Spies out for iPhone and 2nm processors at TSMC
It may not be about the iPhone but be in no doubt that there will be plenty of interest groups that would just love to know more about TSMC’s forthcoming 2nm processor technology.
Sure looks like serious snooping to me
That’s the significance of TSMC’s news that it has fired several of its employees for violating rules on obtaining sensitive information about its 2nm tech.
The attempt was very serious indeed, with three people (including two former TSMC employees) arrested for stealing these secrets; more people were investigated for these attempts.
This may be a bigger deal than it seems, as it appears investigators have also searched the premises of Japanese chip tool maker Tokyo Electron.
(That company’s story is interesting on its own account).
There’s a lot of it about
On the surface, it’s all about trade secrets, the news comes hot on the heels of other recent Apple-related espionage stories, such as when a blogger offered cash to an Apple engineers flatmate in exchange for secrets about iOS 26, and the recent case in which a former Vision Pro engineer stole trade secrets.
All three of these stories emerged within the last six weeks, which in itself suggests the scale at which people are trying to break into the trade secrets of Apple and its partners.
That’s not to say this latest attempt is aimed at Apple – but it isn’t terribly surprising that competitors want to find out more about TSMC’s unique 2nm tech.
The price of leadership
We believe Apple will be the first to make mass market products containing the new chips with the iPhone 18 range in 2026, and we can easily imagine these 2nm chips making their way to Macs after that.
These chips are expected to demonstrate incredibly high performance at phenomenally low battery power.
We know competitors have been unable to catch Apple up in processor technology, and in the current creepily dystopian environment  we can add national intelligence agencies to the cast of characters eager to take a close look at how these chips are made.
How were the miscreants spotted?
Unlike most spy movies they were not caught creeping round the TSMC office wearing dark clothes and carrying a torch; they were instead identified during routine security checks.
TSMC told Nikkei Asia’s that it recently “detected unauthorized activities during routine monitoring, leading to the discovery of potential trade secret leaks.”
It’s really getting pretty funky out there, huh?
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