The chip market is currently experiencing strong competition to see who will stand out more in advanced 3nm processes. And even though Samsung has already made the leap and produced its first solution of its kind, the novelty has not caught the attention of smartphone manufacturers, who are waiting for the version of the leader TSMC to take the next step in this market.
Apparently, according to the Commercial Times, Apple will be the one to receive the first generation of chips in 3 nm from TSMC, the N3, later this year, but the novelty will not arrive to equip any model of the iPhone 14 line. The most basic ones should stay with the 5nm A15 chip, while the Pro models will run the 4nm A16. In parallel, Samsung’s first customer in the 3nm area was from the unstable cryptocurrency market.
The news suggests that Apple’s first 3nm chip will be the M2 Pro chip, which should power the 2022 MacBook Pro lineup, followed by the A17 Bionic chipset, to be developed in 2023 for the iPhone 15 Pro models, while the non Pro should always arrive with a previous generation processor.
Due to the short time, Apple could not bet on the launch of its chips in TSMC’s N3 and therefore the A16 Bionic will be made using 4nm technology, which is in reality an improved version of the 5nm process node. foundry nm.
TSMC says its 3nm FinFET chips will reduce power consumption by between 25% and 30% and increase speed by 10% to 15% with the same amount of power compared to 5nm FinFET chips. In contrast, Samsung said its 3nm process node will reduce power consumption by 45% and improve performance by 23%.