San Francisco, Jan 3: Apple chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has secured orders for the “A14” processors and it is expected to start manufacturing the chips in the second quarter of this year.
The chips will likely be used in the next generation of Apple’s iPhones, including the iPhone 12 and the rumoured “iPhone SE 2”.
The new A14 chip will be manufactured using TSMC’s new 5 nanometer production process, down from 7 nanometer fabrication.
Chips using the 5-nanometer EUV process stand to offer a 1.8-times logic density improvement and 15-percent speed gain on ARM Cortex-A72 cores over the 7-nanometer process, reports AppleInsider.
Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has recently claime that Apple may launch four 5G-enabled iPhones next year and while 5G-related components could raise the production costs of the devices, he believes that the iPhone maker will not significantly increase the price of 5G iPhones.
5G components are projected to raise the production cost of the new iPhones by anywhere from $30 to $100.
Kuo states that Apple intends to offset this additional cost by reducing its supply chain expenses, including dropping its upfront non-recurring engineering payment to suppliers of the redesigned metal chassis and frame for 5G iPhone.
Additionally, Apple’s plans of introducing its own iPhone 5G chip could take as long as six years.
In order to reduce its reliance on suppliers, the iPhone-maker has been designing a lot of components which would be required to integrate superfast 5G connectivity into phones by itself.
According to a report by The Information, Apple may not have a homegrown 5G modem ready for its iPhones till 2025.
