Apple to Buy TSMC's Entire Supply of 3nm Chips for 2023

[MacRumors]

Apple will receive all of TSMC's first-generation 3-nanometer process chips this year for upcoming iPhones, Macs, and iPads, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

As early as May, Apple was known to have booked nearly 90% of the Taiwanese pure-play foundry for its upcoming next-gen devices. However, Apple is now projected to take 100% of TSMC's capacity in 2023, due to delays in Intel's wafer needs owing to later modifications to the company's CPU platform design plans.

Intel's lack of orders means TSMC's sales of 3nm chips will be significantly lower this year. While TSMC is still expected to experience significant growth in the fourth quarter as it starts mass producing 3nm chips for Apple's needs, they too have been downgraded, according to DigiTimes' industry sources.

The report suggests TSMC's 3nm process output may be reduced to 50,000-60,000 wafers monthly in the fourth quarter, down from the 80,000-100,000 units previously anticipated, due to a cutback in Apple's orders. The current monthly output of TSMC's 3nm process is estimated at approximately 65,000 wafers, the outlet's sources said.

Apple's upcoming ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ models are expected to feature the A17 Bionic processor, Apple's first ‌iPhone‌ chip based on TSMC's first-generation ‌3nm‌ process, also known as N3B. The ‌3nm‌ technology is said to deliver a 35% power efficiency improvement and 15% faster performance compared to 4nm, which was used to make the A16 Bionic chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

• When Will the iPhone 15 Be Released?

Apple's M3 chip for Macs and iPads is also expected to use the ‌3nm‌ process. The first M3 devices are expected to include an updated 13-inch MacBook Air and 24-inch iMac, both of which could arrive as early as this October.

New OLED iPad Pro models coming early next year are also likely to be powered by M3 chips, while Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models coming in 2024 will feature ‌M3‌ Pro and ‌‌M3‌‌ Max chips.

According to an App Store developer log obtained by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple is currently testing a new chip with a 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, and 36GB of memory, which could be the base-level M3 Pro for the next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models launching next year.

Apple may also be actively testing an M3 version of the Mac mini, according to Gurman. The Mac is said to be carrying the model identifier "Mac 15,12" and includes eight CPU cores (consisting of four efficiency cores and four performance cores), 10 graphics processor cores, and 24GB of RAM.

According to The Information, future Apple silicon chips built on the ‌3nm‌ process will feature up to four dies, which would support up to 40 compute cores. The M2 chip has a 10-core CPU and the ‌‌M2‌‌ Pro and Max have 12-core CPUs, so ‌3nm‌ could significantly boost multi-core performance. At minimum, ‌3nm‌ should provide the biggest performance and efficiency leap to Apple's chips since 2020.

TSMC is also working on an enhanced ‌3nm‌ process called N3E. Apple devices will eventually migrate to the N3E generation, which is expected to enter commercial production in the second half of 2023, but actual shipments will not ramp up until 2024, according to DigiTimes.

Article Link: Apple to Buy TSMC's Entire Supply of 3nm Chips for 2023

 

[abatabia]

I have that meme in my head now of the seagulls going MINE MINE MINE MINE. What movie is that from?

 

[Kraszim]

I have that meme in my head now of the seagulls going MINE MINE MINE MINE. What movie is that from?

Finding Nemo

 

[SoldOnApple]

Sub-nm chips are going to be a huge marketing buzzword in a few years.

 

[abatabia]

Finding Nemo

Thank you!

 

[picpicmac]

Sub-nm chips are going to be a huge marketing buzzword in a few years.

The new marketing term will be picometers. The challenge for the marketing team will be what number to add in front of "pm". Too small a number will make it sound like a clock time. Too big a number and people will think there is a backwards step.

After all, if you're at "3nm", who wants to go back to, say, "100pm" when "3nm" is clearly smaller than "100pm", eh?

 

[krspkbl]

Sub-nm chips are going to be a huge marketing buzzword in a few years.

