Apple A6 chipset getting trial runs in the TSMC foundries

Apple's next generation mobile chipset, codenamed A6, is being produced in small doses at the TSMC foundries, for testing purposes. Even though TSMC is the largest independent chip foundry, a huge customer like Apple will be hard to accommodate in sufficient quantity and quality in a heartbeat, regardless of how fast Cupertino wants to break away from Samsung.

Moreover, a rumor appeared yesterday that Apple's next iPhone delay has been due to the dual-core A5 overheating when moved from the spacious iPad 2, to the crammed innards of an iPhone. Foxconn already complained that the next iPhone is difficult to manufacture, since a bunch of components have to be fit flawlessly in a thin body, so heat dissipation issues in the test runs are not out of the question.

source: TUAW