No my gurd... 3 nanometer! what happens when they reach zero nanometers do they are start using negative numbers?? Also - hopefully these get made at the new AZ plant.
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Apple Supplier TSMC to Produce 3nm Chips at Arizona Plant
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TSMC 3nm is supposedly in early production phase in 2022Q4 even after the delays.
TSMC's 3nm production launch delayed to Q4 2022
TSMC's 3nm process will be the first truly new process in a long time. Just as 6nm production is a derivative of 7nm technology, 4nm in turn arose from
tekdeeps.com
THIS factory might not produce 3nm until later though.
Arizona is the absolute dumbest place for semiconductor plants. (Well, you could add Nevada and most of California to that list too.) Yes, modern plants do massive water recycling... but they require an absolute massive amount of water in the first place, recycled or not. So, yeah, let's just build a plant where there's a 1000 year drought and no real hope of things getting better. Plenty of the US has ample water supply and would make a lot more sense.
As they only plan to fab 20,000 or so wafers a month, that’d be a good fit for anything going into Mac Pro type quantities. Of course, since TSMC only does the chip, it would have to travel somewhere else to actually be mounted on a circuit board with lots of other chips. And then installed inside a case, etc.
They’re only planning on maxing at 20,000 wafers per month. That’s far from the over 1m wafers per month they do elsewhere.
Agreed - initially - but I see this as a fail safe facility that can ramp up on volume.
What I’ve read is that it’s 20,000 max wafers a month, ever. The volume they’re building will ramp up to that. This won’t ever be a facility that can produce over 1 million wafers a month.
I would trust what the founder of the company says more than what Kuo predicted
Hopefully we are learning that all of one’s eggs in one basket (China) not the best choice. Apple needs build more here.
Like always, I appreciate you. Glad I could put a smile on your face.
You know it! Lol, nothing like corny dad jokes.
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This is great news. It is good to diversify chip production out of China.
The rumor of 3nm being available in q2 makes me think this is what will power Reality. It seems like we’re so close.
And on a side note, season 2 of Severance should be out Spring/Summer, so there might be some connection there.
And on a side note, season 2 of Severance should be out Spring/Summer, so there might be some connection there.
M2 Pro / Max / Ultra / Extreme should be on N3E from the overseas TSMC facilities; shipping Spring/Summer 2023...
M3 / Pro / Max / Ultra / Extreme should be on N3P / N3S / N3X, most likely from the new TSMC USA facilities; shipping Late 2024/Early 2025...
Mn-series SoCs may settle into an 18 month refresh cadence...?
M3 / Pro / Max / Ultra / Extreme should be on N3P / N3S / N3X, most likely from the new TSMC USA facilities; shipping Late 2024/Early 2025...
Mn-series SoCs may settle into an 18 month refresh cadence...?
Not if they’re still only producing 20,000 wafers a month. M3 is what would go in the Air, so that’s going to go to the “millions per month” fab site outside the US.
Folks shouldn’t think of this as a twin to the non-US production sites or even a younger sibling. It’s more like a pet that’s nice to have around and US companies will be able to say that they’re using chips produced in the US, but Bloomberg is thinking that’s about it.
That’s another low volume system that could have it’s entire chip needs met by the smallish US facility.
What's not clear to me is whether, when this plant opens in 2024, it will be using TSMC's most advanced 3 nm process (N3E), or whether TSMC will be restricting that to Taiwan for now.
If they really were willing to have their most advanced chips made in the US, they would be looking into building an N2 plant here, just as they are looking into building one in Taiwan.
There's nothing wrong with keeping their most advanced tech at home, but a more informative article would have addressed this question.
From Anandtech:
www.anandtech.com
If they really were willing to have their most advanced chips made in the US, they would be looking into building an N2 plant here, just as they are looking into building one in Taiwan.
There's nothing wrong with keeping their most advanced tech at home, but a more informative article would have addressed this question.
From Anandtech:
AnandTech Forums: Technology, Hardware, Software, and Deals
Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
www.anandtech.com
Only if Taiwan just hand their country over, I don’t see that happening. if it comes to an invasion that is being lost, expect to see those facilities demolished along with accelerated migration of key employees.
The conversion to Nanofeet will be laborious, but once done... Imagine the freedom!
New Apple products with US made chips +%100 to the price
Apple chip supplier TSMC has plans in place to mass produce next-generation 3-nanometer chips at its $12 billion Arizona facility, according to the Taiwanese company's founder.
Speaking to reporters on Monday in Taipei, Morris Chang said the 3-nanometre plant would be located at the same Arizona site as the 5-nanometre plant.
Apple is rumored to be moving its custom silicon to the 3nm process starting with the M2 Pro or M3 chip. Both Apple's M3 chip for Macs and A17 chip for iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to be manufactured based on TSMC's enhanced 3nm process. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects the M2 Pro to be used in updates next year to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, as well as a high-end Mac mini.
The move to a more advanced process typically results in improved performance and power efficiency, enabling faster speeds and longer battery life on future Macs and iPhones. According to TSMC, 3nm technology, also known as N3, will offer up to 70% logic density gain, up to 15% speed improvement at the same power, and up to 30% power reduction at the same speed when compared to its predecessor. The company says it is targeting volume production in the second half of this year.
Article Link: Apple Supplier TSMC to Produce 3nm Chips at Arizona Plant
