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iPhone 13 and Redesigned MacBook Pro Chip Production Hit With Gas Contamination
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Man they are going all-in on the "supply will be constrained, better stay up all night to preorder" for this year's iPhone... Normally it's just a headline or two saying supply will be low for a while...
I really hope you’re right. I need to update my 2012 rMBP and really don’t want to have to pay full price for a fully spec 9th intel mbp
I would never considered that there's a supply chain of specialized gases necessary for my Apple device to be produced. Easy to take these gadgets for granted but it's pretty nuts what goes into them.
everything in a wafer fab is highly specialised - ultra high purity, ultra cleanliness, ultra expensive side facilities. Apple is absolutely tied at the hip with TSMC and Taiwan.
I would venture a guess that Apple has business continuity plans whereby it could pivot production to Samsung, which also has a 5nm process, in the event of some sort of supplier disruption with TSMC. The A9 was manufactured by both Samsung and TSMC so Apple's done it in the past.
This is surely the definition of "putting all your eggs in one basket" 😧
Samsung can’t even keep their own balls rolling this year. They canceled Galaxy Note series due to shortages.
It’s probably Argon or something inert, and something else to make plasma for EUV.
No. Whole different thing. A single factory (which in this case is just a part of a company) can get into trouble way easier than multiple factories. In a lot cases Apple has multiple suppliers or can move to another supplier. I am afraid there is no other supplier or factory for 5nm Apple Silicon. #fire #explosions #sabotage #naturaldisasters
I mean we can always get by with Samsung’s A9 for a year if we really come to that point. Also, even the Chinese SMIC can fab 14 and 7 nm nodes, so we probably will only face issues for A14 and later chips. A13 is good enough for use in a pinch.
No chance Apple releases a new MBP with Intel. None. That ship sailed.
Glad I'm skipping this whole generation or apple products.
Silicon lottery might be a thing.
Silicon lottery might be a thing.
Not trying to be a troll here. But I have first-hand experience.
I spent a decade at a major chip manufacturer and even something as small as bringing in an unclean ballpoint pen can shutdown an entire fab. Every single thing that enters the production line (front or back end) has to be wiped down with IPA and sealed in a bag that was also wiped down with IPA. These are the cleanest places on the planet.
And that's for things that DON'T necessarily enter a machine. Remember, these machines are as big as most of our bathrooms and each machine costs millions of dollars. They are designed to operate in a sterile environment. A single human hair, at the 5nm scale, will destroy every single 300mm wafer in a 10 or 25-wafer lot. Or more lots if the wafers are mixed and matched in follow-on processes like happens in a lot of gigafabs. Few fabs can afford to keep lots segregated due to the hundreds of depositions, etches and inspections.
Again, we don't KNOW what happened here but it's safe to say that they are bleeding and flushing gas lines, decontaminating dozens (or hundred) of machines, transfer boxes, wafer handlers, inspection stations...they are shut down until this is solved.
Apple just announced there may be supply shortages without explanation and now 3 days later this news. Hmmm.
