Apple's In-House Single-Chip Solution Might Not Be Ready for iPhone 7

[PhilSynowiec]

Taiwanese publication Digitimes is reporting that Apple has already placed orders for display driver chips for iPhone 7 models. The report claims that Apple placed orders with Synaptic, a long time Apple supplier.

Back in 2014, Apple was rumored to by buying Renesas SP Drivers. The deal was supposed to "improve image sharpness and battery life" on iPhone, until negotiations fell through with Renesas Electronics. Interestingly enough Renesas was acquired by Synaptic, which wanted to combine the Renesas' display drivers with Synaptic's touch technology.

“The development of Apple’s in-house touch and display driver integration has fallen behind schedule, as the smartphone vendor has released orders for its 2016 models to Synaptics,” said sources.

Digitime's report most likely means that Apple's own in-house touch and display driver single-chip solution won't be ready for the iPhone 7. Apple did however hire Renesas engineers to optimize battery life and introduce additional optimizations.