In a couple of months Apple is going to unveil its new iPhones so this is about the right time to start hearing about its components going into full scale production, that’s just what a report published today brings for us. Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have reportedly started volume production of the A9 CPU that’s going to make its way to the iPhone 6s.
Samsung is expected to account for the bulk of A9 CPU production at least initially until TSMC ramps up production using its 16nm FinFET processor.
Since Apple is expected to stick to its traditional September launch timeframe for the new iPhones this means that TSMC may not make a big enough contribution in terms of CPU shipments initially but once its production has been ramped up the scales might shift in its favor a bit.
The report also mentions that TSMC has been tasked with contract production of Touch ID fingerprint sensors for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus as well as audio chips for the devices manufactured on behalf of Cirrus Logic.
This fall Apple is expected to release the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, incremental updates are expected this time around since that’s what the “s” moniker usually denotes.