Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) today started mass production of next-generation 3-nanometer chips that will be used in future Apple devices like iPhones, reports Bloomberg. TSMC is producing the chips at its southern Taiwan campus, and TSMC chairman Mark Liu said that demand for the technology is "very strong."

The 3-nanometer chips will offer improved performance over the current 5-nanometer chips but with 35 percent less power use. Apple could start adopting 3nm processors in 2023, as rumors suggest the A17 in the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro will use 3nm technology.

In the future, TSMC will manufacture 3nm chips at a U.S. plant that's being built, with production to start in 2026. TSMC's first U.S. plant in Arizona will start with manufacturing 4-nanometer chips when it opens in 2024. TSMC is also developing 2nm chip technology, with those cutting-edge chips set to be produced in Taiwan.

Article Link: Apple Supplier TSMC Starts Mass Production on 3nm Chips

It’s always interesting to me what Apple chooses to do with the power savings of a new chip. Do they keep the battery the same and offer better battery life, or do they downsize the battery and keep battery life the same.

The 14 Pro Max has insanely good battery life for me. I’d be happy with a bit lighter iPhone next year.

As expected! What a wonderful news to end this year. Ready for what 3nm chips will bring to Apple in 2023. 💪 🔥🔋⚡️

fatTribble said:

It’s always interesting to me what Apple chooses to do with the power savings of a new chip. Do they keep the battery the same and offer better battery life, or do they downsize the battery and keep battery life the same.

The 14 Pro Max has insanely good battery life for me. I’d be happy with a bit lighter iPhone next year.

I think 14 Pro Max battery is just so so. Especially if you use it during the day.

I just want a Mac mini that I can plug three displays into, like in 2018. Do that and I’m happy.

h3ysw5nkan said:

I think 14 Pro Max battery is just so so. Especially if you use it during the day.

I use mine mostly at night (night shifts at work), and find battery performance excellent.

fatTribble said:

It’s always interesting to me what Apple chooses to do with the power savings of a new chip. Do they keep the battery the same and offer better battery life, or do they downsize the battery and keep battery life the same.

The 14 Pro Max has insanely good battery life for me. I’d be happy with a bit lighter iPhone next year.

With modern Apple, the decision-making is simple: which makes the most profit? Less battery likely saves them a few pennies per unit sold and the spin phrases of "thinner and/or lighter" with "same great battery life" has worked over and over for many years.

fatTribble said:

It’s always interesting to me what Apple chooses to do with the power savings of a new chip. Do they keep the battery the same and offer better battery life, or do they downsize the battery and keep battery life the same.

The 14 Pro Max has insanely good battery life for me. I’d be happy with a bit lighter iPhone next year.

On my iPhone X which I’ve been using since spring 2018, battery health is down to 84% and I have enough juice remaining up to 10 PM bed time.

Awesome news and what a great way to start of the new year!

It's as if New Year celebrations are starting early and can't wait for Apples fireworks display in March of 2023! Should be quite an event...

fatTribble said:

It’s always interesting to me what Apple chooses to do with the power savings of a new chip. Do they keep the battery the same and offer better battery life, or do they downsize the battery and keep battery life the same.

The 14 Pro Max has insanely good battery life for me. I’d be happy with a bit lighter iPhone next year.

That was the first thing I noticed on my 14 PM.

I get around 2+ days on a charge. Much better than my 12 Pro (even when new).

Overall it's an outstanding phone. I especially like the camera.

The increased efficiency will help greatly with their XR product and should help differentiate from other brands. It will be interesting to see what they will be up against during the CES next month.

citysnaps said:

That was the first thing I noticed on my 14 PM.

I get around 2+ days on a charge. Much better than my 12 Pro (even when new).

Overall it's an outstanding phone. I especially like the camera.

The 5G radio in the 12 series didn't help, and there was a battery reduction over the 11s. The 13s got bigger batteries across the board, which combined with the second gen 5G radio to really boost battery life.

fatTribble said:

It’s always interesting to me what Apple chooses to do with the power savings of a new chip. Do they keep the battery the same and offer better battery life, or do they downsize the battery and keep battery life the same.

The 14 Pro Max has insanely good battery life for me. I’d be happy with a bit lighter iPhone next year.

