Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the fabricator of Apple Silicon chips, is set to make significant enhancements to its chipmaking process when it begins high-volume production of 2nm technology starting in late 2025.
For context, the latest iPhones and MacBooks use a 5nm processor and 3nm is scheduled for later this year. It’s no surprise that Apple would be among the first to use the new technology, but the company will reportedly be joined by a familiar foe: Intel.
You might wonder why Intel, which has its own chipmaking fabs, would turn to a competitor for supply. According to DigiTimes and UDN reports, Intel will be an early adopter of TSMC’s 2nm node for use in the company’s graphics processing units (GPUs) and other SoCs. Intel’s new Arc GPUs will reportedly use TSMC’s 3nm and 2nm process nodes as they attempt to take on market leaders Nvidia and AMD.
As for Apple, the Cupertino giant has been TSMC’s largest customer by revenue for the last decade, using the foundry for the processors used within its phones, tablets, and M1-powered laptops. The latest chips use a 5nm processor, so there will presumably be interim releases before the N2 chips are delivered in early 2016. In fact, TSMC’s 3nm chips arrive later this year, and will likely power the iPhone 14 when the phone is announced in the fall… The upcoming 3nm process is said to result in 15% performance improvements and 30% power reduction, so we could see similar upgrades with the next technology.
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone 14 is going to seem super-powered, to say nothing of future-gen 2nm Apple Silicon-powered iPhones, Macs, iPads, and more!
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Can’t wait for 2016 to arrive. Back to the future eh.
And those N2 chips 🙃
And that Buffon, with BS in his head, is anti Apple. Hope he is enjoying his Samsung. What a buffoon maroon of doom.