Samsung said to start development of its answer to Apple's 2nm A19 smartphone chipset
It feels as though we just started the 3nm chip era and already foundries like TSMC and Samsung Foundry are ready to start mass-producing flagship smartphone application processors (APs) at the 2nm node during the second half of next year. The first-gen 2nm process node known inside Samsung Foundry as SF2 will be used to produce Samsung's Exynos 2600 AP.
Apple COO Jeff Williams reportedly met recently with TSMC President and Co-Chief Executive Officer C.C. Wei to discuss reserving 2nm production for its 2025 A-series, M-series, and AI chips. Samsung is hoping to match Apple and according to ET News (via SamMobile), it has begun development of a chip codenamed "Thetis" which will be mass-produced by Samsung Foundry using its 2nm process node starting next year.
This chip will be, as we noted earlier, the Exynos 2600 and if Samsung continues its dual chip strategy for the 2026 flagship line, you can expect the Galaxy S26 and the Galaxy S26+ to be powered by the Exynos 2600 everywhere but the U.S., China, and Canada. In those three markets the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC. The latter chip will power the Galaxy S26 Ultra in all markets.
Earlier this month, we told you that the Exynos 2600 SoC will be the first chipset to feature Samsung's in-house GPU. This will replace AMD's GPU which was used on the Exynos 2400 AP and will be used with the Exynos 2500 as well. But if earlier rumors and the latest report from ET News is correct, Samsung will turn to its in-house design to produce the GPU that will be used with the Exynos 2600.
If everything goes to plan, the iPhone 17 series will be the first smartphones to employ a 2nm chipset in September 2025 when Apple unveils and releases the iPhone 17 series. That year we could see one 2nm chipset power the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the iPhone 17 Ultra. Samsung won't turn to its 2nm Exynos 2600 SoC until January/February 2026 when the Galaxy S26 series is introduced and released.
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