When it comes to the latest Apple rumors, there’s always more than one thing that draws interest, although as we’ve seen lately with this company, its latest-generation products aren’t exactly game-changers. What would definitely be revolutionary is for Apple to actually release a low-cost iPhone and according to the more recent rumors that’s one dream that should come true. In fact, analysts at Detwiler Fenton believe the cheap iPhone 6 will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon single-chip.
“It is likely that the work with QCOM is being driven by AAPL’s concern regarding maintaining gross margins as well as the need to differentiate the product by performance” reads Detwiler Fenton’s research note. “AAPL would not want a value priced iPhone to offer the same kind of graphics and video support, processing power etc. that its premium priced device would, therefore a less powerful and lower-end Snapdragon integrated solution would help segment the product” the note adds.
What this means effectively for you? The Qualcomm Snapdragon single-chip will not be able to run premium features such as 4G LTE, although it is very possible Apple will release two versions of its cheap iPhone 6 since Qualcomm makes separate chips for 3G and LTE.
A report by China Times confirms the analysts’ research note, with news from an insider saying that Apple has hired TSMC for the production of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. It’s been rumored that TSMC is currently testing A6X chips for Apple, for which production is expected to begin as of next year.
A recent statement by Morris Chang, Chairman and CEO of TSMC, was interpreted as a strong hit that TSMC will produce Qualcomm Snapdragon chips for iPhone 6. “Enough discussions have taken place, with enough customers who have large requirements (on 20nm) to lead us to believe that the volume will be very large” he said talking about the company’s 20 and 28 nanometer process technologies.
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