Apple has reportedly picked the A8 chip architecture powerhouse, which uses 20nm processes nodes, for its rumoured 5.7-inch iPhone 6, a new report said.

The tech giant, according to DigiTimes, awarded a three-year contract to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to manufacture the A8, A9 and A9X processing chips that will be installed on iPhone and iPad iterations starting on 2014.

Specifically, "the upcoming Apple A8 processor will be found in a new iPhone slated for release in early 2014," the same report said.

And there is chance that some models of the iPhone 5S will benefit from the faster and more powerful CPU as DigiTimes added that "TSMC will start to manufacture Apple's A8 chips in small volume in July 2013."

Analysts have estimated that the 5S, an incremental iPhone update, will come out September this year while the big-screen iPhone 6 will likely debut between January and March next year.

The latest Apple move further eases out its bitter rival, Samsung, from its iPhone and iPad supply chain. However, the latter will remain a major iOS device components supplier as reports last week indicated that Samsung will supply the required Retina panel for the iPad Mini 2 and the iPad 5.

As for TSMC, the manufacturer is currently preparing its production facilities in Taiwan to achieve a capacity that will lead to the production of 50,000 wafers by Q1 2014, starting off with 10,000-wafer output capacity by December this year.

At present, the Taiwanese firm's foundry services are currently engaged by Apple to produce the A7 chips that according to analyst will be widely used in the iPhone 5S and possibly the iPad Mini 2 and iPad 5.

These iOS 7 devices, which analysts said will be unleashed successively beginning in September, are part of the surprise-packed products that Apple CEO Tim Cook had alluded to last month when he was interviewed by AllThingsD.

The culmination would be the 5.7-inch iPhone 6, which is Apple's answer to surging Galaxy Note series from Samsung and is slated for a Q1 2014 release date.