Apple si prepara a una crescita delle vendite preordinando a TSMC una valanga di nuovi chip A13: non serviranno solo per la nuova gamma iPhone 13.
Mentre l’intera industria dell’elettronica è alle prese con la cosiddetta “crisi dei chip“, la scarsità di processori di ogni tipo dovuta alla pandemia e ai suoi strascichi, Apple ordina a TSMC la produzione di oltre 100 milioni di chip A15 Bionic. E TSMC risponde sì. Il buon momento di forma dell’azienda guidata da Tim Cook si può riassumere con questo episodio.
A riportare la cifra di oltre 100 milioni di chip, superiore alle indiscrezioni precedenti che parlavano di 90 milioni, è il sito cinese CN Beta, che ha ascoltato alcune fonti nella catena dei fornitori di Apple. According to these sources Apple is pressing, with good results it seems, TSMC to reserve a really high production capacity in order not to risk being without A15 just when the whole world wants to buy Apple products. Inside the news, however, there is another one because it is unlikely that all these processors will be used only for the iPhone 13 range, so the previous rumors that Apple will create other devices with this chip are strengthened.
What will 100 million A15
According to previous information Apple aims to produce and sell by the end of 2021 90 million iPhone 13, a number up about 20% compared to that of iPhone 12 sales. The iPhone 13 will feature Apple's new A15 Bionic SoC, which is expected to be much more powerful than the current A14 Bionic.
The remaining 10 million chips could be destined for at least one other product: Japanese media outlet Nikkei claims that the upcoming iPhone SE 3, the budget iPhone due out in 2022, will feature this very processor. But that's not all: another product that should be equipped with A15 would be the sixth-generation iPad mini.
How Apple's A15 Bionic will be
At the same time, confirmations also arrive on the technical characteristics of Apple's new chip: like its predecessor, A15 will have a 6-core structure (two high-power and four high-efficiency), and will be built by TSMC using its best 5nm technology.
This means that high performance won't also be matched by high power consumption. Instead, the new iPhone 13 and (possibly) iPhone SE 3 and iPad mini will have high performance and low power consumption.