TSMC is the world's largest foundry and Apple is its biggest customer. Apple was able to reserve most of TSMC's initial 3nm production for the A17 Pro chipset which is used to power the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. To keep things simple, just remember that as the number of process nodes decreases, the transistors used by a chip become smaller and smaller, meaning more of them can fit in the small space inside an SoC. The higher the number of transistors in a chip, the more powerful and/or energy efficient it is.
Apple and NVIDIA had the opportunity to examine prototypes of 2nm chips manufactured by TSMC
Taking the
iPhone as an example, the iPhone 11 series was powered by the 7nm A13 Bionic which carried 8.5 billion transistors. The 3nm A17
Pro has 19 billion transistors. And since it takes a few years to build the factories and order the necessary machines, we've known for some time that TSMC is working on producing 2nm chips. According to
The Financial Times (via
ArsTechnica), Apple has already had the opportunity to test 2nm prototypes built on TSMC's N2 node. The report states that another major TSMC customer, NVIDIA, was also able to view the 2nm chip prototype.
Apple's 3nm A17 Pro chipset contains 19 billion transistors
TSMC previously said it would begin volume production of 2nm in 2025 and in a statement to the Financial Times the company said it is “progressing well and on track for volume production in 2025, and that “it will be the most advanced semiconductor technology in the industry.” in terms of density and power efficiency when it is introduced.” Assuming there are no delays, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max could be the first Apple handsets to be powered by a 2nm application processor (AP), possibly the A19 Pro.
At 2nm, TSMC will launch its new Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors that cover the channel on all four sides, reducing current leakage and providing energy efficiency gains.
Samsung Foundry already uses GAA with its 3nm production.
Speaking of Samsung Foundry, the latest news indicates that Qualcomm will switch from TSMC to Samsung for the production of the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 AP in 2025. Qualcomm left Samsung Foundry in 2022 after the latter reported low yields for the build of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. TSMC took over to produce the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and has been operating ever since, although this appears likely to change in 2025. Samsung Foundry's yield is around 60% for production the latest. more basic in 3 nm. Yield is expected to drop when building smartphone hotspots.
With a yield of 60%, 40 out of 100 chips cut from a wafer do not pass quality control. And because the foundry's customers are usually responsible for the cost, yield is a major factor in determining which foundry a chip designer does business with.
Intel's A18 node (1.8nm) will enter mass production by 2025
Samsung says it's ready for 2nm production. “We are well equipped to prepare for mass production of SF2 by 2025,” Samsung said. “Since we were the first to take the plunge and move to the GAA architecture, we hope that the progression from SF3 to SF2 will be relatively smooth. » While Apple and NVIDIA were able to get a glimpse of their future, TSMC draws up the final list of its 3nm and 2nm customers according to
DigiTimes.
Intel is also looking to win back contracts from TSMC and Samsung Foundry. Intel's next-generation 18A node (1.8nm) could take process leadership away from the pair and offers chip design companies free test production. Intel could shake up the market. Longtime TSMC customer AMD said in July that it would “consider additional manufacturing capabilities.”
Leslie Wu, managing director at consulting firm RHCC, said companies looking to make their chips using a 2nm node could start spreading their chip production across multiple foundries. With concerns over China's invasion of Taiwan still a cause for worry, Wu said: “It is too risky to rely solely on TSMC.” Yet Apple has relied solely on TSMC for years.
