Recent reports suggest that Apple has procured all initially available orders of TSMC’s 3nm N3 process, a first-generation semiconductor technology that is likely to be implemented into the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro lineup and new MacBooks coming later in 2023.
This news comes cradled by a process that began in full production just last December, and the foundry is estimated to hit a level of 45,000 wafers by March. Although the costs are higher for this state-of-the-art technology, the yield is said to be much higher, compensating Apple for the investment. iPhone 15 Pro owners should be excited to know that power efficiency is projected to improve by 35% with N3, in comparison to the 4nm used in the A16 Bionic chips of the iPhone 14 Pro.
Throughout the year there have been disclosures that the 15-inch MacBook Air will launch in the first half of 2023. However, DigiTimes has since proposed that both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs plus N3 technology may arrive in the latter half of the same year. As for 2024, renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros will contain M3 Pro and M3 Max chips respectively as it transitions over from the 5nm process.
TSMC is also bringing their own advanced version to market. N3E is expected to come to commercial production in H2 of 2021 and it’s no surprise that Apple will be the first customer to adopt it. Nikkei Asia reported the possibility of this taking place as early as this year, although there’s no other sources to corroborate the affirmation so far.
Apple continues to marvell and surprise us with their forward strides in technology, and it’s with assurance that we can trust them to bring us consistently top-tier electronics. With N3 likely to take the driver’s seat in the iPhone 15 Pro and a fresh line of MacBooks, the sky is the limit for how far we can now go. We can’t wait to plug in and explore the future with their revolutionary products and the lifetime of experiences they will bring us.
Share your thoughts below on how you believe Apple may take advantage of 3nm N3 process in their upcoming launches. Are you excited to see the potential this newfound technology has for us?
