Apple's A8 Chip Production for iPhone 6 Underway at TSMC

tsmc_logo_newApple's new chip partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has begun production on the next-generation A8 chip destined for the iPhone 6 later this year, according to a report [Google Translate] from Taiwan's Commercial Times picked up by AFP.

The world's leading contract microchip maker last month started producing the A8 chip, which is tipped to power the expected iPhone 6, the Commercial Times reported.

The report, which cited supply chain sources, said TSMC had won most of the manufacturing orders for logic and power management integrated chips for the new handset.

The report claims that the new 20-nanometer A8 will include a quad-core 64-bit processor and quad-core graphics, and that an earlier start to chip production compared to the previous years could give Apple the flexibility to comfortably launch the new iPhone in the third quarter of this year.

Samsung has been Apple's exclusive manufacturing partner for A-series chips, but Apple has long been reported to be trying to shift orders to TSMC. After years of rumors, Apple and TSMC reportedly struck a deal in mid-2013 to begin chip production in early 2014. TSMC and Samsung were initially reported to be splitting the production load for the A8, but Samsung is now said to have dropped out due to low yields.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Users Report Static Speaker Noise While Charging

Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging. There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With a Rough iPhone Fold Mockup

Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
macbook air march 2020

Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September. The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...

Top Rated Comments

LagunaSol Avatar
154 months ago
Here's to a someday Samsung-free iPhone.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carjakester Avatar
154 months ago
Insert comment about logo
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fins831 Avatar
154 months ago
TSMC could ask anyone on Reddit to create a better logo. Or a 2nd grader with photoshop
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mcphee7 Avatar
154 months ago
Just in time to replace my slow 5s :rolleyes:
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ericinboston Avatar
154 months ago
As tired as we get of rationed, incremental and somewhat predictable change I've still got to say bring it on.

I agree (and I'm a techie). The issue I have with the iPhone (I have the 4S) is that from a customer point of view, there's not a lot of apps that require a new/newly architected CPU every 12 months. Not to mention that iOS/iPhone is still missing a lot of basic functionality that has nothing to do with CPU speed. Granted there *may* be something coming in the next iPhone 6 that might require a better CPU/performance than what the 5S has now, but that's a lot of architecture for 1 item.

Some of the basics that I was talking about that are missing after almost a decade of iPhone are:

-better/more parental/security areas...such as allowing me to view my pictures but disable the Trash button...or include some kind of black list for dirty websites (since Apple already bans all sorts of stuff in the App store)...or offer the ability to force the email system to ask me for the password every ______ hours/days/weeks/power cycles/whatever.

-better history/caching control of Safari...it's really weak that it can't remember what website I was at 10 days ago

-better/longer record of phone calls...I believe the max is 50 received calls and 50 dialed calls. Seriously? 16-64GB of storage and this is the best Apple can do?

-better Airplay integration...such as DIRECTLY to the other Airplay device and NOT over a network/router

-the ability to EASILY get my 1080 videos off the iPhone AND at 1080...ludicrous that I record at 1080 but when I push to Youtube it's 720 or worse...and that I must jump through all kinds of hoops to get the video off my iPhone and onto computer...it should be a simple feature in iTunes.

-the ability to send longer/better quality videos by email....Hotmail, Yahoo, Google, and others provide a 25MB attachment size limit while Apple is still holding onto its 5MB-is-the-largest-we-can-possibly-send-because-it's-1993 motto.

-the ability to store, locally, in some kind of folder my email attachments....PDFs, music, etc.

-I love the All Inboxes but why isn't there an All Sent box so I can easily see all the emails I've sent from my various email accounts?

-An editing feature of photos...so that if the iPhone accidentally mixes up the orientation of a photo (which it ALWAYS does when you take a photo looking straight down at the floor), you can just flip the orientation.



There are a lot of other small things that would make the iPhone/iOS so more awesome...most of these items would be quite trivial to add.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Taz Mangus Avatar
154 months ago
TSMC could ask anyone on Reddit to create a better logo. Or a 2nd grader with photoshop

Yes, because a company logo effects how well they build a product. Some people have too much time on their hands worrying about such trival matters.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)