Samsung and TSMC made the A9 processors for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, but the latter company will be the exclusive provider of A10 chips for iOS devices launched next year, say reports.
The A9 is the most powerful of all of the processors in currently available iOS devices, though it will soon be superseded by the A9X upon the iPad Pro’s anticipated release next month. Nonetheless, Apple has apparently become dissatisfied with the Samsung-produced A9 chips, which the Cupertino company reportedly considers behind the TSMC-made equivalents in performance and efficiency.
This story has been reported by Cult of Mac, which refers to another report from Taiwan news site UDN that, according to JP Morgan analysts, TSMC has already secured all of Apple’s orders for A10 chips.
Though such a strategy could certainly better ensure consistent performances across all A10 chips, each new iPhone launch tends to be met with huge initial demand for the new handsets. Therefore, the responsibility of manufacturing many more millions of iPhone chips could prove overly daunting for the Taiwan-based TSMC, leaving this story one that deserves to be treat with much skepticism.
