Release date of the iPhone 7 this 2016 could be delayed no thanks to the recent earthquake that hit Taiwan. The island nation is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which reportedly is the sole supplier of the A10 mobile processing chip that will power the next iPhone. A new report said that TSMC might be dealing with production issues in the aftermath of the tremor.
According to DigiTimes, the decrease in wafer shipments from TSMC "is worse than originally assessed." The Apple supplier has initially projected that wafer delivery in the first quarter of 2016 will only see a decline of one percent, which was deemed negligible. It appeared, however, that TSMC's manufacturing facilities have sustained greater damage that previously seen, likely serious enough for the February 6 earthquake to impact on Apple's release calendar for its 2016 flagship phone.
If rumors from supply chain sources are to be believed, TSMC will be the exclusive supplier of the A10 processor that is expected to power not only the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus but also the 2016 series of flagship iOS devices. Reports said that the Taiwanese firm won Apple's nod with its 10-nanometer manufacturing process and the use of InFO chip architecture.
The benefits would be lower cost production for the iPhone maker plus the likelihood of assembling the slimmest and lightest iOS smartphone ever as the InFO model promises the use of small but powerful chip components. With these supposed advantages, TSMC has reportedly bumped off Samsung from the A10 manufacturing slot.
But with the looming cutback in wafer shipments that could eventually delay the 2016 iPhone and iPad releases, Apple could be forced to revert to its existing A-xx chip production template that basically employs two key suppliers. Samsung could be called back to the A10 manufacturing duties and share the honor with TSMC, like in previous, in order to avoid the possibility of a delay in the iPhone 7 launch.
The iPhone 7 on release date is rumored as a big departure from the iPhone 6 and 6S with fans expecting a new design that likely will eliminate many things - the protruding camera lens, the antenna lines on the rear plate, the physical home button and the 3.5mm audio jack. The device will also be the first to run on iOS 10 that Apple will into via its annual WWDC event on June 2016.
Now speculations are widespread on the new look, build and design that the next iPhone will rock but the clip below seems to offer the best take so far: