The future is en route to an Apple product near you.
And it’ll use a 7 nanometer manufacturing process when it gets here.
Chip producer TSMC is ramping up production of its next-gen “A12” processor, which uses 7nm process lines for the chips destined to power the 2018 iPhone models.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is about to start fulfilling orders for A12 processors using its 7-nanometer production process. The 7-nanometer chip would be the first A-series design to use the process, shrinking the die size down from the 10-nanometer process used to produce the A11 Bionic, used in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X.
Shrinking the die down even further offers additional performance enhancements and benefits such as increasing the density of the chip to fit more transistors into a smaller space. For consumers, this typically includes a reduction in power usage that can help increase battery life, lower heat production, and boost processing capacity.
Processor makers can also produce more chips per wafer, thereby theoretically reducing the cost of production on a per-chip basis.
TSMC is said the be the sole producer of the A12 chip and has apparently secured all of Apple’s orders for the product. Samsung was also said to be in the running to produce the chip, but it’s thought that TSMC’s 7nm production helped pin down the contract for the company.
It is believed TSMC is also preparing to future-proof its production lines in anticipation of other chip-shrinking developments. TSMC is said to be preparing to start construction on a 5-nanometer facility this year, while a 3-nanometer factory may begin construction in 2020.
The future is smaller, which definitely isn’t a bad thing.
Via AppleInsider and DigiTimes