s no doubt that the iPhone 12 series will likely to become the world’s first smartphone to equip with a 5nm process chip in 2020.
A more advanced processes mean ultimately more transistors, therefore, better energy efficiency, as well as better performance.
It’s expected that A14 will begin to enter mass production at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and cover one-third of TSMC 5nm production capacity.
Apple is expected to launch four iPhones next fall, including iPhone 12 with 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch OLED panels, iPhone 12 Pro with 6.1-inch OLED panel, and iPhone 12 Pro Max with 6.7-inch OLED panel. Rumors have it that iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max will implement with a time-of-flight (ToF) camera and possibly redesign to the metal frame.
Image Via Patently Apple
