There have been reports that Samsung Galaxy S9 will still use chipsets manufactured using the 10nm process, same as the current crop of Galaxy S phones.
While this has not been confirmed in any capacity, the latest developments seem to add more weight to this rumor by claiming that the company’s 7nm chipsets will be exclusive to the 2018 iPhone, which some sections say will be called iPhone 8S or 8S MAX for that matter.
The reports surfaced from a new development claiming that Samsung will be in charge of producing next year’s iPhone 8S chipsets – a deal which has, since 2013, been exclusive to TSMC. The Taiwanese company took over from Samsung and it has been the sole supplier of iPhone chipsets since then, but it appears that Samsung will be back in business starting 2018 thanks to its expertise with the 7nm process.
The interesting bit of the story is that all Samsung-made 7nm chipsets will only be used in the 2018 iPhone 8S. However, don’t be surprised if the same process is used to manufacture the Galaxy Note 9 chipsets, a phone that should see the light in the second half of next year.
The Investor, which was the first to report this story, says that a recent visit to Apple’s headquarters by Kwon Oh-hyun, a Samsung executive in charge of chip and other parts’ businesses, might play a huge role in ensuring that this deal goes through. Also, the association that the pair already enjoys with respect to the upcoming iPhone 8 OLED panels’ supply could be a major factor in Samsung getting this deal.
On the contrary, the Korean company will still have to gain Apple’s approval to work on the chipsets after it completes its own tests with respect to the new 7nm process, something that could go either way of the deal.