While most of the A9 processors used in the current iPhone 6s and 6s plus were manufactured by Samsung, apple has decided to go with its long term contractor TSMC for the next generation of the a-series processors to be used in the iPhone 7 and 7 plus. There are two reasons why Samsung lost on the A10 processors mega contract that usually reaps profits in tunes of billion dollars.
The first is that Samsung made the current A9 processor with help of its 14nm fabrication technology and the TSMC make its version of A9 on a 16nm technology. Although Samsung chip was a little smaller that TSMC’s A9, reports started trickling that the Samsung A9 chip is inferior to the other one and will actually consume more juice from the battery. Thereby reducing the overall smartphone battery life by 2 hours when compared to the TSMC’s A9 equipped iPhone. This might have prompted the iPhone make to drop Samsung out of its A10 processor deal.
The second is that TSMC has reportedly perfect a new design called as Integrated Fan-Out (InFO). This enabled the iPhone to get even thinner and lighter than it already is and will allow apple to mount the chip on top of each other and directly into the logic board.
Guo Ming-qi stated that the next-generation iPhones — presumably an iPhone 7 and 7 Plus production will begin in the third quarter next year. And its A10 processor is using a 16-nanometer process, the chip is said to use the company’s state-of-the-art InFO (integrated fan out) architecture, said to be mass-produced in March, 2016 offering advantages such as cutting costs and streamlining manufacturing.