TSMC Begins Production of A11 Processor After Initial Manufacturing Issues Resolved

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has commenced production of Apple's A11 processor, according to a new report by DigiTimes. The chip is expected to power the company's redesigned OLED "iPhone 8", scheduled to launch in the fall.

TSMC is the sole supplier of A11 chips, which could also make their way into the upgraded "S" cycle models of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and potentially upcoming iPad refreshes this year, too.

TSMC originally aimed to start producing the chip in April with a view to completing 50 million units by July, but production was delayed because of issues in the 10-nanometer FinFET manufacturing process. However, those problems have now been solved, according to today's report.

TSMC has begun 10nm chip production for Apple's next-generation iPhone 8 series, the sources said. Production was once affected by issues involving stacking components in the backend integrated fan-out packaging process, but they have already been solved, the sources said.

Apart from faster A11 processors, all three rumored iPhone models may include glass bodies and wireless charging (though rumors disagree on this point). It is unclear if the two LCD models will feature the same edge-to-edge display rumored for the higher-end device and what other features will be included.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested that production issues could result in a "severe" shortage of Apple's upcoming "tenth anniversary" OLED iPhone in the months following its rumored September launch, but other sources claim production is on schedule.

TSMC was also the sole maker of the A10 chip in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which helped lead the chip maker to revenue growth towards the end of 2016.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8

Tags: TSMC, A11 chip

Top Rated Comments

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NT1440

31 months ago

Utter domination in chip performance. Yet, Apple is not innovating.

Schiller must be banging his head on a wall.

It's an absurd state of affairs isn't it? The very basis of differentiation for iOS devices going forward is going to be integration of iOS with Apple's developed-in-house chips (Tx,Wx,Ax, etc) but the tech "journalists" can't seem to get over the fact that Apple hasn't stuck a ****ing speaker in people's house within a few months Amazon/Google doing it.

What a world. :rolleyes:

Rating: 10 Votes

djcerla

31 months ago

Utter domination in chip performance. Yet, Apple is not innovating.

Schiller must be banging his head on a wall.

Rating: 7 Votes

Sirious

31 months ago

I secretly wished that A10 and iOS 10 made it onto the 10th anniversary iPhones - all 10's.

Rating: 7 Votes

MacFan23

31 months ago

It's weird how much people relate appearances to innovation as well. Apple could make a huge leap in hardware and performance, but if it looked similar to the current iPhone it'd get criticised.

Rating: 5 Votes

Jsameds

31 months ago

Utter domination in chip performance. Yet, Apple is not innovating.

Schiller must be banging his head on a wall.

Tell me about it.

Aside from this, I'd say the Airpods were the most innovative product of last year yet they went under the radar without so much as a blip.

Shame.

Rating: 4 Votes

NT1440

31 months ago

This is one of the most concise—yet accurate—assessments I've seen around here. That being said, Siri really needs to get it's crap together. I expect that to happen in a few weeks.

Seeing as they've been working with a team in Cambridge for the last 3 years on Siri, I expect a massive overhaul at WWDC as well.

Rating: 3 Votes

Zirel

31 months ago

Just a reminder, if Apple keeps raising the performance of their A-series chips like they have been for the past 3 generations, it means that the iPhone will have definitively faster CPUs than Intel Core M line.

Rating: 2 Votes

jezbd1997

31 months ago

A10 Chip & iOS10 was interduced with iPhone 7 last year, Apple has already begin production of A11 chip for iPhone 8. Sorry Your wish will never come true

I think he, and all of us already know that.

Rating: 2 Votes

redscull

31 months ago

It's weird how much people relate appearances to innovation as well. Apple could make a huge leap in hardware and performance, but if it looked similar to the current iPhone it'd get criticised.

I'm not going to say you're wrong, but for me and I'm sure some others, the problem with new models looking similar is that I think the currrent model looks terrible. I disliked it on the first iteration with iPhone 6 and all subsequent iterations. So it's not so much a criticism of re-using the same model, it's a criticism of the model itself and the disappointment of being stuck with it is just salt in the wound.

The 5S/SE is still the prettiest iPhone Apple has made. I wouldn't mind being stuck on that model (and in fact use an SE). Even the 5C was better looking, though certainly with a less serious flair.

Rating: 2 Votes