What parts of the iPhone are made by Samsung? (2023)

What parts of iPhone does Samsung make?

Samsung Display will be one of the main suppliers of OLED panels for the iPhone 14 Pro models. The company has reportedly acquired new manufacturing equipment to make OLED panels for next year's iPhones with a punch hole. Samsung is no stranger to punch hole display panels.

In a recent teardown of the newly launched iPhone 12 Pro, it is found that components made by South Korean companies account for almost 27 percent of the phone's value. This indicates a significant increase of 9.1 percent points compared to last year.

The Korean company will be supplying 14 nano Cortex-A9 based chips to Apple, which will be used in the iPhone 7. Samsung has been supplying APs to Apple since 2007—with the first iPhone. However, the company has since lost the contract with Apple.

Even though Cook has alternative suppliers for the iPhone's screen technology (notably BOE, LG Display and Sharp), Samsung Display supplies over ninety percent of the OLED panels that make their way into the iPhone supply chain. And it looks like that's not going to change in the near future.

Both models of iPhone 13 will use low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistors (TFT) OLED panels made by Samsung Display.

The Elec proposes that Samsung could be seeking to win orders from Apple for the new type of battery. Samsung SDI has supplied batteries for MacBook and iPad models in the past, but has never manufactured batteries for iPhones.

Samsung was Apple's main supplier for the iPhones from the very beginning, making the A-series processors and supplying both NAND flash and DRAM memory chips. But Samsung started to supply less components to Apple since 2011, coincidentally when Apple sued Samsung for patent infringement.

with the exception of the 6.1" 12 Max, Samsung has wiggled its way into Apple's camera supply chain, too, reports Korean media The Elec. Samsung Electro-Mechanics will be supplying the lenses for the iPhone 12 cameras, more specifically 6P lenses, while next year it will provide 5P to 7P ones for the iPhone 13.

Ever since Apple made the switch to OLED panels with the iPhone X series in 2017, it has relied on Samsung to source a majority of these panels.

Apple reportedly paid Samsung an estimated $683 million in 2019 and approximately $950 million in 2020 for similarly below-par OLED panel orders. Samsung remains the world's leading smartphone display panel vendor, and has provided the overwhelming majority of OLED panels for Apple's iPhones over the last few years.

What can Samsung do that Apple can t?

Samsung's new Galaxy S20 smartphones, which launch on March 6, have plenty of features and capabilities that Apple's iPhones lack. They support 5G connectivity, for example, and have an in-screen fingerprint sensor and higher-resolution cameras among other extras.

Apple is known for good cameras inside its iPhones but the sensors are supplied by Sony. It was about time that Apple would have its own in-house camera hardware as well. To make that a reality, Apple has acquired an Israel-based camera technology company called LinX Computational Imaging Limited.

The screen has an oleophobic coating that is fingerprint-resistant. The display of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max is made by Samsung.

Another major advantage that iPhones have over Samsung phones is the longevity of the devices. Although Samsung now offers four years of major Android updates for its flagships and mid-range phones, iPhones can easily last for five to six years. However, there's one important caveat to this.

It currently assembles the majority of Apple's iPhones in its Shenzen, China, location, although Foxconn maintains factories in countries across the world, including Thailand, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines.

TAIPEI-- Taiwan-based Simplo Technology is one of the world's top lithium-ion battery manufacturers. It holds the largest share globally for laptop batteries, supplying over 20%.

The report says that Foxconn, one of Apple's largest suppliers, and Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry, plan to set up plants in the United States, where the Apple Car battery production may take place.

Apple's main supplier of batteries at present is China's Amperex Technology Limited; while LG Energy Solution had also supplied some cells in the past. Samsung SDI had supplied batteries for MacBooks and iPads in the past but is yet to win a deal for iPhones.

Why the windfall? Samsung made the OLED display, NAND flash, and DRAM chips in the iPhone. It's currently the only company capable of manufacturing these items at the volume that Apple needs, which means Apple has to buy the parts from Samsung.

Does the iPhone 12 have Samsung parts?

Besides the main supplier of iPhone 12 series displays. with the exception of the 6.1" 12 Max, Samsung has wiggled its way into Apple's camera supply chain, too, reports Korean media The Elec.

Ever since Apple made the switch to OLED panels with the iPhone X series in 2017, it has relied on Samsung to source a majority of these panels.

The Elec proposes that Samsung could be seeking to win orders from Apple for the new type of battery. Samsung SDI has supplied batteries for MacBook and iPad models in the past, but has never manufactured batteries for iPhones.

Both models of iPhone 13 will use low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistors (TFT) OLED panels made by Samsung Display.

Apple is known for good cameras inside its iPhones but the sensors are supplied by Sony. It was about time that Apple would have its own in-house camera hardware as well. To make that a reality, Apple has acquired an Israel-based camera technology company called LinX Computational Imaging Limited.

Apple reportedly paid Samsung an estimated $683 million in 2019 and approximately $950 million in 2020 for similarly below-par OLED panel orders. Samsung remains the world's leading smartphone display panel vendor, and has provided the overwhelming majority of OLED panels for Apple's iPhones over the last few years.

Another major advantage that iPhones have over Samsung phones is the longevity of the devices. Although Samsung now offers four years of major Android updates for its flagships and mid-range phones, iPhones can easily last for five to six years. However, there's one important caveat to this.

Samsung has improved the edge detection and bokeh of its portrait photos, and both the ‌iPhone 13 Pro‌ Max and the S22 Ultra take great images. The ‌iPhone‌ is of course more vibrant, and in some images, it's a little sharper.

Apple could adopt the 2nm process for its iPhone and Mac chips as early as 2025 as the company's main chip supplier, TSMC, has set in motion a plan to produce that process in the early parts of that year, DigiTimes reports.

Who makes the 5G chips for Apple?

My latest survey indicates that Apple's own iPhone 5G modem chip development may have failed, so Qualcomm will remain exclusive supplier for 5G chips of 2H23 new iPhones, with a 100% supply share (vs. company's previous estimate of 20%).

Apple's main chip manufacturing partner TSMC will beginning producing Apple's first in-house 5G modem chips for the iPhone in 2023, according to a report from Nikkei Asia.