TSMC Begins Apple A6 Processor Trial Production

China Economic News Service’s Steve Chuang reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC), reportedly the worlds largest semiconductor foundry by market shares now, has allegedly started trial production of the ARM-based A6 processor in cooperation with Apple Inc., with the production design to be taped out in the first quarter of next year and scheduled to be publicly unveiled in the second quarter at the earliest, according to industry sources.

Accordingly, TSMC has applied its newest 28-nanometer process and 3D stacking technologies to produce the next-generation processor A6, which is based on the ARM architecture. Believed to be a quad-core design the A6 will undergo TSMCs cutting-edge silicon interposer and bump on trace (BOT) methodologies. Industry insiders said that the manufacturing will help to pump considerable momentum into TSMCs business growth starting next year, though the company has yet to comment on the deal for the moment.

It is speculated that Apple’s mid-term plan will be to eventually power at least its smaller, lighter Macs, presumably beginning with the MacBook Air, with its own A6 silicon.

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