A report from Korean outlet ET News claims that Apple’s efforts to develop the M2 chip for its Macs are ongoing with assistance from Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

The report says Samsung will supply the flip chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) for the M2 chip. The FC-BGA is a printed circuit board component used to connect the SoC to the primary substrate. The companies are reportedly working on the FC-BGA for the M2 chip together and are expected to finish working this year.

To recall, Samsung Electro-Mechanics supplied the FC-BGA used in the M1 chip as well. However, this detail was revealed by a report from The Elec. It was overlooked for almost a year after the M1 chip was introduced.

Although Apple designed the M1 chip in-house and Taiwanese foundry TSMC has exclusive rights to manufacture it, some components are sourced from third parties. For instance, the M1 chip’s board is supplied by Ibiden and Unimicron. For Apple, this means it still needs to coordinate with several suppliers to ensure production continues smoothly.

Meanwhile, the report from Korea reiterated Bloomberg’s recent speculation that Apple is working on at least nine new Macs powered by the new M2 chip. These computers could break cover sometime later this year, starting with the redesigned MacBook Air.