The next big change we expect from Apple’s silicon processors is a considerable reduction in the size of the transistors. This is what we mean when we talk about the 3 nanometer jump. A leap that has already started, at least in the test phase, at TSMC.
Evidence that augurs well for roadmap more interesting
Taiwan-Based Company Hopes to Start Mass Production of 3nm Chips, DigiTimes Says in the last quarter of 2022. This would mean that we would see Apple Silicon manufactured with this density of components, during 2023.
It is too early to know if the first M3s, if they end up bearing this name, which could well arrive in the spring of 2023, will already benefit from this manufacturing process. What seems much more likely is that 2023 iPhone, launched in September, gets all the benefits of 3nm
Details in the DigiTimes report are scarce. Anonymous industry sources are cited without providing much more information, but TSMC is said to have started a 3nm chip production pilot test.
TSMC has started pilot production of chips built with N3 (i.e. 3nm process technology) at its Fab 18 in southern Taiwan and will move the process to mass production by the fourth quarter of 2022, according to from industry sources ”.
Although some rumors suggest that the iPhone 14, that of 2022, could have chips already manufactured in this technology, the general consensus coincides with what was published by The Information: that let the iPhone of 2023 take the plunge
A technology that would arrive in time for the iPhone of 2023.
As we have already commented on other occasions, the possibility of reducing the size of the transistors, basic elements that make up the chip, allows two things: either we can fit more components on the same chip size or we reduce the chip size. In both cases, we will experience improvements in terms of performance, consumption and heat production.
A structure with a higher density of transistors requires less electricity to operate, allows higher speed, and heats less. With this we expect a substantial change in the performance of Apple Silicon which are currently manufactured using 5nm technology.
Having said that, it should also be borne in mind that we have heard various reports of issues with manufacturing using this technology. The size of the transistors is so small that the reliability of the process is not always as desired, which brought TSMC back to the design table on more than one occasion.
Still, while we expect Apple’s new 3nm silicon to appear in 2023, plans can change quickly. What we can take for granted is that once the change occurs, we will see how various products make a substantial jump in their performance.
