Kirin 985 and Apple A13 chip to go into mass production in Q2,2019.
The Kirin 985 will be fabricated using TSMC’s 7nm EUV process, called N7+.
Apple A13 will be manufactured using an enhanced N7+ process called N7 Pro.
Apple’s custom-designed A13 chipset and Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 985 will enter into mass production later in the second half of 2019, a media report has claimed. According to a report in Chinese news outlet Commercial Times, both chipsets will be built using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC's) new process. In fact, Apple’s chipset will use a better version of the technology, which will be used to build SoCs for huawei phones.
The report claims that TSMC is set to move the 7nm EUV process technology, called N7+, to start mass fabricating HiSilicon's flagship Kirin 985 mobile platform. In addition, the chipmaker will introduce an enhanced version of its N7+, called N7 Pro, for the volume production of Apple's A13 chip that is likely to power the 2019 iPhones. At the moment, it is unclear what differentiates the two chip fabrication processes.
Huawei is speculated to bring the HiSilicon Kirin 985 to the Mate 30 series of phones. As mentioned, the processor will be made by using EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography technology that uses an EUV light of extremely short wavelength of 13.5 nm. A previous report said that Huawei’s phones used HiSilicon’s Kirin chips with a self-sufficiency rate of less than 40 percent in the second half of last year, but the rate is expected to increase to 45 percent in the first half of this year.
The news comes a few days after Qualcomm announced three new mobile platforms: the Snapdragon 665, Snapdragon 730 and the Snapdragon 730G, which are aimed at high-end and mid-tier devices. The US-based chipmaker says that all the new SoCs are commercially ready and will start showing up in devices from the middle of 2019. They incorporate most of the new features that were introduced in the flagship Snapdragon 855, including support for up to 192MP cameras in single-shot mode.
Meanwhile, it is also being reported that TSMC has kicked off risk production of new 5nm chips in a new foundry in Taiwan. The chipmaker expects to start mass-producing 5nm chips in late 2019 or early 2020.
Follow Us
Digit NewsDesk
Digit News Desk writes news stories across a range of topics. Getting you news updates on the latest in the world of tech. View Full Profile
