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Apple's A16 Chips Now Being Manufactured in Arizona TSMC Plant
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Intel moves to spin out foundry business, inks AI chip deal with AWS
Intel has announced a key customer win and changes to its foundry business as the beleaguered chipmaker looks to execute a turnaround. Intel is taking steps to transition its chip foundry division, Intel Foundry, to an independent subsidiary, Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger said in a blog post...
Intel moves to spin out foundry business, inks AI chip deal with AWS
Intel has announced a key customer win and changes to its foundry business as the beleaguered chipmaker looks to execute a turnaround. Intel is taking steps to transition its chip foundry division, Intel Foundry, to an independent subsidiary, Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger said in a blog post...news.yahoo.com
They've gone back and forth on that for years. They "moved" to do it once, then "moved" it back, now they're "moving" to do it again. Problem is, they'd still be their own biggest customer for some time, and fewer people want their chips.
Maybe it's just me, but this comes off as a troll post (i.e. Look at what Apple/Taiwan Semi are doing for the U.S. What has Samsung done for the U.S.?) . But to answer your question, Samsung has been running their Austin, Texas plant since 1996! That's over 28 years
Austin | US Fab | Samsung Semiconductor Global
Samsung Austin Semiconductor is celebrating more than 28 years in Central Texas. Our Austin site, built in 1996, was mirrored after the Hwaseong semiconductor site in Korea.
semiconductor.samsung.com
And they're building a more advanced plant in Taylor, Texas that's expected to be up and running in 2026
I have read that chip foundries do not employ that many people and are mostly automated. But this is great for having less reliance on foreign made products.
Interesting development - I don't think Apple would bother if the iPhone 15 was going to be the last device to use the A16.
I'd say the most likely place it would be used is the 11th gen iPad which is rumored to be released soon - since the 10th gen uses the A14 and is a couple years old it would make sense to skip over the A15 and go to the A16.
Less likely that it appears in the new SE as it will probably get the A18, but I can also see a couple scenarios where Apple might want to put the A16 into the SE - they might want to omit Apple Intelligence from the SE and keep it from being more powerful than the iPhone 15 so it doesn't pull too many sales away from higher priced models, or they could possibly pair the A16 with 8 GB of RAM so it does support Apple Intelligence.
I don't really see it showing up in the Apple TV unless the A16 has become cheaper to produce than the A15.
I'd say the most likely place it would be used is the 11th gen iPad which is rumored to be released soon - since the 10th gen uses the A14 and is a couple years old it would make sense to skip over the A15 and go to the A16.
Less likely that it appears in the new SE as it will probably get the A18, but I can also see a couple scenarios where Apple might want to put the A16 into the SE - they might want to omit Apple Intelligence from the SE and keep it from being more powerful than the iPhone 15 so it doesn't pull too many sales away from higher priced models, or they could possibly pair the A16 with 8 GB of RAM so it does support Apple Intelligence.
I don't really see it showing up in the Apple TV unless the A16 has become cheaper to produce than the A15.
If it were that simple…
for one, intel 18A is is scheduled for production sometime next year.
18A is the name of a process, Apple would have to do a complete redesign for that specific process, probably a 2-3 year undertaking.
intel is still struggling with their current process performance/yield, their upcoming chip (forget the name) is fab’d by TSMC…
Intel needs to make some significant changes to become a “real“ foundry…
there’smuch more on this topic but I’ll stop here
Are you being sarcastic or are you serious? Because Intel claims to be making progress on 18A while abandoning 20A...
That doesn't exude a lot of confidence.Apple creating their custom silicon was arguably the best thing to happen to the firm. AppleInsider had a few articles on Job's vision many years ago. Intel has only itself to blame:
appleinsider.com/articles/15/01/19/how-intel-lost-the-mobile-chip-business-to-apples-ax-arm-application-processors
appleinsider.com/articles/20/06/09/how-arm-has-already-saved-apple---twice
IMO Intel will be largely a gov supported entity making chips for the US security apparatus or maybe EVs.
I don't think they will move 3nm to the US anytime soon and it is largely due to politics. TSMC is Taiwan's leverage against China. It needs to maintain the latest technology in Taiwan to keep the US interested in its defense.
TSMC has 2 more fabs in Arizona that are expected to be completed in 2026. By that time, these people working on 4nm chips will be sufficiently prepared to move to 3nm and smaller chips.
TSMC says they expect to produce 3nm and smaller chips at their 2nd Arizona fab in 2028
April 2024
TSMC announces plans to build a third fab in Phoenix, bringing the total investment to more than $65B. This new fab will operate 2nm or more advanced process technology and be operational by the end of the decade. It's second fab will incorporate 3nm and 2nm technology, and start production in 2028.
Taiwan-located fabs will always be ahead of U.S. fabs as TSMC are already working on 2nm chips and expect full 2nm production by end of 2025 in Taiwan.
Because they are terrible. They still cant keep up with the latest technology unlike TSMC. Their latest CPUs are still based on Intel 7 which is an improved version of 10nm but TSMC or Apple is using 3nm and soon 2nm on next year.
There is a huge gap between Intel and TSMC. Besides, Intel is having a worst year as they cant keep up with their own business while keep failing with their own company as they cant develop properly.
Literally, Intel sucks and it's just a matter of time before they fall.
Samsung has an existing fab in Austin, TX, that goes down to 14nm.
They are building a fab near by, in Taylor, TX, that should be ready around 2026. All I've seen about this is that it will be an "advanced" node, no details. It's quite possible that it will be a DRAM and/or flash facility rather than a logic facility. They are receiving US govt money, and if the feds have any sense, it's more important to have a balanced home portfolio that can also manufacture DRAM and flash (and other things like photonics) than to have three logic fabs and little DRAM or flash...
That's probably for the new entry-level iPad. I'd be surprised if a new mini comes out with a 2 year old chip.
TSMC announced the N4 plant in 2020 but it is set to mark 5 years before production will ramp. If they're producing at scale, you would think TSMC would announce this because it would mean that they're ahead of their 1H25 target (delayed target, albeit).
It is true that they announced N3 to be operational by 2028 but based on the timeline above, I suspect 2030. You can make the argument that they'll be faster as they get more funding through CHIPS but by that time, they'll be on A14 and A1 in Taiwan. No matter what, the latest chips will be produced in Taiwan with a slow rollout to ROW.
I’d assume new models would have to go A18 for the ram and AI. Might make sense to continue making older A16 based lines if this is a corporate, regulatory, or PR box ticking exercise. Always makes sense to spread the risk too, especially if anything were to happen to Taiwan.