News & Reviews:   3nm process

Apple is reportedly going all in with N3, TSMC’s first-generation 3nm process and has secured all available orders for the process’ initial supply. It is believed that the 3nm chips would be powering Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 series and M3 MacBooks.

Samsung is said to start the mass production for its 3nm chips next week. If it did happen, the Korean tech giant would be ahead of TSMC, which has announced that its production will only start in the second half of 2022. 

TSMC will reportedly enter mass production for the next-generation 3nm process in the second half of 2022. According to the source, the semiconductor manufacturer is on track to supply Apple with its latest technology in 2023.

TSMC's favourite customer is undoubtedly Apple, as most of its sales belong to the Cupertino-based company. Therefore, the semiconductor manufacturer would leave the best to the tech giant, and it might have made someone jealous. According to a recent report, AMD is considering switching to Samsung for its 3nm products due to the TSMC's special treatment for Apple.

It was reported that TSMC's 3nm process will be entering mass production next year and Apple is the first to contract with the manufacturer for the technology. Now, a source is claiming that TSMC will also be working with Apple to develop the 2nm process.

Earlier, it was reported that Apple was the first to contract with TSMC for the manufacturer's 3nm process. Now, the story continues as TSMC is expected to put their 3nm process into mass production in 2022. Other than that, the semiconductor supplier is also planning to scale up its 5nm process manufacturing capacity to match the demand from its major customers.

At the beginning of 2021, we'll get to see smartphone manufacturers showcasing their latest devices that come with 5nm chipsets that include Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888, Samsung Exynos 1080, and Exynos 2100. As Apple has already launched the iPhone 12 with the 5nm A14 Bionic chip earlier this year, the tech giant might have now shifted their focus to something more powerful. It is reported that Apple has become the first to contract with TSMC for the 3nm process.

Advancement in manufacturing processes tend to result in great leaps in performance of products and TSMC is racing ahead in this department. Last week, reports claimed that the company would have 3nm ready by 2021. But the latest news claims that actual mass production of 3nm chips will be in 2022.

Chipsets used by smartphones are getting smaller and smaller nowadays, with the current smallest being only 7nm and it's from Apple and Huawei. The reasons for making them so tiny are because the tinier the better for power efficiency and silicon area size. Earlier, the largest chipmaker TSMC has taken on the challenge by making a 3nm process and planned to release it by the end of 2020. However, it will now be delayed until early 2021 because of the pandemic.