A10 Fusion

TSMC posts record profits as iPhone 7 demand fuels orders for A10 Fusion chip

Chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) today posted record profits and its shares have climbed to their highest level on record as strong demand for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus fuels orders for the handsets' in-housed designed A10 Fusion processor. That TSMC is the sole supplier of the A10 has no doubt helped it capture record profits amid a global slowdown in the smartphone market.

Alleged A10X Fusion benchmark suggests 20+ percent faster CPU in 2017 iPads

Apple typically takes the iPhone's A-series chips and updates them for iPads with more GPU cores and a faster performing, higher-clocked CPU. These chips typically have an “X” in their name, but with new iPad Pros and a fifth-generation iPad mini due in Spring 2017 the company has not yet officially announced an “X” variant of the iPhone 7's A10 Fusion chip.

Today, a source on Chinese social network Weibo posted alleged synthetic GeekBench 4 benchmark scores that could indicate at least one-fifth faster CPU performance in both single-core and dual-core computing for the purported A10X Fusion chip.

iPhone 7 model A1778: Intel modem confirmed, 1,960 mAh battery, “incredibly thin” A10 Fusion chip

Following iFixit's analysis of the components and internal layout changes in the iPhone 7 Plus, semiconductor experts over at Chipworks and TechInsights have performed a joint in-depth analysis of the chips in the 128GB iPhone 7 model “A1778” to identify the key integrated circuits at play.

The Apple-designed A10 Fusion chip is “incredibly thin,” Chipworks has discovered, thanks to TSMC's InFO packaging technique resulting in a thinner package. Perhaps more interesting than that, the AT&T and T-Mobile edition of the handset indeed comes with Intel's LTE modem inside versus Qualcomm's that powers cellular connectivity in other hardware versions of the device.

Poll: Will you be upgrading to iPhone 7?

Apple's newly-unveiled iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are truly stunning in visual appeal and new features, and many of you are undoubtedly going to be either pre-ordering this Friday or lining up at your local stores to try and get one when they're available.