Apple is gearing up for the launch of its next flagship with the iPhone 12, set to debut at the tech giant's upcoming September event. The four models are getting an upgrade on last year's iPhone 11 with the new A14 processor replacing the existing A13 bionic chip.
The A13 can already hold its own against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865, and while Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 is reported to house the Snapdragon 865 Plus, it doesn't look like the iPhone 12 has anything to worry about, according to its A14 chip manufacturer, TSMC.
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According to PhoneArena, TSMC revealed that it's manufacturing a 5nm chip that will be included in its revenue this autumn, and while it hasn't outright confirmed that it's for the A14 processor, it's not a huge leap in logic to speculate that this is the case.
The outlet reports that compared to the Snapdragon 865 Plus and its 7nm node, the 5nm technology is 15% faster and uses 30% less power, which means that the A14 will pack more power and be more efficient than Qualcomm's chipset. While there won't be a hugely noticeable difference in the run-of-the-mill daily smartphone usage, the beefed up chip will allow Apple to freely explore augmented reality with its devices, and offer better support for gaming in Apple Arcade with its improved hardware.
Last year, Samsung announced that it was developing a 5nm chip of its own, which we expected to ship in the Galaxy S20, but the device ended up featuring the Snapdragon 865 and its own proprietary Exynos 990 chip (depending on the region) - both of which are built on a 7nm node.
With the next line of Samsung devices going for the 7nm Snapdragon 865 Plus, the iPhone 12's A14 chip will be miles ahead of its Android competition if this rumour is true.
Source: Tom's Guide
