An Apple employee on Linked In is believed to be the source of a new report claiming that Apple has begun designing chips that will be built using TSMC's next-generation 2nm process node. Leaked slides published on Korean site
gamma burst and posted via a tweet on “X” by
the fugitive Revegnus (via
MacRumors), the heavily redacted Apple slide references older 5nm chips such as the A15 Bionic, 3nm chips such as the A17 Pro, and a future 2nm chipset.
As the process node used to build a chip “shrinks,” features on the chip become smaller, including transistors, allowing more of them to fit into a chip. This is important because the higher the number of transistors on a chip, the more powerful and/or energy efficient that chip is. The iPhone 15
Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are currently the only smartphones powered by a 3nm chip.
Heavily redacted slide shows Apple designing 2nm chipsets
Later this year, Apple is expected to use 3nm application processors (APs) for all four iPhone 16 models. iPhone16 And iPhone16 Plus could be powered by the 3nm AP A18 Bionic while the iPhone16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will sport the more capable A18 Pro AP. Both components will be built using TSMC's second-generation 3nm N3E node.
TSMC is expected to begin production of 2nm chips in the second half of 2025, with the foundry producing 1.4nm chips in 2027. Apple is expected to be the first company to get 2nm chips. These are expected to deliver 10-15% performance improvements at the same power or use 25-30% less power at the same speed compared to 3nm chips.
Apple is TSMC's largest customer, so it is usually able to be the first to receive chips made by TSMC using its latest process node. Apple will need to make some design changes in order to take advantage of TSMC's 2nm node which will feature Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors instead of the FinFET transistors currently used.
Using vertically placed horizontal nanosheets, GAA transistors allow the gate to surround the channel on all four sides, reducing current leakage and increasing drive current. This results in stronger electrical signals between the transistors, improving the performance of the chip. Last December, TSMC presented a prototype 2nm chip to Apple and Nvidia.
