In one way or another, it seems that the prices of future Apple devices are increasing. If it is not because of the prices, a new report claims that it will be because of the cost of the chips that perform the devices.
According to a report from the digital chat station on Weibo, Apple “will certainly use the 2 NMC TSMC process” in its chips next year. It is exciting for buyers who want the most recent and larger technology, but not for the price. The 2 Nm process would be much more expensive than 3 nm, which means that prices could increase.
It has been reported that the cost of a 2 NM tranche is $ 30,000, compared to $ 18,000 for chips of 3 NM.
Last December, TSMC set the goal of mass production 2 Nm in 2025, then a month later, TSMC demonstrated the process in Apple and other companies. Apple tends to adopt the new TSMC processes early, but the 2 Nm chips are not expected in the iPhone and the Mac before next year, which could give Apple a little time to find other ways to absorb the cost other than by transmitting it to the customer. It is also possible that when these products come into production, TSMC has reduced the cost due to stimulated production.
The other possibility is that Apple decides to stick to the second generation 3nm process for another generation of fleas. This could mean that the progress of the performance we usually see from one generation of chips to another (which represents around 15 to 25%) could be smaller. The 2 NM process allows not only more transistors, but these transistors pass from transistors with a field of swimming fields (finfet) to field effects (GAAFET) of the Alent-Alound (GAAFET) which allow an improvement in performance with better power efficiency.
The nanometric process refers to the production of the chip, and 2 nm allows an increased transistor density compared to processes 3 Nm and 5 Nm previous. The higher the density of the transistor, the better performance and the process can also lead to better energy efficiency. Apple M4 and A18 PRO chips are manufactured using the second generation 3NM process of TSMC, and it was planned that the M6 and A20 Pro would be the first 2 nm chips of the Mac and the iPhone, respectively, in 2026.
Apple is not the only company to understand what to do with the 2NM process of TSMC. The WCCFTECH report indicates that Qualcomm and Mediatek are also interested in 2 nm, but can examine other means of compensating for the cost.
