Sony has allegedly expanded an order to a subsidiary of TSMC for a component of the iPhone 15 lineup’s main camera sensor, according to a machine-translated article from IT Home citing Juheng.com.
Sony is said to have maxed out its production capacity for camera sensors as the entire iPhone 15 lineup is expected to feature 48 megapixels main cameras, which was limited to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year. According to the article, Sony is unable to handle the increased production demand on its own, relying on other suppliers for expanded manufacturing capacity.
This won’t be the first time that Sony cooperates with TSMC or its subsidiaries when it comes to sensor manufacturing, adds the article. Sony began collaborating with TSMC last year to help with the production of photodiodes, logic layers, and pixel layers. The partnership is expected to continue this year.
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Moreover, Sony is said to have increased its order for color filter films from VisEra Technologies, a subsidiary of TSMC. Sony is reported to have made this move due to its lack of additional production capacity for its own color filter films designated for the iPhone 15 lineup, adds the article. Once VisEra delivers said order to Sony, the latter will hand over additional production to Tongxin Electronics.
The article reaffirms earlier rumors of a three-stacked sensor that is also said to be larger than the one found on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The new stacked design is said to be more complex, forcing Sony to adopt a new production strategy where front-end and back-end production processes are performed simultaneously in parallel.
iPhone 15 Release Date and Rumors
The iPhone 15 lineup and updated Apple Watch models are expected to be announced as usual in September. In addition to the 48MP camera making its way to the base iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, Apple’s entry-level iPhones are also expected to come with Dynamic Island first introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year.
All iPhone 15 models will come with a USB-C port instead of Lightning and a refined design with softer edges and new colors. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will take the new design further, incorporating a new titanium chassis and even thinner display borders. Like the iPhone 14 lineup, the base iPhone 15 devices will stick with the year-old A16 Bionic chip, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will have a new 3nm-based A17 Bionic chip.
