Apple has aimed to decrease its dependence on smartphone rival Samsung for its processing chips for some time now, and Apple’s A8 chip in the iPhone 6 went to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (or TSMC) in 2014. A new report says that Apple will turn to its rival once more for the A9 processor chip that will power Apple’s 2015 smartphone (dubbed the iPhone 6s).
With the A9 iPhone 6s chip, however, Samsung has won the fruit company back into its clutches. Sources familiar with the situation say that the Korean manufacturer will start to produce the A9 chip at its South Korean Giheung plant, with Samsung partner GlobalFoundries, Inc., to take the company’s additional processor chip orders.
In addition to its 14-nanometer FinFET technology that provides improved efficiency and reduced power consumption all on a smaller chip, Samsung’s LPDDR4 RAM (random access memory for multitasking capabilities) has also proven attractive to Apple, moving Cupertino to rely on Samsung for its RAM in the iPhone 6s as well. A persistent rumor has said that Apple could bring 2GB of RAM to the iPhone 6s, in the same way that the company brought 2GB of RAM to the iPad Air 2 experience last Fall.
Samsung’s new LPDDR4 RAM, found in the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, is said to be 40% more power efficient than LPDDR3 RAM while providing support for true 4K video recording and 20MP or higher cameras.