The invention relates to the prepeeling phase of methods for detaching a semiconductor chip from a foil. According to a first aspect, the invention relates to the determination of time periods, which each defines a duration of a prepeeling step. In a setup phase, the following steps are carried out for each prepeeling step: Initiating the method step; Repeating the two steps Recording of an image of the semiconductor chip and assignment of a time period to the image which has passed since the initiation of the prepeeling step, and Checking whether in the image a peripheral region of the semiconductor chip is darker than a predetermined brightness value; until the check leads to the result that no peripheral region of the semiconductor chip is darker than the predetermined brightness value. According to a second aspect, the detachment of the semiconductor chip from the foil is monitored in realtime.