Supply chain sources say that TSMC has won Apple's entire order for 5G modems to be used in the forthcoming "iPhone 14."
Credit: TSMC
Apple has previously been rumored to want TSMC to make some of its "iPhone 14" 5G modems. Now a new report says that TSMC is not only making a proportion of 5G modems for Apple, it is to produce them all.
According to Economic Daily News (in translation), TSMC has "squeezed" Samsung out of the running to supply Apple.
Reportedly, TSMC would not confirm details of the order. However, unspecified sources within the supply industry have told the publication that the 5G modems will produced using TSMC's 6nm process.
It had been believed that Apple's design would use TSMC's 4nm process. And, rather than just the modem, the sources also claimed at the time that Apple is working on other connected components, including radio frequency and millimeter wave parts that connect to the modem itself, as well as a power management chip just for the modem.
Economic Daily News reports that TSMC's 6nm 5G modems should feature significantly reduced power consumption compared to the Qualcomm modems Apple now uses. That would result in battery savings with the next iPhone, over the current iPhone 13 range.