Why Apple Is Ditching Samsung’s Chips in Favor of TSMC for iPhone 7s

Jessie Shen from Digitimes broke the story on Monday about Apple switching its CPU chip manufacturer away from Samsung and over to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Shen’s article is based on a May report, claiming production of the A11 chip would begin at a small scale in 2017’s second quarter. That means the chip will be included in a potential iPhone 7s phone, if Apple continues the naming tradition.

Samsung and Apple are blatant competitors. Despite that, Apple has used Samsung technology in iPhones in the past, however it appears Apple is making a change. It’s already known that the next version of the iPhone won’t use Samsung chips, but now it seems there is no hope for Samsung in Apple’s future.

The last Apple devices to use Samsung chips were the iPhone 6s/6s Plus with the A9 chip. It’s not uncommon for companies to work with rivals when it comes to computer parts. However, Apple’s move to a new chip supplier is not likely due to the relationship the company has with Samsung.

Why would Apple want to give TSMC exclusivity as the chipmaker for iPhones? Ben Lovejoy from 9to5Mac has the answer: “Benchmark tests of the iPhone 6s also showed that models with the TSMC chip ran cooler and offered better battery-life than those with the Samsung chip. While Apple described the differences as small, it may have played a role in Apple’s decision to favor the Taiwanese chipmaker.”

Samsung and other companies often work with competitors when it suits them. Samsung had no problems making chips and other computer parts for Apple, but now it seems the iPhone maker is going in a different direction. Despite some of the negative advertising Samsung has made against the iPhone, Apple is ditching Samsung because they found a better manufacturer, not out of spite.

Do you think Apple will ever work with Samsung again? Let us know in the comments!