Samsung Electronics is exploring the development of discrete package low-power DRAM (LPDDR) for Apple's iPhones to meet the tech giant's evolving requirements, though Samsung has not confirmed these reports.
South Korean media outlet The Elec reports that Samsung is advancing plans to adopt a discrete packaging approach for iPhone LPDDR ICs, with related research and development efforts already underway.
The shift comes amid increasing demands for greater memory bandwidth driven by the rise of on-device AI and foldable smartphones. Industry sources indicate that Apple may move away from its current vertical stacking method, Package on Package (PoP), starting in 2026.
While PoP, first introduced in the iPhone 4, enables compact designs suitable for mobile devices, its bandwidth limitations pose challenges for AI-driven applications.
Discrete packaging provides distinct advantages in heat dissipation for smart devices, especially in managing the heat generated during extensive parallel computations. The method allows for a larger heat dissipation surface area compared to the single-stacked structure of Package on Package (PoP), preventing overlap of heat generated by the system-on-chip (SoC) and memory.
Nevertheless, the approach faces significant limitations. Apple originally used discrete packaging in Macs and iPads but later transitioned to Memory on Package (MoP) with the M1 SoC. MoP offers reduced communication latency and power consumption by bringing the processor and memory closer together, benefits that discrete packaging struggles to achieve.
The compact design of iPhones adds another layer of complexity to the use of discrete packaging. While feasible in larger devices like Macs and iPads, applying this method to an iPhone could necessitate increasing its size, contradicting the principles of mobile device design. Alternatively, Apple might consider shrinking the SoC and battery in the iPhone to create more room for memory, potentially enabling the integration of discrete packaging.
