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Apple A6 processor examined, confirmed to have been produced by Samsung

Apple A6 processor examined, confirmed to have been produced by Samsung

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Apple A6 IFIXIT
Apple A6 IFIXIT

Apple and Samsung may be in the midst of some legal battles — and smear campaigns — but that doesn't mean that the Korean company's chipmaking arm isn't still producing internals for Apple's latest devices. An in-depth look at the iPhone 5's dual-core A6 processor from iFixit and Chipworks has confirmed that it is an Apple-designed 32nm chip that was produced by Samsung. The teardown has also confirmed what was heavily suspected: that the iPhone 5 has 1GB of RAM, though on the particular unit that was analyzed the part was sourced from Elpida, not Samsung.

We assume that Samsung is producing the A6 at the same Austin, Texas plant that made the A5 and A5X processors. Samsung invested a tidy $4 billion into that facility last month, and, for now at least, it appears that the Korean company will have no shortage of demand for the new processor as the iPhone 5 continues to rack up massive sales. That might not always be the case, however, as Apple has been spotted looking for other chip manufacturers in order to minimize its dependency on Samsung as the two companies continue their patent spat.