Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
65,619
34,217


Apple's chip manufacturer TSMC and chip packaging company Amkor on Thursday announced that the two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on chip production, packaging, and testing in Arizona.

apple-silicon-feature-joeblue.jpg

In a press release, the two companies said that the close proximity of their facilities in Arizona will speed up the overall chip manufacturing process:

Under the agreement, TSMC will contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor in their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona. TSMC will leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC's advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix. The close collaboration and proximity of TSMC's front-end fab and Amkor's back-end facility will accelerate overall product cycle times.

Apple last year confirmed that Amkor would package Apple silicon chips produced at a nearby TSMC facility, as part of a shared desire to expand U.S. manufacturing. Tech journalist Tim Culpan recently reported that the TSMC facility had started small-scale production of the A16 chip, which debuted in the iPhone 14 Pro models two years ago. The lower-end iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models also use the A16 chip.

Apple said Amkor would invest approximately $2 billion in the project, and said it would employ more than 2,000 people upon completion.

"Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we'll continue to expand our investment here in the United States," said Apple's operations chief Jeff Williams, in a press release last November. "Apple silicon has unlocked new levels of performance for our users, enabling them to do things they could never do before, and we are thrilled that Apple silicon will soon be produced and packaged in Arizona."

This partnership comes a little over two years after the U.S. government passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides funding to corporations, including TSMC and Amkor, to increase U.S. semiconductor research and manufacturing.

Article Link: Apple Chip Manufacturing in U.S. to Expand Following New Partnership
 

tenthousandthings

Contributor
May 14, 2012
261
301
New Haven, CT
Note: the earlier report about A16 production in Arizona also confirmed that Apple A16 uses the TSMC N4P process (fourth-generation 5nm). Before then, there was only one source for that claim.
 
Last edited:

CarAnalogy

macrumors 603
Jun 9, 2021
5,013
9,075
Don't chip manufacturing facilities use millions of gallons of water per day?

I don't know who thought it was a great idea to build such a water-dependent facility in what's probably one of the driest places in the North American continent, but that's some real 200 IQ big-brain thinking. 🤪

The quoted article seems to be making the opposite point. It says it's using a relatively small fraction of water and recycling most of it, after a large initial intake.

I don't quite understand why they put these in the deserts either, or how they plan to get the water, but it seems they're managing pretty well.
 

tenthousandthings

Contributor
May 14, 2012
261
301
New Haven, CT
The quoted article seems to be making the opposite point. It says it's using a relatively small fraction of water and recycling most of it, after a large initial intake.

I don't quite understand why they put these in the deserts either, or how they plan to get the water, but it seems they're managing pretty well.
Taiwan is an island with finite resources, so I’ll guess TSMC is pretty good at recycling the water they use already.
 

Drecca

macrumors 6502
Aug 30, 2010
264
116
They build these facilities on the most stable land mass possible. Any seismic event leads to fab shutdown. That’s how sensitive the equipment is.

Water can be transported in and recycled.

That’s the main reason why Arizona. Finance and geopolitics come after that.
 

citysnaps

Suspended
Oct 10, 2011
12,735
27,483
The quoted article seems to be making the opposite point. It says it's using a relatively small fraction of water and recycling most of it, after a large initial intake.

I don't quite understand why they put these in the deserts either, or how they plan to get the water, but it seems they're managing pretty well.

Spot-on. The people involved in the planning are not inexperienced/naive/stupid who simply glossed over the rational for choosing that particular location.

Overall it was a huge investment, *guessing* $20+ billion. Decisions aren't made casually.
 

wdfly

macrumors regular
Apr 23, 2015
234
142
Pretty sweet. I like that we can start making some important things here.
We could make almost everything here if we rolled back some of these regulations that prevent us from making a lot of these things. I'm waiting for the "the prices will increase" crowd to show up, sure they will but if more US citizens are working that means more money to buy things and that is a great thing.
 

Kazgarth

macrumors 6502
Oct 18, 2020
318
834
Why they keep contracting with Taiwan instead of US based Intel foundry.

Amazon & Microsoft both switched to using Intel 18A Fab for their custom chips.
 

ifxf

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2011
593
961
There are hundreds of chips and other components making up an iphone. Making one in the US won’t move the geopolitical risks needle much.
 

Crowbot

macrumors 68000
May 29, 2018
1,831
4,134
NYC
We could make almost everything here if we rolled back some of these regulations that prevent us from making a lot of these things. I'm waiting for the "the prices will increase" crowd to show up, sure they will but if more US citizens are working that means more money to buy things and that is a great thing.
Any specific suggestions of what regulations should be rolled back? Environmental? Wages? Worker safety? Just wondering.
 

wdfly

macrumors regular
Apr 23, 2015
234
142
Any specific suggestions of what regulations should be rolled back? Environmental? Wages? Worker safety? Just wondering.
environmental, one of the largest hurdles to manufacturing in the US is there are a lot of materials we use to product items that cannot be worked with here. Instead of banning it, they should allow it and let the companies assume the risks and liabilities with using it and hold them liable should they make a mess.
 
  • Angry
Reactions: Shirasaki

jz0309

Contributor
Sep 25, 2018
11,318
29,877
SoCal
This is all good stuff.
concern is that supposedly TSMC in AZ is struggling getting labor, and Amkor I’d guess would struggle even more as assembly is low wage, labor intensive … will be interesting to watch.
 

DownUnderDan

macrumors 6502
Apr 19, 2018
441
668
Hobart Australia
We could make almost everything here if we rolled back some of these regulations that prevent us from making a lot of these things. I'm waiting for the "the prices will increase" crowd to show up, sure they will but if more US citizens are working that means more money to buy things and that is a great thing.
What "regulations" prevent manufacturing in the US? There is some compliance, but that is totally manageable.
 

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,139
1,381
Silicon Valley
We could make almost everything here if we rolled back some of these regulations that prevent us from making a lot of these things.
It would help even more if a generation of kids decided to study manufacturing engineering, or even just learn a technical trade, instead of running up a huge student loan debt for an ethnic studies (et.al.) degree.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.