Apple’s mysterious chip tech will help Samsung make iPhone image sensors in Texas

Apple is teaming up with Samsung to produce digital image sensors for future iPhone models, according to The Financial Times. This is tied to Apple’s Wednesday announcement that it is working with Samsung’s semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas, to launch “an innovative new technology for making chips, which has never been used before anywhere in the world.”

The Financial Times reports that Samsung will use the advanced chip technology to produce three-layer stacked image sensors for next year’s iPhone 18 lineup, citing anonymous sources “familiar with the deal.” Sony is currently Apple’s sole supplier of image sensors, which are produced in Japan under contract with TSMC. Unlike Samsung, Sony doesn’t have a US-based chipmaking facility that would enable it to evade the incoming tariffs on chips produced outside of the US.

“We remain confident that we are advanced in providing sensor technology to our customers, and we will focus on continuing further technological advancement through larger sensor size and density,” Sony said in a statement to The Financial Times.

The Samsung partnership is connected to a $100 billion expansion to Apple’s American Manufacturing Program, which will now see the company invest $600 billion to bring more of its supply chain to the US. “By bringing this technology to the US first, this facility will supply chips that optimize power and performance of Apple products, including iPhone devices shipped all over the world,” Apple said in its press release.