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Employees Arrested Over Alleged Theft of Chip Tech for Apple A20 Chip

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Several current and former TSMC employees have been accused of stealing proprietary information related to the company's 2-nanometer chip process, which is expected to debut in Apple's A20 chip for the iPhone 18 lineup (via the Financial Times).

a20-chip-feature.jpg

TSMC is Apple's sole chip supplier. It today disclosed that it has identified and acted upon an internal security breach involving attempts to exfiltrate trade secrets concerning its next-generation 2-nanometer process technology.

TSMC referred the matter to Taiwanese authorities, resulting in the arrest of three individuals, including a current engineer, a former employee, and a third suspect whose connection to the company was not disclosed. TSMC uncovered the situation by noticing "unusual access patterns" within the company's internal system related to "critical" information about 2-nanometer chip development and production.

According to TSMC's official roadmap, the 2-nanometer node offers considerable gains in both performance and energy efficiency. The node introduces nanosheet transistor architecture, replacing the FinFET design used in prior generations.

TSMC claims this shift will enable a 10% to 15% speed improvement or a 25% to 30% reduction in power consumption compared to 3-nanometer, with similar or better density. Apple is widely expected to adopt the 2-nanometer process for the "A20" chip, which will likely be used across next year's iPhone 18 lineup.

Article Link: Employees Arrested Over Alleged Theft of Chip Tech for Apple A20 Chip
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/05/alleged-theft-of-chip-tech-for-a20-chip/
Always wondered how Apple's suppliers handle sensitive information given the geopolitical climate they operate under. Good to know they take security seriously.

Although, whatever happened to that Bloomberg claim from years back that Foxconn? SuperMicro was installing secret nano-sized spy chips on Apple motherboards?

Edit: Regarding Bloomberg, I just spent some time looking into it. It's hard to say definitively without doing a deeper dive, but it looks like it's been debunked by some credible security professionals. Although the story is sensational and might be plausible, the onus is on Bloomberg to provide concrete evidence. The fact that relevant parties with physical access to potentially compromised hardware are refuting the story is either damning for Bloomberg or the biggest cover-up in computing history...
 
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tennisproha said:
Always wondered how Apple's suppliers handle sensitive information given the geopolitical climate they operate under. Good to know they take security seriously.

Although, whatever happened to that Bloomberg claim from years back that Foxconn? was installing secret nano-sized spy chips on Apple motherboards?
Click to expand...
It was obvious BS and the story fell apart at the slightest scrutiny. Was a good time to buy Apple stock, probably what a lot of people at Bloomberg did too 🤷‍♂️
 
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tennisproha said:
Always wondered how Apple's suppliers handle sensitive information given the geopolitical climate they operate under. Good to know they take security seriously.

Although, whatever happened to that Bloomberg claim from years back that Foxconn? was installing secret nano-sized spy chips on Apple motherboards?
Click to expand...
Was not Foxconn or Apple, it was about chips being installed on Supermicro motherboards about "rice grain-sized chips".
 
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Sounds like it’s going to be a powerful chip again. Can you imagine what kind of chips we’ll have 10 years from now? Especially with the need for more compute power for AI, I can’t imagine the type of stuff we’ll have the next decade.
 
MacRumors said:


Several current and former TSMC employees have been accused of stealing proprietary information related to the company's 2-nanometer chip process, which is expected to debut in Apple's A20 chip for the iPhone 18 lineup (via the Financial Times).

a20-chip-feature.jpg

TSMC is Apple's sole chip supplier. It today disclosed that it has identified and acted upon an internal security breach involving attempts to exfiltrate trade secrets concerning its next-generation 2-nanometer process technology.

TSMC referred the matter to Taiwanese authorities, resulting in the arrest of three individuals, including a current engineer, a former employee, and a third suspect whose connection to the company was not disclosed. TSMC uncovered the situation by noticing "unusual access patterns" within the company's internal system related to "critical" information about 2-nanometer chip development and production.

According to TSMC's official roadmap, the 2-nanometer node offers considerable gains in both performance and energy efficiency. The node introduces nanosheet transistor architecture, replacing the FinFET design used in prior generations.

TSMC claims this shift will enable a 10% to 15% speed improvement or a 25% to 30% reduction in power consumption compared to 3-nanometer, with similar or better density. Apple is widely expected to adopt the 2-nanometer process for the "A20" chip, which will likely be used across next year's iPhone 18 lineup.

Article Link: Employees Arrested Over Alleged Theft of Chip Tech for Apple A20 Chip
Click to expand...
Spy vs. Spy
 
Next year’s iPhone Air should get a significant boost in battery life. It may be worth waiting if you’re a potential customer for the Air model and your current phone is still good for another year. Maybe similar to the difference in battery life between the 12 mini and 13 mini.
 
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This is a security nightmare. There's a lot to be said for AI and robotics when evaluating the security of intellectual property. The human element is a blessing and a curse.
 
dampfnudel said:
Next year’s iPhone Air should get a significant boost in battery life. It may be worth waiting if you’re a potential customer for the Air model and your current phone is still good for another year. Maybe similar to the difference in battery life between the 12 mini and 13 mini.
Click to expand...
they haven't even announced this year's air model yet 😆
 
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