A new report from Asia indicates that a crucial iPhone 8 component is in production, the brand new 10nm A11 processor, suggesting that we shouldn’t worry about this particular part delaying the handset.
Relaying news from Chinese-language Commercial Times, Digitimes says that TSMC has started mass production of the 10nm FinFET chips this quarter.
The processors are intended to equip all of Apple’s new iPhones. Earlier this year, reports said that 10nm chip technology was experiencing production delays, igniting speculation that the 2017 iPhones will also be affected.
Soon after that, it was discovered that TSMC had been working on 10nm chips for a different product category. The 10nm A10X chips that power the 2017 iPad Pro models offered a preview of the kind of performance boost we should expect from the 10nm A11 chip coming to the iPhone 7s and iPhone 8.
Digitimes does not provide other details about the A11 chip other than to say that 10nm chips will contribute to TSMC’s fourth quarter numbers, with the company expected to report record revenue for the period. Strong sales of 12nm chips for GPUs and computer CPUs should also drive up TSMC’s earnings for the period.
A report said last week that various other parts manufacturers from Asia have been ramping up production for the iPhone 8. Components including camera modules, metal chassis, and flexible PCBs are already are in production, and completed iPhones should start shipping this month. That story said the iPhone 7s should not experience any delays while reiterating the belief that the iPhone 8 will be constrained at launch.
It’s still unclear what component is causing the reported iPhone 8 production problems.
Apple is expected to launch the new iPhones next month.
