Apple's A20 Chip Could Be Massively More Expensive

[bayportbob]

is the math realistic for the N2 product? that is a huge increase in price. with what performance increase to justify that huge price jump? sounds like a shark jumping competition gonna be happening with iPhone next year...

 

[neutrino17]

I wouldn’t read too much into this. Semiconductor manufacturing is a very complex world. This may be a useful signal for customers like Apple but probably doesn’t carry long term consequences. Let’s see if they are still talking this way in a year or two.

 

[Rafagon]

Segment the product line. 6 Iphones with the upper-tier Pro models having the A20 Pro chip, 2 using the regular, and 2 the cut-down chip. People who want the finest chip in the industry need to pay, no such thing as a free lunch.

Sure, to pay for our phones, but not also to subsidize yours.

 

[gmnygts]

"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.

break it down or build it up... I'm just playing with the few, scant details (notably, the at least 50% higher) in the write-up. TSMC has reportedly told customers, presumably including Apple, to expect pricing that is at least 50% higher than 3-nanometer processors. And ---A report from DigiTimes last year placed the cost of the A18 chip at around $45, ...

 

[gmnygts]

"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.

One other thing, to speculate about the "PACKAGE" and cost is nonsensical. For its current SoCs, Apple uses Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) packaging, where the memory is typically attached near the processor via a silicon interposer. Apple is expected to use WMCM packaging for its 2N --Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module is an advanced packaging method for integrating multiple chips, such as the CPU, GPU, and DRAM, directly onto a single wafer. To guess the eventual cost of this new packaging technology is wildly speculative right now.

https://en.eeworld.com.cn/news/xfdz/eic699098.html

 

[ChrisA]

We all know Moore's first law. But his 2nd law was "that the capital cost of a semiconductor fabrication plant also increases exponentially over time."

He went on to say that this fact proves that computer chips can not continue improving because at some point there will literally not be enough money on Earth to pay for the next plant.

What he meant was that while the first law means that the technology will get a ot better over time, the second law sys the process will come to an end when we can not afford to build the next fab.

I think the end is in sight.