In a rare occurence, the Gold Master version (Final version) of iOS 11 leaked before the official launch of Apple’s next generation iPhones. The leaked operating system version revealed quite a lot of information about what g has in the works which would be going official in a matter of hours from now. One of the revelation is that the Apple A11 system chip will be powering the tenth anniversary iPhone.

Just to clarify on the A11: it's two high-power Monsoon cores and four low-power Mistral cores, all independently addressable. No Fusion

— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) September 10, 2017

Not much is known about the configuration of the A11 chip but it has emerged that some details of the new chip were also contained on the iOS 11 leaked Gold Master edition. According to developer Steve Troughton-Smith on Twitter, the iOS 11 Gold Master leak revealed that the A11 chip will feature six processor cores. Two cores are named Monsoon and will perform tough tasks which require high power such as gaming and video manipulation. On the other hand, the remaining four cores are named Mistral cores and will handle the lighter stuff like texting and checking email, and other lighter functions. This is different from the Apple A10 and A10X chips which were released last year and earlier this year respectively. The A10 chip came with two high-powered cores and two high efficient cores while the A10x used on the iPad Pro comes with three high powered Hurricane cores and three high-efficiency Zephyr cores.

https://twitter.com/never_released/status/906964204757929984

Related: Apple iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus Rumor Roundup, Launch Event & Livestream Details

In addition, the Apple A11 chip is revealed to come with the capability to run all its CPU cores independently. What this translates to is that software could be able to access multiple cores of any kind, depending on the task at hand and in a situation where maximum power is required, all could run simultaneously. This is in contrast to the A10 Fusion which could use only its high-performance or low-power cores at any given time. So, we expect the next generation iPhone models to come with some power more than what we have seen before. It won’t be long before it gets spotted in benchmark tests and when it does, expect some amazing results that may dwarf all the new flagship chips we have around presently. We’ll get to find out more and perhaps confirm these features when the device goes official and good thing we won’t have to wait long for that to happen.

(source 1, 2)

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The production of Apple A11 chip for iPhone 8 was scheduled to kick off in April but faced with yield issues, TSMC which may ultimately be the sole supplier of the 10nm chip for the upcoming iPhone, could not begin production of the chips. However, TSMC has finally officially begun the production of the next generation Apple SoC, set to feature in the iPhone 8 later this year, according to report from Taiwan.

The production process by TSMC was said to have been affected by some issues ranging from the stacking of components in the backend to the integrated fan-out packaging process. However, these setbacks have now been addressed and the company is ready to roll. With respect to performance, Apple’s custom CPU designs are the best in the smartphone industry and as is customary with Apple, they have designed the A11 chip pattern according to their specifications but the fabrication of the components will be done by TSCM. The A11 chip will be used on Apple’s next flagship, the iPhone 8.

Apart from the A11 chip, it is also expected that the new iPhone 8 would incorporate a 5-inch (could be slightly more) OLED display into the same physical case size as a 4.7-inch iPhone 7 with thin chins on the top and bottom edges. This means the device will have smaller bezels allowing the screen to dominate the front face. Other expectations from the iPhone 8 include a dual camera setup (12-megapixel and 7-megapixel sensors), a 3D front camera, better speakers, waterproofing and stainless steel will be used in the production with glass sandwich design. New information suggests that the AirPods will be bundled inside the box.

Read Also: iPhone X Blueprint Leak Reveals Apple A11 CPU, Dual Speakers & Dual Batteries

The commencement of mass production of iPhone 8 is uncertain, but a recent report by security firm KGI claim that it may not start until October or November. Another report has also suggested that the device may not go on sale until October.

(source)

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Latest report from Taiwan has emerged to allay fears of a delay in the production of 10nm chip on which Huawei’s Kirin 970 will be built. The report also  hints that the Kirin 970 should enter volume production in the first quarter of next year as scheduled.

We had gotten wind earlier on that TSMC is having problems ramping up production of the 10nm chip a situation that could affect Smartphones scheduled to use the new process. Samsung was also reported to have been experiencing similar ramp-up problems with its 10nm process, prompting Qualcomm to revise its roadmap and scale back the new node technology so that only the Snapdragon 835 series would be made with the new chip. Even at that, early birds like the Samsung S8 and Xiaomi Mi 6 billed for release in February are rumored as doubtful for February launch.

Kirin 970 will be built on TSMC’s 10nm process and is detailed to pack an octa-core CPU comprised of four ARM Cortex-A73 cores, and four ARM Cortex-A53 cores. The next gen flagship chipset is also revealed to have a maximum clock frequency of between 2.8GHz – 3.0GHz. In addition, the Kirin 970 will be equipped with Cat. 12 LTE baseband and would come as Huawei’s first chip to use the 10nm process.

TSMC is the world’s largest contract chipmaker that services a very broad range of customers including Apple. The company is also producing the Apple A11 chip that would be inside the iPhone 8 and that also, it says, is right on schedule with volume production expected to begin in the second quarter of 2017.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy S8 & Xiaomi Mi 6 Could Be Delayed Over Chip Supply Shortage

With the Kirin 970 entering production in the first quarter of 2017, is there a possibility that it could be inside the Huawei P10 expected in Q1 next year? We  don’t know about that right now.

source

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