Chip shortages could potentially affect Apple’s 2024 device roadmap!
Although we expected that TSMCthe Taiwanese multinational semiconductor design and manufacturing company, will start manufacturing 4-nanometer chips for Apple in 2024claim today that there will be a delay with such production due to shortage of skilled labor to do this important work.
TSMC is building a new factory in Arizona, USA, and it should be ready next year to start production of highly integrated chips. However, everything indicates that the opening and commissioning of the plant will not be ready in time and this potentially affect Apple’s 2024 device roadmap.
A challenge
In a briefing published by the Wall Street Journal, TSMC is said to be struggling to find people with experience building semiconductor fabs in the United States. This situation represents a challenge for the company and there are not many alternatives left on the table of solutions, except that of bring in experienced technicians from Taiwan temporarily so that they can build the manufacturing machines and, at the same time, train new staff.
In any case, any decision made by TSMC would delay the production of the first 4nm (nanometer) chips until 2025. Given this circumstance, the chairman of the semiconductor company, Mark Liu, said the following:
We are now entering a critical phase of managing and installing the most advanced and dedicated equipment. However, we face some challenges.
What will happen to Apple devices?
For now and without a doubt it remains to wait. TSMC is the sole company responsible for manufacturing the chips inside Apple products, such as the latest iPhone and iPad., and in the next iPhone 15, and these are very tiny but vital parts for its operation. It’s not something that can be ignored.
4-nanometer chips promise to significantly improve the performance of new devices, with more powerful processors and higher energy efficiency. Only that to make them smaller and smaller, it is necessary to develop machines capable of carrying out the process. For us to have an idea about this, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter, so it is a very, very small element. They are 200,000 times smaller than a millimeter.
Until now those of Cupertino have not ruled on this situation so compromising with the manufacture of the iPhone, the iPad, the Mac and all its products. However, scouting for a new chip supplier at the last minute doesn’t seem like an option, as the bitten apple company wouldn’t risk the leadership its devices maintain in the market.
