It’s not the first time we’ve heard that TSMC is involved in production trials with Apple. Back in July, the company was said to be testing its 28nm processes on the A6, with Apple basing its eventual order decisions on what yield the manufacturer could achieve. Acting is motivation for Apple is a reported – and understandable – desire to shift reliance away from Samsung, whose semiconductor arm currently is primarily responsible for the A4 and A5 chips inside the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
According to these latest leaks, TSMC has seen its production lines freed up as orders from NVIDIA and Qualcomm are effected by an industry-wide depression, with stockpiled chips meaning production demands have shrunk. TSMC has declined to comment on the Apple speculation, though has said that it expects its order book to look healthier in Q4 as customer inventory dwindles.
Exact specifications of the Apple A6 are unclear, though 28nm chips from the manufacturer are being billed as providing 30-percent more power while cutting power consumption by around 50-percent. They’re also expected to be cooler in operation.
