Apple has ordered 100 million additional A15 chips from its longtime chipset manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor, as per supply chain sources cited by the Chinese tech news website CNBeta. The figure indicates potential expectations for a large-scale launch of the upcoming iPhone 13 lineup, with chipsets produced using TSMC’s 5-nanometer process.
If accurate, the order would represent a significant increase over production of last year’s iPhone 12 lineup, which reportedly included a prelaunch order of some 75 million chipsets. Earlier this month, a report from 9to5Mac suggested that a new iPad Mini featuring the A15 chip might also be on its way.
The supply could be a way to head off the kind of early iPhone shortages Apple saw last year, a problem that forced the company to delay its usual September launch to October.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. The new iPhone 13 lineup is expected to arrive this fall, with rumored new features including larger batteries, a 120MHz refresh rate, and an always-on, Apple Watch-like display.
