The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reportedly started mass production on the so-called Apple A12 chip. These processors will likely power the next generation of iPhones coming out in 2018.
Bloomberg reports that the Apple A12 chip will be of the 7nm kind. This means that it’ll probably be smaller, faster and more efficient than the 10nm chips found in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. The pair is already one of the fastest handsets around, so the change should be very significant.
Apple A12 Chip vs Samsung
Apps typically operate quicker and smartphones generally have more stamina when there’s a powerful SoC in charge of running things. That in combination with iOS 12 should help keep the next trio of iPhones ahead of the competition.
Naturally, Samsung is going to provide a strong challenge with its own flagship Galaxy series. The company recently said that it was going to kickstart the manufacturing process for the same 7nm chip technology this year.
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Apple and Samsung are not just competing with each other though. There’s also Qualcomm with its own 7nm design and Huawei with its in-house processors. Now that the iPhone maker has finalized its SoC, we’ll hopefully see more news about the upcoming devices leaking out.
Evidence so far indicates that there are 3 iPhones coming this year. One might be a direct sequel to the iPhone X with the same 5.8-inch size. Another could be a bigger 6.5-inch version dubbed the iPhone X Plus. The last may sport a 6.1-inch LCD screen and be significantly cheaper than the others.
The new iPhones are probably going to sport the same notch design seen on the current iPhone X. Face ID will likely be found in each, which means Touch ID will be gone forever. Apple might turn to 18W fast charging this time around, switching from a USB-A to a USB-C connector in the process.