The final week of December 2022 will mark the start of mass production of next-generation processors by TSMC, a major supplier of chips to Apple. The primary user of the new process is Apple, and it may initially be used with upcoming M2 Pro chips that are expected to power upgraded MacBook Pro and Mac mini versions.
Apple presently uses TSMC’s 4nm technology to produce the A16 Bionic chip for the iPhone 14 Pro series, while the company may transition to 3nm in the future. The next M2 Pro chips will be the first to make advantage of the 3nm manufacturing process, according to a report from August. The M2 Pro chip is likely to debut in the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in early 2023, along with perhaps enhanced Mac Studio and Mac mini models.
The only two businesses in the world that will produce 3nm chips are TSMC and Samsung. The chips will contribute to the development of integrated circuits that improve device performance without draining batteries. The market for 5G cellphones and other electronic products will also grow as a result. For 5G and 6G wireless devices, modem chips would also utilise TSMC’s 3nm technology.
In comparison to the 2nm technique, which will produce around 310 million transistors in the same area, 3nm technology offers 250 million transistors per square nanometre. A higher transistor offers better performance with the same amount of power used while using less power overall.
According to another claim, TSMC’s improved 3nm technology, which has yet to become ready later in 2023, would be used to create the M3 chip and the A17 Bionic for the iPhone 15. According to the DigiTimes article, unless the production of the upgraded version starts, the 3nm process chip production is “unlikely to ramp up.” TSMC’s 3nm process technology, in contrast to Samsung’s, would continue with FinFET transistors and rely on “new features” to accomplish the full-node scaling.
