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Apple's A20 Chip Could Be Massively More Expensive

If the current chip technology is $45 per unit, a 50% price increase for the A20 would result in a new price of $68.

I image that Apple would be steering towards integrating much of their new wireless/modem technology onto the A20 die, resulting in a reduced chip count, less inter-chip communication overhead, and a more compact logic board.
 
We need to remember what happened the last time TSMC did a "tick" process shrink down to 3 nm. Apple bought up all of the production for a while including all of the binned or rejected chips. Only the 17 Pro was released while there was no 17. Apple ended up trickling out the A17 Pro in the iPad mini, probably because of the built-up inventory of binned chips. For 2 nm Apple secured half of TSMC's first run production, a much lesser commitment.
 
Apple will be working around-the-clock to avoid passing on extra costs to their most valued customers. I note how they've managed to keep SSD upgrade pricing frozen for years now despite rampant inflation (by taking less of a profit). So I wouldn't worry as an Apple customer.
 
JPack said:
The N2 process yields are improved with time and die size. Having a base A20 chip is almost certainly the case for iPhone 18.
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I agree, which is why I think the rumors are pointing to a later release for base iPhone 18. It wouldn't be uncharacteristic for Apple to but the last gen Pro chip in the base iPhone (like with the 14 & 15 series) but then there would be no reason to wait until the following spring to do it.
 
dumastudetto said:
Apple will be working around-the-clock to avoid passing on extra costs to their most valued customers. I note how they've managed to keep SSD upgrade pricing frozen for years now despite rampant inflation (by taking less of a profit). So I wouldn't worry as an Apple customer.
Click to expand...
I hope you are being sarcastic.
 
TSMC has reportedly told customers, presumably including Apple, to expect pricing that is at least 50% higher than 3-nanometer processors. (...)
The report further states that suppliers expect flagship mobile chips built on the 2-nanometer process to carry unit prices around $280 once volume production begins. (...)
A report from DigiTimes last year placed the cost of the A18 chip at around $45 (...).

The increase from $45 to $280 is not 50% but 300%.
 
Every process is claimed to be massively more expensive - "journalists" have been printing this sort of thing since like 16nm or earlier.
And yet life goes on...

Conclusions?
- journalists print stupid hype without ever asking about the historical context
- inflation makes the numbers much less exciting
- moving more functionality onto each chip (so reduced costs for the final device)
- etc etc etc

I suspect 50% of this is sheer stupidity -- people get excited by shiny without ever asking whether it even makes sense. And 50% is some sort of background stock/political manipulation.
 
bellnen said:
There you go. The reason why we need Intel cutting edge foundry processes (or at least someone else)..... Let's hope 18A & 14A are a success. Fun fact TSMC 2NM is NOT EUV as Intel bought all available machines from ASML for the period.
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Not true - of course TSMC 2 nm is EUV! The EUV equipment Intel has is the next gen EUV (EUV high NA), but the "2 nm" is just a different design - the transistor size hasn't changed from 3 nm (and likely 4-5 nm, when EUV started to be used).
 
So a 50% increase on a part that occupies 10% of BOM cost. And it will be amortized over the entire production run. I don't see the end user noticing at all.
 
gmnygts said:
So... $45(N3) x 50% is approximately $22
$22 buys you... A TSMC reported performance increase of N2 over N3; "It delivers an approximate 18% performance boost, reduces power consumption by approximately 36%, and increase transistor density by around 20% compared to N3E."
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"placed the cost of the A18 chip at around $45"

That's not necessarily how the math works.

Does A18 "chip" refer to the PACKAGE (which includes, among other things, the DRAM, the packaging itself, and various non-sexy but essential items on the package like lotsa capacitors) as opposed to just the SoC chip?
It probably does. And all those other items don't go up in price, or at least go up on a different sort of schedule.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple's "A20" chip designed for next year's iPhone models could be considerably more expensive, the China Times reports.

a20-chip-feature.jpg

The A20 chip is likely to be the first widely available 2-nanometer chip, debuting in the iPhone 18 lineup next year and forming the foundation of subsequent M6-series chips. The previous three generation A-series chips have all been based on TMSC's 3-nanometer node, with the upgrade to 2-nanometer promising further performance and efficiency improvements.

TSMC has reportedly told customers, presumably including Apple, to expect pricing that is at least 50% higher than 3-nanometer processors. This is attributed to unusually high capital expenditure for the new node and to the lack of discounting strategies while yields are still in their early acceptable phase.

The report further states that suppliers expect flagship mobile chips built on the 2-nanometer process to carry unit prices around $280 once volume production begins. This would make it the most expensive component in the iPhone and dramatically affect Apple's profit margins, if the increase is not passed on to customers.

A report from DigiTimes last year placed the cost of the A18 chip at around $45, with a total hardware bill of $416 for a model that retailed at $799, implying that the chip represents roughly 10% of bill of materials (BOM) cost and about 5–6% of retail price before logistics and development expenses. The most expensive component in that teardown was the rear camera assembly rather than the chip.

If the component cost rumors are true, Apple could limit 2-nanometer chips to only some 2026 iPhone models, such as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. In September last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warned that "due to cost concerns, not all new iPhone 18 models may be equipped with a 2-nanometer processor."

Article Link: Apple's A20 Chip Could Be Massively More Expensive
Click to expand...
Expect iPhone 18 to be more expensive
 
Is this new chip actually needed? I mean I know Apple has “always done it this way.” I’ll be surprised if this new chip is worth the major increase in cost.
 
So the best strategy would be to get a iPhone 17 pro now and then get a new phone in 4-5 years again. Doesn't make much sense to try to keep the current phone alive until the 18 comes out as the 18 might be more expensive or it might be delayed. Then when you jump on the iPhone 20 or 21 the 2nM technology is mature, yields are high and prices and refurb models might be available.
 
I'm still using an iPhone 13 Pro Max... and until I get an iphone with a working Siri AI that requires something more I'm sticking with it. TLDR: gimmie a phone that doesn't give me driving directions to turn left into a lake, or tell me "you must unlock your iphone to do that" when I want to know the date.
 
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