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

Apple Chip Supplier Preparing to Begin Production of 2nm Chips as Early as 2025

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,446
40,548


Apple could adopt the 2nm process for its iPhone and Mac chips as early as 2025 as the company's main chip supplier, TSMC, has set in motion a plan to produce that process in the early parts of that year, DigiTimes reports.

applesilicon.jpg

All of Apple's latest chips feature the 5nm process, including the A15 Bionic in the iPhone 13 series and the entire M1 Apple silicon line. According to a new DigiTimes report today, TSMC will begin mass production of 3nm chips later this year with 2nm following in 2025 with Apple and Intel being among the first to use the newer technology.
TSMC has set a timetable to move its 2nm GAA process to production in 2025 while commercializing its 3nm FInFET process with improved yield rates in the second half of 2022, with Apple and Intel among the first clients to adopt both nodes, further consolidating its dominance in the advanced foundry sector, according to industry sources.
Click to expand...
A report from last year claimed that the next iPad Pro, expected to be announced later this year, will feature a 3nm process. The current iPad Pro features the M1 chip and the 2022 version is expected to include Apple's all-new "M2" chip. The 3nm process technology features performance improvements of up to 15% while being at least 25% less battery-hungry, according to TSMC.

Article Link: Apple Chip Supplier Preparing to Begin Production of 2nm Chips as Early as 2025
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/22/apple-chip-supplier-preparing-2nm-chips/
  • Like
Reactions: RandomDSdevel
How small can they get before random errors from cosmic radiation become a major problem? Also interesting that 2nm only give 15% more performance compared to 3nm. With 2nm you should ne able to more than double the number of transistors that can be addressed in one cycle, which are limited by the speed of light.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: tridley68
Skyscraperfan said:
How small can they get before random errors from cosmic radiation become a major problem? Also interesting that 2nm only give 15% more performance compared to 3nm. With 2nm you should ne able to more than double the number of transistors that can be addressed in one cycle, which are limited by the speed of light.
Click to expand...
Yeah what's next after they can't go any smaller? Surely they must be working on something...
 
  • Like
Reactions: CharlieBoyWoof and tridley68
MacRumors said:
The next iPad Pro, expected to be announced later this year, will feature a 3nm process. The current iPad Pro features the M1 chip and the 2022 version is expected to include Apple's all-new "M2" chip. The 3nm process technology features performance improvements of up to 15% while being at least 25% less battery-hungry, according to TSMC.
Click to expand...

Music to my ear
 
  • Like
Reactions: Billrey
Skyscraperfan said:
How small can they get before random errors from cosmic radiation become a major problem? Also interesting that 2nm only give 15% more performance compared to 3nm. With 2nm you should ne able to more than double the number of transistors that can be addressed in one cycle, which are limited by the speed of light.
Click to expand...
At this point ‘3nm’, ‘2nm’ etc are basically arbitrary labels to describe progress in transistor manufacturing processes. They have little to do with actual feature size on the microchips, which can vary widely in a single microchip.

Also, process sizes are not comparable between different CPU manufacturers because they also serve as marketing tags for that particular manufacturer’s processes.

Don’t base expectations or calculations on the ‘Xnm’ label.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Argoduck, EntropyQ3, jeffpeng and 7 others
Skyscraperfan said:
Also interesting that 2nm only give 15% more performance compared to 3nm.
Click to expand...

I don’t believe the article says this. It says, “The 3nm process technology features performance improvements of up to 15% while being at least 25% less battery-hungry, according to TSMC.”

I think this means the 3 nm process produces 15% performance improvements over the current 5 nm process.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Argoduck, EntropyQ3 and eulslix
The partnership between Apple and TSMC is responsible for some of the most important innovations in semiconductor technology. It's the perfect match between TSMC's chip semi ingenuity and execution and Apple's processor design prowess and very deep pockets to finance each major process generation. The entire industry is benefiting from the fruits of this partnership.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HMFIC03, Argoduck, Miles Teg and 5 others
Skyscraperfan said:
How small can they get before random errors from cosmic radiation become a major problem? Also interesting that 2nm only give 15% more performance compared to 3nm. With 2nm you should ne able to more than double the number of transistors that can be addressed in one cycle, which are limited by the speed of light.
Click to expand...
That way of thinking, i.e. (3*3)/(2*2) approximately equalling 2, does not mean you get double the transistor density - that has not been the case for ages now. These days, somewhere in the process they will have managed to reduce one or two dimensions from 3nm to 2nm but the vast majority of other dimensions (and there are hundreds of them) are a lot bigger and many don't even change at all going from node to node. Sure, things are getting better, but nothing like what you're implying. That being said, it is amazing to behold the progress. My first job in IC design (shortly after the dinosaurs perished) was with a 10µm bipolar process!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RedTomato, Argoduck, EntropyQ3 and 4 others
scupking said:
I think we will be on 2nm for a while. After that maybe 1.5nm by 2030.
Click to expand...
I think after 1 NM what’s gonna happen is a lot of chip fusion. Think of more M1 Ultra like designs. What likely will need to happen is more apps will need to be better optimized for parallel computing to take advantage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Argoduck and Tagbert
So the timeline is looking something like this:

2022- A16 (4nm)
2022/2023 - M2 family chips (5np)
2023 - A17 (3nm)
2023/2024 - M3 family chips (4nm)
2025 - A18 (2nm)
2025/2026 - M4 family chips (3nm)

In other words if you own an iPhone 13 and already own an M1 based Mac - wait until the 2023 iPhone and the 2023/2024 Macs for the best bang for your buck upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Argoduck
MacRumors said:


Apple could adopt the 2nm process for its iPhone and Mac chips as early as 2025 as the company's main chip supplier, TSMC, has set in motion a plan to produce that process in the early parts of that year, DigiTimes reports.

applesilicon.jpg

All of Apple's latest chips feature the 5nm process, including the A15 Bionic in the iPhone 13 series and the entire M1 Apple silicon line. According to a new DigiTimes report today, TSMC will begin mass production of 3nm chips later this year with 2nm following in 2025 with Apple and Intel being among the first to use the newer technology.
A report from last year claimed that the next iPad Pro, expected to be announced later this year, will feature a 3nm process. The current iPad Pro features the M1 chip and the 2022 version is expected to include Apple's all-new "M2" chip. The 3nm process technology features performance improvements of up to 15% while being at least 25% less battery-hungry, according to TSMC.

Article Link: Apple Chip Supplier Preparing to Begin Production of 2nm Chips as Early as 2025
Click to expand...
We know that the nm in these process names does not refer to the actual distance between items on the chip, though as the numbers get smaller they are no doubt closer together. So I wonder say 10 years from now, what they will call the process. 0.2nm process? 1nm process Titanium Edition? Super wonderful more than you can believe it process?
 
  • Like
Reactions: fourthtunz
DHagan4755 said:
Yeah what's next after they can't go any smaller? Surely they must be working on something...
Click to expand...
Maybe a movement back to analog computers that are faster and more power efficient than digital computers. But since they are more prone to noise than digital computers probably a hybrid architecture.

spectrum.ieee.org

Not Your Father’s Analog Computer

Scientists and engineers may benefit from a long-⁠abandoned approach to computing
spectrum.ieee.org spectrum.ieee.org

Possibly photonic (classical) based computers:

lightmatter.co

Lightmatter®

Rethinking the limits of AI, Lightmatter merges photonics and computing to build a future where speed, efficiency, and intelligence converge.
lightmatter.co lightmatter.co

Or quantum computers (either photonic or other).
 
  • Like
Reactions: fourthtunz and Argoduck
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back