iPhone 6 A7 Processor Being Built not for iPhone 5s
Hot new iPhone 6 rumours from DigiTime reports that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is nearing completion on the Apple A7 processor. According to the report by DigiTimes, TSMC is expected to “tape out Apple’s A7 processor on a 20nm process in March and then move the chip into risk production in May-June”, as the company moves towards full production of the processor.
See also: iPhone 6 Design by Peter Zigich
Time frames suggest that this will be for the iPhone 6 rather than the iPhone 5S. That’s going to be too late for the rumoured iPhone 5S, with reports suggesting that this phone will launch in June 2013; however, it’s perfect timing for a brand-new design from Apple, namely the iPhone 6.
This report would seem to confirm the usual method of Apple’s launches, where it uses roughly the same design for two iterations, upgrading the internal components, before going for a completely new design. This would mean that the iPhone 5S is likely to use the same design as the iPhone 5, with slightly tweaked components.
Now it seems likely that the iPhone 6 will get the brand-new Apple A7 processor that leaves us wondering which CPU the iPhone 5S will get. The current generation is the Apple A6 for the iPhone 5 and the A6X, with its quad-core graphics, for theiPad 6. In all likelihood, then, the iPhone 5S will get a tweaked A6 processor, perhaps moving from a dual-core to a quad-core design. [Expert Reviews]
