Apple Continuing Work on M2 Chip With Help From Samsung

Apple is continuing its work on the upcoming "M2" chip with help from Samsung Electro-Mechanics, ET News reports.

m2 feature
Samsung Electro-Mechanics supplies the flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA), a printed circuit board used to connect the semiconductor chip to the main substrate, for the M1 chip. This detail did not emerge until almost a year after the ‌M1‌ chip was introduced, when it was uncovered by The Elec.

While the ‌M1‌, like all of Apple's custom silicon SoCs, is fabricated exclusively by Taiwan's TSMC, the chip includes components from several suppliers. For example, the chip's board is supplied by Ibiden and Unimicron, so it is necessary for Apple to coordinate multiple suppliers for its next-generation SoC for the Mac.

According to today's report from ET News, Samsung is expected to continue to provide the FC-BGA for the ‌M2‌. The company is said to be collaborating with Apple in a project to develop the ‌M2‌ chip and will complete work on the FC-BGA for it this year.

Apple purportedly began developing the ‌M2‌ immediately after introducing the ‌M1‌ chip. The report reiterated Mark Gurman's claim that Apple is testing at least nine new Macs with four different ‌M2‌ chip variants, and that the first devices with the ‌M2‌ could debut in the first half of 2022. The chip could first be introduced in Apple's redesigned MacBook Air.

Top Rated Comments

EugW Avatar
26 months ago

Apple purportedly began developing the M2 immediately after introducing the M1 chip.
I'm sure Apple began developing M2 long before the M1 was publicly introduced.


Samsung for years has been talking about creating their own chips for a variety of devices, but somehow always seems to be just a fabricator for other companies. I wonder what keeps holding them back.
??

Samsung has been producing their own chips for many, many years. In fact, the first iPhones used Samsung CPUs.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IIGS User Avatar
26 months ago
Samsung is a giant company, and their work for Apple generates a lot of revenue for them.

Apple gets a reliable producer, while Samsung gets a good customer. Both do well on the transaction.

Sometimes people see the differences or "rivalries" between companies in the same light as sports teams or politicians.

This simply isn't the case with corporations. What works, works, and what doesn't doesn't. Apple, Samsung, and TSMC work well together to get things "done". As someone stated upthread, Samsung has been a major supplier for Apple for a long time now.

I'm sure Logistics Tim recognizes the "if it aint broke don't fix it" aspect of the relationship, and continues to do business with Samsung because it's good business, and business is good.....
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dugbug Avatar
26 months ago
This is a weird title. They are providing the BGA, something they do for lots of manufacturers. This has nothing to do with the M2 other than hey, the M2 is a 'chip'.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hagjohn Avatar
26 months ago
I do not believe for a minute that they started working on M2 right after M1 was released. Something as complicated as Mx SOC would take years to plan and they would have a working roadmap where they are developing multiple SOCs years ahead of time.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
26 months ago
Apple is probably Samsung’s biggest client. It looks like the transition to the Apple Silicon Chip is going smooth.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krspkbl Avatar
26 months ago
this is why fanboyism is stupid. these huge companies don't give a **** about you defending them on the internet. apple + samsung get on fine with each other.

i'm looking forward to M2. not that i can ****ing afford any of Apple's Macs. at best i'll pick up an iPad with one in it to replace my M1 iPad
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store [Updated]

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
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, SEGA Genesis,...