“The next Apple processor [A6] will be made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and will be a 3D IC 28-nanometer low-power powerhouse, sweetly tucked inside your iPhones and future model iPads,” Jonny Evans reports for Computerworld.
“The new processors could in theory be so powerful at such low heat yields that it might even make sense to put them inside future model MacBook Airs, though the next iterations of those products will stick with Intel,” Evans reports. “A 3D IC is a chip in which two or more layers of active electronic components are integrated both vertically and horizontally into a single circuit.”
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“Meanwhile, as all the rumor coagulates in one large fire of speculation, it seems the A5 processor may be proving challenging to put inside iPhones, with reports the chips overheat,” Evans reports. “TSMC has a solution. It is developing an implementation of 3D-IC chips which SemiWiki claims “is said to achieve performance gains of about 30 percent while consuming 50 percent less power.” That’s even before bringing the tri-gate tech currently championed by Intel into the frame.”
Evans reports, “The ball seems firmly in TSMC’s court. The company must work to ensure it can supply these processors in the kind of quantities and quality that Apple’s mobile devices require. If it fails to achieve this, then Apple will very likely stick with Samsung.”
Much more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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