Samsung is already making components for Apple’s next-gen iPhone — currently unofficially called iPhone 6s or iPhone 7 — Korean site Electronic Times has learned. After earlier reports suggested that Samsung may have won the contract to mass-produce the next-gen A9 chip using its 14nm FinFET technology, the publication says the company this week began producing Apple’s brand new chip in its Austin, Texas plant.
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The A9 chip should be even more efficient and powerful than previous iPhone and iPad chips, and should be found on board next-year’s iPhone and iPad models. Pocket-lint says 14nm FinFET chips should consume 35% less energy while offering 20% more power than their predecessors. Furthermore, the chips should be 15% smaller than 20nm chips.
Even so, that doesn’t mean Apple’s next-gen iPhone will be unveiled earlier than next fall, although Apple could launch certain 2015 iPads using the chip before the iPhone 6s/7 is official.
In addition to Apple, other companies are also expected to use 14nm FinFET chips, Pocket-lint says.
