TSMC’s target to start production in the first half of the year has been delayed due to difficulties, but it looks like the new production lithography will be grown this year. TSMC, one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers based in Taiwan, will start a new production process called N3 (3nm) in September.
Generally, TSMC preferred to launch a new production technology in the March-May timeframes. Thus, the company had produced enough chips for the iPhones that Apple would release in September. However, the fact that the development process of TSMC’s N3 lithography took longer than expected caused the company to skip this habit. Therefore, a different production process will be used in the iPhone 14 series. In contrast, the first chips produced with the N3 process are scheduled to be delivered to customers early next year.
TSMC N3 promises performance and energy efficiency
Compared to the original TSMC N5 (5nm) process currently available, the first generation N3 lithography is promised a 10 to 15 percent performance increase at the same power consumption. At the same speed and transistor conditions, 25 to 30 percent less power consumption will be offered.
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On the other hand, TSMC continues to work on the N3E process, which is a more advanced version of the first generation N3 technology. TSMC N3E will be a more efficient version than the original N3. TSMC’s 3nm production processes will then be brought to maturity with N3P, N3S and N3X versions, and then the N2 (2nm) process will be started.
First customers Apple and Intel
TSMC’s FinFlex technology is one of the key features for the N3 process. This enables chip developers such as Nvidia and AMD to accurately optimize performance, power consumption and membrane areas, and build different types of cells within a single block. Apple and Intel will be the first customers of TSMC N3 chips. Apple iPad and iPhone 15s will feature A17 Bionic chips using TSMC N3 technology. In the second half of next year and 2024, AMD, MediaTek and Qualcomm are expected to use the design.
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