Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), one of the leading chip manufacturers in the world and Apple’s main partner for the production of its processors, is reportedly experiencing difficulties in the creation of the new chips required by the Cupertino company. In particular, TSMC is reportedly having problems with some lithography tools used for the 3nm process whose yield rate is already very high with about 80 out of 100 chips passing quality control.
These problems, according to one analyst, could only be fully resolved during the second half of 2023. As a result, TSMC is expected to start ramping up production of Apple’s A17 and M3 processors for Apple, both with a 3nm process, only starting in 2023. next June.
The 3nm technology, also known as N3, will offer up to 70% gain in logic density, up to 15% speed improvement at the same power, and up to 30% power reduction at the same speed compared to its predecessor. TSMC has confirmed in the past that most of the production will still remain in Taiwan where work has already begun to build the lines that will deal with 2nm chips in the future, probably starting from 2025
At the moment, it is still unclear whether or not these issues could affect Apple’s plans for the production of its devices. However, TSMC’s 3nm process will be the one that will be used primarily by Apple over the next few years. According to rumors, even the first 5G modem developed by Apple should be made using this production process.
