iPhone 8’s powerful new A11 chip is pictured for the first time

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TSMC A11 chip
This is the chip that will power Apple's next-gen iPhone.
Photo: Slashleaks

As we get closer to the iPhone 8’s launch, more and more alleged components are starting to show up online. The latest is what is reported to be the A11 chip which will power the next-gen device.

Made by TSMC, previous reports have stated that the new chip is manufactured using a 10-nanometer manufacturing process, which should make it faster and more efficient than the 16-nanometer A10 Fusion used in the iPhone 7. It should also be faster than the A10X Fusion chip used in the latest iPad Pros.

According to Twitter tipster “Ice Universe” the A11 chip achieves Geekbench scores between 4300 and 4600 in single-core tests, and between 7000 and 8500 in multi-core tests. That will make it more than twice the speed of the Galaxy S8, which achieves a single-core score of 1966, and a multi-core score of 6502.

There’s not too much that the images reveal other than suggesting that the iPhone 8 will include an A11 chip (which was all but guaranteed to be the case) and suggesting that manufacturing of the chip is well underway — if not close to completion.

The ups and downs of TSMC

Earlier this week, a number of Taiwan-based Apple component suppliers were hit by the country’s biggest power outage in years, although TSMC fortunately wasn’t affected.

There’s no definitive word yet on whether TSMC will hang on to the iPhone chip orders for next year’s handset. Some rumors have claimed that TSMC will continue being Apple’s A-series chipmaker next year, while another has suggested that Samsung will be taking over the role of A12 chip manufacturing, on account of its investment in “extreme UV lithography machines,” some of the the most advanced chip-making equipment around.

In addition to A12 chips, this year’s iPhone 8 is likely to boast edge-to-edge OLED displays, improved camera, 3D facial recognition technology in place of Touch ID, and more.

Source: Slashleaks

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