Samsung to Assist with Production of Apple's Next-Generation A8 Chip
Back in June, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) struck a three-year deal with Apple to produce A-series chips for iOS devices beginning in 2014. The move was seen as part of Apple's strategy of moving away from rival Samsung for component supplies, although Samsung was soon after reported to have landed its own deal to once again produce chips beginning with the A9 in 2015.
According to Korean news outlet Hankyung [Google Translate] (via The Verge), Samsung will also remain involved in next year's A8 chip family, with TSMC handling 60 to 70 percent of the manufacturing load and Samsung picking up the remainder.
Today's rumor about the A8 chip still makes it unclear as to whether TSMC and Samsung will both produce A9 chips for Apple in 2015, but it seems that Apple is working hard to diversify its supplier relationships and will be drawing on both TSMC and Samsung for the foreseeable future as the two companies compete to push their technology forward.
A look into the A7 processor last week revealed that Samsung was indeed the manufacturer for the chip, with the chip produced at a smaller 28-nm node compared to the 32-nm A6. Currently, the A7 chip is used in the iPhone 5s, and an updated "A7X" version of the chip is almost certainly set to arrive in Apple’s next-generation iPad and perhaps an upcoming iPad mini with Retina display.
Popular Stories
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, GameCube, Wii,...
Top Rated Comments
Actually it is. It points out the hypocrisy of some. Clearly I meant it in jest. But maybe some people will realize how silly it is for them to be so spiteful when in fact they benefit from their existence.
...or how many samsung "haters" will demand to have a iDevice that does NOT have a Samsung chip in it ;)
Why? Samsung makes the best mobile chips in the world. Its a good thing Apple knows what they are doing and not taking directions from Macrumors. :)