Apple uses 90% of TSMC’s 3nm capacity
By ForGeeks According to a new report out of Taiwan today, Apple is severely limiting TSMC’s supply of 3nm chips this year. Apparently, TSMC will see the base 3nm process dominate 90% of its 3nm production capacity in 2023, and nearly 90% of that base 3nm production capacity is said to be already reserved by Apple for use in the new iPhone, MacBook and iPad.
The new report also shows that TSMC has a significant amount of capacity constraints.
It is expected that both the A17 and M3 will be produced using TSMC’s 3nm process technology. Reports that the Apple giant is placing orders for the 3nm chips date back to 2020. Rumor has it that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be the first smartphones based on the 3nm chipset.
This 3nm technology is said to be responsible for a 35% increase in power efficiency and a 15% increase in performance for the A17, compared to the 4nm A16 present in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. As for computers, the updated 13-inch MacBook Air and the new 24-inch iMac could be the first to use the M3 chip, also made with 3nm process technology.
If all this works out, Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek could be fighting for the remaining 10 percent of TSMC’s capacity later this year, which could mean supplies of top-end 3nm chips for Android phones could be limited for a while.
