Apple’s iPhone 14 series is part of TSMC’s 4nm process. TSMC’s current largest partner is Apple. For this reason, it is reported that the Cupertino-based company will switch to TSMC’s 3nm process with the iPhone 15 series, which will be released next year.
TSMC moves 3nm chip production to the USA
Currently, TSMC manufactures 3nm chips only in its home country of Taiwan. While this doesn’t cause major problems or delays in Apple’s development process, there are ways to make it easier. The two companies have only one idea in this area: TSMC to move all 3nm production to the USA.
Critical threshold exceeded for 1nm
To this end, TSMC has partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and National Taiwan University (NTU) to research and develop new methods. After a lot of engineering and testing, the combination of “2D materials” and “semi-metallic bismuth” has been successful. Thanks to this production technique, one of the biggest difficulties in the 1nm process, the problem of resistance, is overcome.
On the other hand, researchers report that 1nm chips are still years away from being used and sold in consumer products. We plan to move to 2nm chips by late 2024 or by 2025. Therefore, it may take 4-5 years with an optimistic estimate before we see 1nm chips. Who knows, maybe if these breakthroughs continue, we may even see picometer-sized (1000 pm = 1nm) chips before the end of the decade.