Can we even go down to pm?

edit; I'm dumb. if we can go below 1nm then we might need to say 800pm, 500pm, 200pm.

I think that's distinct enough from 5nm, 3nm, 1nm.

 

[wanha]

The new marketing term will be picometers. The challenge for the marketing team will be what number to add in front of "pm". Too small a number will make it sound like a clock time. Too big a number and people will think there is a backwards step.

After all, if you're at "3nm", who wants to go back to, say, "100pm" when "3nm" is clearly smaller than "100pm", eh?

As 1 nanometer is 1000 picometers and there is no unit between the two, Apple could theoretically solve this by inventing a marketing term for a new unit that is 10 picometers. "The new iPhone is powered by 7 applemeter chips" 😆

 

[ItsASpider]

As 1 nanometer is 1000 picometers and there is no unit between the two, Apple could theoretically solve this by inventing a marketing term for a new unit that is 10 picometers. "The new iPhone is powered by 7 applemeter chips" 😆

There is still Angstrom, which is 100 picometer and is what Intel is going with.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

That is so , so sad

 

[Leon Ze Professional]

Man, TSMC must be thinking to themselves that Intel are such an unreliable customer. This is not the first time they've cancelled an order with TSMC.

 

[headlessmike]

There is still Angstrom, which is 100 picometer and is what Intel is going with.

And anything below an Ångström isn't really relevant in this context anyway. The separation between silicon atoms in a crystal is about 2.4 Å. 1 Å is about the "size" of a hydrogen atom.

 

[fatTribble]

What Apple and TSMC do to create these powerful processors is truly amazing!

I almost feel guilty buying a new iPad Pro with all of that horsepower only to look at trip photos and read news stories. 😊

 

[ForkHandles]

If you compare a Satsuma and orange, one width is twice the width of the other, however the volume is EIGHT times bigger.

I’d you do that with cables 1mm and 2mm wide the cross sectional area is FOUR times bigger.

So how does it work with this 3nm ?

If the lines are like cables then going from 6nm to 3nm would be 4 times reduction in flow rates not two.

From 4nm to 3nm would reduce the cross section almost by half (3/4 squared)

If that is the case it’s pretty darned impressive. We might one day get all day battery life! Fingers crossed

 

[Kazgarth]

TSMC is self sabotaging themself with their insane new wafer prices, even Apple is reducing their order sizes (the company with the largest product margins ever).

 

[falainber]

Current TSMC 3nm process is just not good (expensive, low yield) so nobody but Apple is designing chips for it. All other customers are waiting for N3E. So the reason Apple is buying the entire supply of 3nm chips this year is not that other customers can't get it, it's because they don't want it.

 

[wilhoitm]

0 nm = Quantum Computing!

 

[Kazgarth]

0 nm = Quantum Computing!

The nm scale is nothing but marketing terms, they stopped naming new nodes according to their actual size since 16nm.

Intel upcoming 5nm will be called 20A (20 angstrom, aka 2nm) because they can, and there are no naming standards to follow.

 

[falainber]

Man, TSMC must be thinking to themselves that Intel are such an unreliable customer. This is not the first time they've cancelled an order with TSMC.

Alternatively Intel must be thinking to themselves that TSMC are such an unreliable manufacturer. TSMC failed to deliver on their promises for 3nm both in terms of time and quality.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

The new marketing term will be picometers. The challenge for the marketing team will be what number to add in front of "pm". Too small a number will make it sound like a clock time. Too big a number and people will think there is a backwards step.

After all, if you're at "3nm", who wants to go back to, say, "100pm" when "3nm" is clearly smaller than "100pm", eh?

Perhaps they’ll call it .8nm, .5nm. …or 5/16nm, 7/64ths, 11/128s for the American market, …& then 8k femtometer, 6k, 4k…. or maybe by then we’ll all be using quantum computing occurring on lattices of light suspended in non-newtonian fluids to check our email & watch boobs. Or sticks and small piles of sand. When the future bird archeologists 113million years from now dig up the middle primate industrial age they can decide if its worth rebuilding all the tech they’d need to decrypt the endless archives of boobies, and through some miscommunication, they’ll do it, thinking they’re finally going to understand their long lost cousins.

