Chips

iPhone 7 ‘A10’ chip orders to help grow TSMC’s quarterly revenue by 20 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's top semiconductor foundry which Apple has commissioned to build 'A10' processors for the next iPhone alongside Samsung, is expected to grow its revenue substantially in the third quarter of this year thanks to these orders.

Taiwan's Central News Agency, quoted by trade publication DigiTimes, said this morning that TSMC is reportedly forecast to grow revenues almost twenty percent sequentially in its third quarter “as shipments for Apple's A10 processors will kick off soon”.

Bloomberg: Intel cellular modems will be reserved for AT&T iPhone 7 models

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 10, 2016

Supply chain whispers recently claimed that a significant portion of LTE cellular modems for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus would be built by Intel instead of Qualcomm and now Bloomberg is reporting that Intel modems will be actually reserved for AT&T iPhone 7 models.

Qualcomm is expected to remain Apple's modem provider for Verizon and China-bound iPhone 7 handsets. Qualcomm's boss had said he expected a major customer to diversify its supplier base.

Intel shares details of next-gen Kaby Lake chips, Core i7 Extreme Edition and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 31, 2016

Intel today announced at the Computex 2016 show in Taiwan that its seventh-generation Core processors, code-named Kaby Lake, are slated to arrive later this year. It also shared details about an all-new ”Extreme” edition of the Core i7 chip for gamers and content creators, the Apollo Lake chips for tablets and hybrid devices such as all-in-ones, and more.

The company highlighted some of the advancements in performance, battery and media capabilities that the Kybe Lake platform provides. In a way, the announcement has paved the way for future Macs built around the Kybe Lake platform.

iPhone chip maker TSMC to spend a massive $2.2 billion on R&D this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 26, 2016

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world's largest independent chip foundry, has set aside a research and development budget for this year of a record-setting $2.2 billion in order to ensure its fabrication process technology stays ahead of competition, said a report this morning in Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes. In 2015, the firm spent just $1.067 billion on R&D.

DigiTimes: Intel to supply at least half of iPhone 7’s faster LTE cellular modems

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2016

Rumors continue to swirl that Intel had been commissioned to build LTE modem chips for Apple's upcoming smartphone refresh, a marquee win for the semiconductor giant.

Tuesday, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported that Intel may supply up to fifty percent of LTE modems for the forthcoming iPhone 7 models.

Although Intel itself will package the modems, the chips will be mass-produced by contract manufacturers TSMC and KYEC, as per DigiTimes, indicating that the iPhone 7's 'A10' system-on-a-chip may integrate an Intel-built LTE modem. These Intel-designed LTE modems for the iPhone 7 are said to be faster than those in the iPhone 6s.

Design of Apple’s ‘A11’ chip for 2017 iPhones and iPads has been finalized

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2016

Taiwanese component makers are currently scrambling to fulfill orders as the Cupertino firm is getting ready to kick off production of this year's upcoming iPhones and iPads.

Moreover, Apple's engineers should now be close to completing work on a 2017 iPhone and have certainly been developing a 2018 iPhone for some time now.

Trade publication DigiTimes wrote in a new report that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), a foundry that builds chips for Apple, has now taped out an Apple-designed 'A11' chip that will power 2017 iPhones and iPads.

iFixit tears down the 2016 Retina MacBook, finds minor hardware tweaks

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 25, 2016

Just last week, Apple launched the second generation of its Retina MacBook lineup with a bump in CPU and SSD speed performance, as well as in battery life.

iFixit has now torn down the new 2016 Retina MacBook to reveal what kinds of hardware gems could be hidden inside of the very familiar aluminum enclosure.

Unsurprisingly, they have torn down the new rose gold-colored model. For the most part, a lot of the internals are similar, although there are a few tweaks to the design and internal hardware that users will love and hate.

Qualcomm is “assuming” that Apple will give LTE modem orders for iPhone 7 to rival Intel

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

Shares of Qualcomm have dropped two percent after CEO Steve Mollenkopf told analysts on an earnings call Wednesday that it may lose some of its “biggest customers” as they are going with a “second source,” Bloomberg reported.

The fabless chip maker's been Apple's exclusive supplier of LTE modems for over three years now.

That's about to change soon: Mollenkopf is now “assuming” that a major customer will give orders to a rival, indicating a potential loss of business for the company. Analysts said they think the customer is Apple and the rival is Intel.

iFixit tears down iPhone SE, reveals some interchangeable 5s parts

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 31, 2016

Following the first day of availability of the iPhone SE, iFixit has gotten their hands on their own unit and has started their ritualistic practice of disconnecting every little screw, cable, and hinge that comes on it.

The iFixit teardown comes a day after Chipworks' version, which revealed a lot of familiar parts in the iPhone SE that could be found in previous iPhone models, such as the 5s, 6, and 6s.

iFixit has not only confirmed these findings from Chipworks, but also provides some new insight about the iPhone SE's parts that is sure to interest its consumers.

Teardown of iPhone SE finds hardware is a collage of 5s, 6, and 6s parts

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 31, 2016

The first legitimate hardware teardown of Apple's new 4-inch smartphone, the iPhone SE, has been conducted by Chipworks. Apple just unveiled this new handset at its recent 'Let us loop you in' event alongside the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

The teardown finds that the iPhone SE is more than just a new generation of smaller iPhone from Apple, but that it's actually a very clever device that takes the best from the performance world and combines it with the economics of older devices. This allows Apple to provide a product at a cheaper cost, but with similar performance.

As the teardown reveals, the iPhone SE is actually a Frankenstein of iPhone 5s, 6, and 6s parts that all work together to create a powerful 6s-like performance experience in a smaller 4-inch package.

Apple supplier Broadcom getting out of Wi-Fi chip business

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 18, 2016

Fabless semiconductor company Broadcom is looking to phase-out its Wi-Fi chip-making business, according to industry sources who spoke with Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes. Broadcom is currently Apple's top supplier of Wi-Fi chips used in Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods so it looks like the Cupertino firm might be forced to find a new supplier soon.

Broadcom designs its own products but contracts out actual silicon production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), which also builds Apple-designed application processors for iOS devices.

iPhone 8 might run a cutting-edge 7nm processor

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2016

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world's top semiconductor foundry, and ARM holdings plc, a British multinational fabless semiconductor designer, have joined forces to make an upcoming 7-nanometer FinFET process a reality in time for volume production in early-2017.

TSMC currently manufactures the iPhone 6s's A9 chip on its 16-nanometer process, while Samsung-made A9 chips are fabbed on a smaller 14-nanometer process.

The timing of TSMC's seven-nanometer FinFET process suggests it might be used to fabricate Apple-designed 'A11' processors for the iPhone 8 in 2017. By comparison, Intel has said it will produce 10nm node processors in the second half of 2017.