Report claims Apple Silicon Macs may have Samsung inside

Apple Silicon — the biggest step for Macs in a generation

A report emanating from Korea makes an interesting claim: That Samsung has invented technology that is now being used inside M1 Macs and is working on tech that will be included in M2 family models.

Apple Silicon Macs with Samsung inside?

If the report is true, and it’s not an easy one to verify, it could be seen as marking some thaw in relations between the two firms.

To be fair, Apple and Samsung have plenty in common, despite their evident competition in the smartphone market.

So, what’s being claimed?

A report from ETNews claims as follows:

• Samsung Electro-Machanics is expected to develop a flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) for next-gen Apple processors.
• This is a semiconductor substrate that connects the chip to the main substrate.
• It is thought Samsung Electro-Mechanics will develop the product for Apple.
• The company also developed FC-BGA substrates for the M1 chip.

The report continues to explain that due to the complexity of manufacture, just a small number of companies can fulfil this task for Apple, including Ibiden in Japan, Unimicron in Taiwan and LG Innotek. Samsung is the world leader in this part of the market, the report explains.

Samsung hasn’t confirmed this claim (of course), but it is of relevance at the current time, given that Russia’s murderous invasion of Ukraine could generate problems down the line, particularly in access to semi-conductor grade neon used in chipmaking.

What’s next?

The report also makes a second claim, though it is impossible to be certain if the claim is based on insider knowledge or heresy based on multiple recent claims from third party reports.

“Apple started developing the M2 immediately after introducing M1. It is developing at least nine Mac PCs equipped with the M2, the successor to the M1. It is expected that Apple will introduce the M2 processor in the first half of the year,” the report says.

If that’s correct, then it would suggest the first M2 Macs may debut at WWDC. I have reservations on that, as it just seems more logical to focus on completing the first generation Apple Silicon Mac lineup first, but Cupertino tends to dance its own dance, so we shall see what transpires.

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