 

[uptownnyc]

Additional reading for all things N3:

TSMC Details 3nm Evolution: N3E On Schedule, N3P and N3X To Deliver 5% Performance Gains

www.anandtech.com

 

[MayaUser]

nothing new...the first 5nm was bought around 75-80%...now 100%
Too bad this is coming from Digitimes...but i still think Apple has bought over 70% of this N3

 

[Remuz]

Since the back to school campaign is active to 23rd of October I guess the M3 mini/MBA/MBP will come right after that date, so finally some 3nm in the computers

 

[Fandroid killer]

Apple will receive all of TSMC's first-generation 3-nanometer process chips this year for upcoming iPhones, Macs, and iPads, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

As early as May, Apple was known to have booked nearly 90% of the Taiwanese pure-play foundry for its upcoming next-gen devices. However, Apple is now projected to take 100% of TSMC's capacity in 2023, due to delays in Intel's wafer needs owing to later modifications to the company's CPU platform design plans.

Intel's lack of orders means TSMC's sales of 3nm chips will be significantly lower this year. While TSMC is still expected to experience significant growth in the fourth quarter as it starts mass producing 3nm chips for Apple's needs, they too have been downgraded, according to DigiTimes' industry sources.

The report suggests TSMC's 3nm process output may be reduced to 50,000-60,000 wafers monthly in the fourth quarter, down from the 80,000-100,000 units previously anticipated, due to a cutback in Apple's orders. The current monthly output of TSMC's 3nm process is estimated at approximately 65,000 wafers, the outlet's sources said.

Apple's upcoming ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ models are expected to feature the A17 Bionic processor, Apple's first ‌iPhone‌ chip based on TSMC's first-generation ‌3nm‌ process, also known as N3B. The ‌3nm‌ technology is said to deliver a 35% power efficiency improvement and 15% faster performance compared to 4nm, which was used to make the A16 Bionic chip for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

• When Will the iPhone 15 Be Released?

Apple's M3 chip for Macs and iPads is also expected to use the ‌3nm‌ process. The first M3 devices are expected to include an updated 13-inch MacBook Air and 24-inch iMac, both of which could arrive as early as this October.

New OLED iPad Pro models coming early next year are also likely to be powered by M3 chips, while Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models coming in 2024 will feature ‌M3‌ Pro and ‌‌M3‌‌ Max chips.

According to an App Store developer log obtained by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple is currently testing a new chip with a 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, and 36GB of memory, which could be the base-level M3 Pro for the next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models launching next year.

Apple may also be actively testing an M3 version of the Mac mini, according to Gurman. The Mac is said to be carrying the model identifier "Mac 15,12" and includes eight CPU cores (consisting of four efficiency cores and four performance cores), 10 graphics processor cores, and 24GB of RAM.

According to The Information, future Apple silicon chips built on the ‌3nm‌ process will feature up to four dies, which would support up to 40 compute cores. The M2 chip has a 10-core CPU and the ‌‌M2‌‌ Pro and Max have 12-core CPUs, so ‌3nm‌ could significantly boost multi-core performance. At minimum, ‌3nm‌ should provide the biggest performance and efficiency leap to Apple's chips since 2020.

TSMC is also working on an enhanced ‌3nm‌ process called N3E. Apple devices will eventually migrate to the N3E generation, which is expected to enter commercial production in the second half of 2023, but actual shipments will not ramp up until 2024, according to DigiTimes.

Article Link: Apple to Buy TSMC's Entire Supply of 3nm Chips for 2023

This should push samsung and others to ramp up their 3nm

 

[Fandroid killer]

0 nm = Quantum Computing!

There won't be 0nm. The last posible node will be 1nm as that is the size of the atom. Unfortunately 3nm node isn't actually 3nm in size so it will be decades until we get true forms of it