Oliver Haslam on August 11, 2016, 4:59 am

Leaked Photos Offer First Look At iPhone 7 A10 SoC

A full month before Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, new photographs have appeared online, which seem to be the first yet to show the new A10 SoC that will power the unannounced devices.

Shared on Weibo by Chinese repair shop GeekBar, the images could be fakes easily enough, though this source has been accurate with leaks in the past. Further, the chips and their pins shown in the photos do bear a resemblance to the A9 used in previous-generation iPhones.

A10-chip-iphone

Showing what is believed to be an unfinished chip, the photos may give us our first ever look at the powerhouse, or at least some of it, that will power the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus when they go on sale next month, assuming previous release cadences are followed. The chip does appear to be incomplete in that all four sides of the PCB are usually labelled.

The fact that one side is labelled in the photos suggests that this is a chip still under construction and missing vital parts that will go towards making the A10 SoC into the finished product that will power Apple’s newest iPhones.

The prolific TSMC is expected to be the only supplier of Apple’s faster and likely more power-efficient A10. Last year saw Apple spread the load between TSMC and Samsung for A9 production, though this year, the latter is not expected to have any hand in the production of the newest chips.

Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus as soon as September 7th, with a release coming just over a week later on September 16th. A quick announcement and subsequent release is something Apple is known for, and the latest iPhones to be announced are expected to be no different to those released in years gone by.

(Source: Weibo)