14 DAY TRIAL // The iPhone 7 isn’t here just yet, but Apple and its partners are already planning on the long-term, so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that TSMC has already started work on the chip expected to be used on the 2017 model.
First and foremost, the chip. According to a report by Digitimes, which shouldn’t be taken for granted because no sources were provided, the new chip will be TSMC’s first 10nm FinFET model, but competition in this business is getting fiercer.
Both Samsung and TSMC are aiming to produce 10nm chips starting this year, but the latter seems to be rather ahead with product planning and investments, as it has already spent $1 billion on foundries and to prepare production lines for the new model. Despite the growing competition between the two, however, both Samsung and TSMC are likely to build the A11 chips, although it’s not yet clear how production is going to be split between them.
For the moment, TSMC seems to be still in the testing stage, and if the aforementioned report is accurate, then the company might be ready to ship the first samples as soon as late 2016/early 2017 in order to make it possible for the new chip to be used on next year phones. Previous reports have been claiming that Samsung was aiming to bring the chip out before the end of the year.
The 2017 iPhone
As far as the next-next iPhone is concerned, very little is known so far although we’ve seen quite a lot of rumors in this regard.
There are sources who claim that the 2017 iPhone, which could be called iPhone 7s if Apple goes on with the same naming scheme, could be the one bringing an entirely new feature lineup to the market, while the standard iPhone 7 coming this year would be mostly similar to the existing 6s.
In terms of features, people with knowledge of the matter previously revealed that the 2017 iPhone, whatever it will be called, might be the first model to make the switch from LCD to OLED screens, as Apple has already signed production contracts in this regard. Yet, the transition to OLED could also be delayed to 2018.
The 2017 iPhone could also come with dual cameras if the model launching in September this year doesn’t feature such an upgrade, but also with several other features that should help it compete against high-end Android devices.