Apple’s A8 chip is made by TSMC on the 20nm process

We’ve already seen the guts of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus splayed out in the cold, harsh light of day thanks to the folks over at iFixit, but the teardown action doesn’t stop there. The folks at Chipworks have taken a closer look at Apple’s A8 chip, which makes its first appearance in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Apple gave us some information at the iPhone 6 unveiling earlier this month, revealing that the 64-bit A8 chip has 2 billion transistors and is manufacturered on the 20nm process. Chipworks has been able to confirm all of the above along with Phil Schilller’s claims that the A8, measuring in at 89 mm2, is 13 percent smaller than the A7. The site also reports that the chip does appear to be manufactured by TSMC, which wasn’t apparent during last week’s iFixit teardown.

Chipworks also discovered that the A8 has three rows of solder balls, just like the A7 and the stack contains a total of ten metals. The part number for the A8 is ‘APL1011,’ for those curious.

The A8 processor is as much as 20 percent faster than the A7 CPU and boasts up to 50 percent faster graphics than the GPU inside the A7. Thanks to last week’s teardown, we also know that both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both pack 1GB of RAM. Additionally, the teardown revealed that the iPhone 6 has a 1810 mAh battery while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 2915 mAh battery. All information Apple did not disclose during its September 9 event.

[source]Chipworks[/source]