New rumors about Apple and its chip suppliers, TSMC in this case, which apparently are starting to look to the future by strengthening production capacities. It thus emerges that the supplier of Apple has plans to mass-produce next-generation 3-nanometer chips at its Arizona headquarterswhich will apparently cost something like $12 billion dollars to upgrade.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Monday, TSMC founder Morris Chang said the 3-nanometer plant will be located on the same site as Arizona’s dedicated 5-nanometer chip plant.
“Three nanometers, TSMC has a plan right now, but it hasn’t been fully finalized. It’s almost finalized — at the same Arizona site, phase two. Five nanometers is phase one, 3 nanometers is phase two.”
Apple is said to be planning to move to the 3nm process starting with the M2 Pro chip or M3. Both the latter and the A17 chip for the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to be produced based on TSMC’s 3nm miniaturization process. Switching to a more advanced process typically results in better performance and energy efficiency, allowing for faster speeds and longer battery life.
According to TSMC, the 3nm technology, also known as N3, will deliver up to 70% gain in logic density, up to 15% speed improvement at same power, and up to 30% power reduction at the same speed as its predecessor. The company says it is targeting volume production in the second half of this year.
