A8

Rumor: iPhone 6’s A8 chip won’t integrate LTE

Starting with the iPhone 5, Apple has switched to using a single-chip LTE module which, by the way, costs $10 more than the cellular module in the iPhone 4s.

There has been talk lately of Apple possibly adopting a tightly integrated solution that would combine both LTE modem and a main processor on a single A8 chip, akin to many Android devices.

According to a new report by Fudzilla, this won't happen in the next iPhone generation as Apple is once again looking to turn to its longtime supplier Qualcomm for dedicated LTE chips...

Rumor: Samsung not churning out Apple’s A8 chip for the next iPhone and iPad due to low yields

Apple's upcoming A8 mobile processor is of course expected to power the next wave of iPhone and iPad devices, but the advanced chip apparently won't be manufactured by Samsung, which fabbed all of A-series processors since the iPhone 4's 2010 A4 chip.

According to a new report out of China, Samsung is experiencing yield issues and in turn has dropped out of Apple's A8 chip production...

Rumor: Taiwanese companies land Apple A8 packaging orders

An Apple-designed mobile processor for this year's iPads and iPhones will be probably labeled ’A8' and supply chain rumors have asserted that the world's top independent semiconductor foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), will share orders with Samsung, whose multi-billion dollar Austin, Texas plant used to exclusively churn out Apple's A-series chips.

Like the A7, the A8 is said to use package-on-package design which combines the CPU part and mobile DRAM in a single package for increased performance and optimized power consumption...

TSMC could account for bulk of A8 production

The sometimes-reliable Taiwanese publication, DigiTimes, has been saying for years that Apple was shifting its chip manufacture away from Samsung and towards its rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

In its new report Monday, the trade publication now claims that TSMC will be responsible for the bulk of orders for Apple's next-generation processor, the A8 chip, with Samsung taking care of about one-third of orders...

Apple reportedly contracts out next-gen mobile chip manufacture to TSMC

After a long period of rumor mongering, it would seem that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, is finally stealing Apple chip biz from rival Samsung. If a new report out of Taiwan is to be trusted, Apple has cut a long-term deal with TSMC to produce A-series chips for future iPhones, iPods and iPads built on TSMC's 20-nanometer, 16-nanometer and 10-nanometer process technology.

If true, it's the final nail in the coffin in the strained Apple-Samsung technology relationship. And good riddance, too, because Samsung will no longer be able to have a headstart of Apple's future semiconductor solutions...