Ya, the iPhone (Pro series especially) has gotten a bit hefty over the years. Though a lot of that is from the bigger screen, I'd still like to see it slimmed down. The weight can sometimes be a bit much when holding it with one hand.

iPhone 14 Pro: 7.27 oz (6.1" Display)
iPhone 11 Pro: 6.63 oz (5.8" Display)
iPhone X: 6.14 oz (5.8" Display)
iPhone 7: 4.87 oz (4.7" Display)

Excited to see all the devices these new 3nm chips will go into!

iPhone 15 Pro this fall is a sure bet. I wonder with production ramping up today if we'll see them in the new MacBook Pros this spring. If they get released in January/February I say zero chance, but March onward maybe?

james2538 said:

Excited to see all the devices these new 3nm chips will go into!

iPhone 15 Pro this fall is a sure bet. I wonder with production ramping up today if we'll see them in the new MacBook Pros this spring. If they get released in January/February I say zero chance, but March onward maybe?

I think in March 2023 we are due to see MacBook Pro 14” & 16” so there’s a high chance we might see them with the 3nm chips.

MacBook Air was released in July 2022. Apple will complete its full 12 months of transition before releasing a new MacBook Air. Therefore, MBA in the late fall of 2023.

If it really does end up drawing 35% less power, then I wonder what that translates to in terms of heat and performance. Less power consumption should mean less heat, which should mean more thermal headroom.

So when do they release the 3 nm MBP and/or MBA please?

Funny how it doesn't even mention the 14" and 16" MacBook Pros and only the A17 in the iPhone 15 pro. Surely the chips aren't going to sit on a shelf for 9 months.

Usually chips go into production around couple of months before they get fitted into a product so im guessing the MacBooks pros will be the first to use them around march.

I guess that means M2 Pro/Max will be on 3nm then? Spring event?

Freida said:

I guess that means M2 Pro/Max will be on 3nm then? Spring event?

There's a pretty high chance. I'll be surprised if they don't. The 7th or 14th march is my guess.

I would love for them to update the studio too. Didn't get the 1st gen as I want them to fix the sound issue + M2 will be better

David1986H said:

There's a pretty high chance. I'll be surprised if they don't. The 7th or 14th march is my guess.

This article is extremely confused (probably because the original TSMC Press Release is a major fsckup clearly written by someone without a clue).

(a) There are two TSMC N3 processes, the first one (originally just called N3, now called N3B) and a modified one called N3E.

(b) Apple's first N3 products will be on N3B.

(c) N3B gives, among other improvements, a density boost of 1.7x and a power reduction of ~25%
N3E gives, among other improvements, a density boost of 1.6x but a power reduction of ~34%

(d) It APPEARS to be the case that N3B began volume production in late September: (e) It APPEARS that this ceremony refers to N3E, but it's honestly impossible to tell whether N3B was delayed three months, or N3E is being rushed into production ASAP. My GUESS is that it's the latter, N3B was on schedule in September, but N3B is yesterday's news, an experiment that pushed things too far and that is being abandoned by TSMC as soon as contractual obligations to Apple (and anyone else?) are done.Since N3E will be the only option going forward, that's the one they want to get all the media oxygen.

(If this theory is correct, it's something of a change for TSMC. In the past supposedly "unsuccessful" experiments, like 10nm, were not just useful learning exercise, but stuck around for a while for others customers to use if they wanted. N3B looks like TSMC have no interest in keeping it around longer than necessary.
My guess [once again a guess] is that the TSMC engine broke down because of covid. Problems with N3B that, in the past, could have been figured out via engineers shutting between Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Japan, had to be handled more slowly and inefficiently via Zoom calls and eventually TSMC made the call to just abandon the most aggressive aspect of the design [the EUV double-patterning] and switch to a less dense, and less aggressive, set of design parameters.

Probably if Apple were not already somewhat committed to N3B [having already "delayed" an iPhone chip, in that the A16 is a disappointing A15 moved to N4 because N3B was not ready yet, and having already delayed the next set of high end Macs] TSMC would have dropped N3B without anyone even really knowing, and just shifted to N3E as "N3".)

Chances are this will be limited to the pro chips only. Prices for 3nm have increased significantly from previous nodes and apple may keep some lower end chips on older nodes to save costs.

Leon Ze Professional said:

Awesome news and what a great way to start of the new year!

It's as if New Year celebrations are starting early and can't wait for Apples fireworks display in March of 2023! Should be quite an event...

You mean January?
That's what the rumors talked about recently anyway.