Not only that Apple is doing the Samsung way once the rumoured iPhone 6 release date next year becomes a reality but the tech giant is also employing the help of its rival to power the first iOS phablet-size smartphone.

And in rolling out the next-generation iPhone, Apple is reportedly deploying a quad-core GPU with the large-screen handset, which the company has introduced earlier this month via the iPhone 5S.

While it has been widely reported earlier this year that Apple is easing out Samsung from its iOS device supply chain, following the latter's emergence as a close industry challenger due to the success of Galaxy gadgets, it appears that such plan will not be fully followed by 2014.

According to Engadget, apart from TSMC, Samsung will likely supply the processing chip requirements of Apple next year. The South Korean tech giant is poised to deliver some 40 per cent of the A8 chip deliveries that Apple is set to receive as it prepares to assemble the purported 5S successor, which many analysts have dubbed as the iPhone.

The news, Engadget said, was first reported by the Korean language daily The Korea Economic Daily.

Somehow, the new development belied earlier claims that by Q1 2014, Samsung will be out of Apple's production landscape.

But in order to ensure that no major delays will mar its production and release calendar for next year, Apple was forced to source its processing chips both from TSMC and Samsung.

It was not mentioned in the report how long the set up would last or if it is a long-term or short-term agreement with Samsung.

But what is certain is the GPU engine architecture that the iPhone 6 will use, which is the same quad-core graphics that is part of the 64-bit A7 chip package that came out of the box with the iPhone 5S.

Apple, according to MacRumors, provided no details on the specific components that made up its 2013 flagship but thanks to Chipworks from Canada, it was revealed that the graphic rendering might of the 5S is a 4-core GPU that is made by Imagination Technologies.

The chip, MacRumors said, was identified by AnandTech as the PowerVR G6430 configuration.

And it is highly likely that the same GPU or a more powerful variant will make its way to the iPhone 6, which analysts deemed as the true bearer of major iPhone upgrades.

These bump ups, Apple watchers said, could include a 5-inch wrap-around display screen, a LiquidMetal casing and controls keys that fade out when not in use.

The iPhone 6 release date is pegged for next year with March 2014 as the earliest possible launch date.