According to information obtained by the DigiTimes, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and its chip design partner, Global UniChip, reportedly sent a team of 60 members to the Apple campus in Cupertino to discuss the production of A6 chips using 28 nanometer processes. The main issues on the agenda would be the efficiency of production and the patents to be licensed to make the project feasible.
The A5 processor used today in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.
The choice of TSMC as a partner may have a dual purpose: on the one hand, to reduce dependence on Samsung (with whom the Cupertino giant sees itself more and more in court) and, on the other, to have access to lawsuits. 28 nanometers before competing hardware, such as NVIDIA's Kal-El mobile processors, which use 40 nanometer processes.
Ma is believed to have plans to start large-scale production from the beginning of 2012, but to do so, it will be necessary to improve the performance of the chip manufacturing lines. If such a schedule is fulfilled, it is possible that the processors will be ready in time to appear in the third generation of the iPad.
(via Electronist)
