Apple to give ‘A6’ ARM SoC production to TSMC over Samsung?

You’ve probably been wondering what kind of relationship Apple must have with Samsung. On one hand, the two still have a contract to produce SoCs for its iPhones and iPads. On the other, Apple has filed a strongly-worded lawsuit against the company, claiming it “slavishly [copies] Apple’s innovative technology.”

According to both a Merrill Lynch analyst in Taipei and “a plugged-in source” for Ars Technica, Apple and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) are in talks to have the latter produce Cupertino’s next-generation ARM SoCs sometime in 2012, currently known as “A6,” instead of Samsung. (Apple’s A5 is currently residing inside the iPad 2.) Rumors of the partnership are old hat now, beginning earlier this year via both Digitimes and EE Times. That was before the lawsuit, mind you, and something tells us Apple will be doing its best to move all business away from Samsung. TSMC is reportedly moving to a 28nm process, approximately two-thirds of the 45nm A5 currently made by Samsung.

In other whispers, one Morgan Stanley analyst (via Apple Insider) has reportedly heard that Apple will ramp up production of the iPhone 5 in “mid to late August” for a release sometime in September — around the time, we’d add, that Apple traditionally does its annual iPod event. Seeing as the next iteration didn’t make its usual summer announcement, that’s as good of a guess as we’d have, too.