Apple Continuing Work on M2 Chip With Help From Samsung
Apple is continuing its work on the upcoming "M2" chip with help from Samsung Electro-Mechanics, ET News reports.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics supplies the flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA), a printed circuit board used to connect the semiconductor chip to the main substrate, for the M1 chip. This detail did not emerge until almost a year after the M1 chip was introduced, when it was uncovered by The Elec.
While the M1, like all of Apple's custom silicon SoCs, is fabricated exclusively by Taiwan's TSMC, the chip includes components from several suppliers. For example, the chip's board is supplied by Ibiden and Unimicron, so it is necessary for Apple to coordinate multiple suppliers for its next-generation SoC for the Mac.
According to today's report from ET News, Samsung is expected to continue to provide the FC-BGA for the M2. The company is said to be collaborating with Apple in a project to develop the M2 chip and will complete work on the FC-BGA for it this year.
Apple purportedly began developing the M2 immediately after introducing the M1 chip. The report reiterated Mark Gurman's claim that Apple is testing at least nine new Macs with four different M2 chip variants, and that the first devices with the M2 could debut in the first half of 2022. The chip could first be introduced in Apple's redesigned MacBook Air.
Popular Stories
The first benchmark results for the standard M3 chip surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today, providing a closer look at the chip's CPU performance improvements. Based on the results so far, the M3 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 3,000 and 11,700, respectively. The standard M2 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 2,600 and 9,700, respectively, so the...
Apple appears to be internally testing an iOS 17.1.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs this week. iOS 17.1.1 will almost certainly be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues the update will address. The update could include the same fix for Wi-Fi connectivity issues that Apple rolled out in the first iOS 17.2 beta,...
Apple's latest M3 Pro chip in the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro has 25% less memory bandwidth than the M1 Pro and M2 Pro chips used in equivalent models from the two previous generations. Based on the latest 3-nanometer technology and featuring all-new GPU architecture, the M3 series of chips is said to represent the fastest and most power-efficient evolution of Apple silicon thus far. ...
Apple today released a new firmware update designed for the AirTag item trackers. The firmware features a build number of 2A61, up from the 2A36 firmware that came out last December. It has been nearly a year since Apple updated the firmware on the AirTags, and there is no word yet on what might be included in the update. Today's firmware release will be rolling out on a staggered basis....
The first benchmark results for Apple's M3 Max chip surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today, providing a look at CPU performance. Based on the "Mac15,9" model identifier shown, the results appear to be for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. The highest multi-core score for the M3 Max with a 16-core CPU is currently 21,084 as of writing. If this early result is accurate, this means the M3 Max is ...
Apple made the first beta of iOS 17.2 available to developers and public beta testers last week, and the software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones. Below, we have highlighted 10 of these new features and changes. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in December. Once available, the update can be installed in the Settings app under General → Software...
Macs equipped with the standard M3 chip still support only one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz, according to Apple's tech specs. So far, the chip is available in the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 24-inch iMac. This limitation has existed since the first Apple silicon Macs with the M1 chip were released in 2020, but users can connect multiple external displays to...
The lower-cost Apple Music Voice Plan is being discontinued this month in the U.S. and all other countries where it was available, according to an Apple support document. Brazilian website MacMagazine was first to alert us to this news. "Beginning in November, Apple will discontinue the Apple Music Voice plan," said Apple. "We are focused on delivering the best, most robust music experience...
Top Rated Comments
??
Samsung has been producing their own chips for many, many years. In fact, the first iPhones used Samsung CPUs.
Apple gets a reliable producer, while Samsung gets a good customer. Both do well on the transaction.
Sometimes people see the differences or "rivalries" between companies in the same light as sports teams or politicians.
This simply isn't the case with corporations. What works, works, and what doesn't doesn't. Apple, Samsung, and TSMC work well together to get things "done". As someone stated upthread, Samsung has been a major supplier for Apple for a long time now.
I'm sure Logistics Tim recognizes the "if it aint broke don't fix it" aspect of the relationship, and continues to do business with Samsung because it's good business, and business is good.....
i'm looking forward to M2. not that i can ****ing afford any of Apple's Macs. at best i'll pick up an iPad with one in it to replace my M1 iPad