Are you ready for the 2nm Apple products? They’re coming…
Faster, higher performance, lower energy consumption are all in the near future for Apple’s Macs, iPhones, iPads, and everything else as Apple has sealed the deal to buy almost half of TSMC’s initial 2nm production capacity for use in future devices.
Chips with everything
This isn’t unusual, Apple has customarily got hold of new TSMC chips in advance of their introduction. The partnership between both firms has been very good for both of them, transforming the fortunes of the chip supplier, which now arguably leads the industry, almost as much as Apple leads in chip design.
TSMC is preparing to begin full-scale 2nm semiconductor production in Q4 across four fabrication sites in Baoshan, Hsinchu, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
TSMC has set a target of reaching 100,000 wafers per month by 2026 and Apple is reportedly designing four chips on this node.
TSMC disclosed further details of its N2 process at the IEDM conference last year, where it claimed these chips can deliver a 24–35% reduction in power consumption at the same voltage, or alternatively, up to a 15% performance increase.
Faster and better
I imagine Apple, already in the ascendant, will manage a little of both, and will no doubt enhance the performance of its processor on the basis of the 1.15x increase in transistor density on the processors.
TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei has said the 2nm node will enjoy stronger demand than its predecessor, ensuring sustainable growth for the company. Revenue in the current iteration climbed 18.5% QoQ to $30.24 billion, lifting its market share to a record 70.2% and cementing its leadership position, says Trendforce.
But, for iPhone, iPad, and eventually Mac and Vision Pro users, these enhancements – particularly in new hardware designs – once again show Apple’s design roadmap has a lot of life left to it. Thanks to Apple Silicon. Mass production begins next year.
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