Ondrej Holzman Apple during the first weekend sold a respectable 13 million of the new iPhones 6S and 6S Plus, and perhaps in order to be able to satisfy such a high demand, he bet on two manufacturers in the production of his own chips. However, processors from Samsung and TSMC are not the same.
Chipworks came up with a very interesting insight subjected latest A9 chips detailed test. They discovered that not all iPhone 6S have identical processors. Apple has its self-developed chip manufactured by two suppliers - Samsung and TSMC.
For components as essential as the chips for iPhones undoubtedly are, Apple usually bets on a single supplier because it greatly simplifies the entire production chain. The fact that he chose both Samsung and TSMC this year proves that if only one of them made his chips, there would be a lot of trouble with supplies, at least initially.
Even more interesting is the fact that the chips from Samsung and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor) are different. The one from Samsung (marked APL0898) is ten percent smaller than the one supplied by TSMC (APL1022). The reason is simple: Samsung uses the 14nm manufacturing process, while TSMC still relies on 16nm technology.
On the one hand, this is the first tangible confirmation that the split between the two suppliers, which has been speculated for months, has actually happened, and it also addresses whether different manufacturing processes could affect performance. Chipworks is still testing both chips, however, it is a rule that the smaller the production process, the lower the processor's demand on the battery.
However, in the case of current chips, the difference should be negligible. Apple can't afford to fit its phones with different components that make identical devices behave differently.
