TSMC

Chip supplier TSMC's Apple business is predicted to grow almost 25 percent this year as the transition to Apple silicon nears completion and the two companies grow closer ties, DigiTimes reports. Apple is said to be expecting shipments of chips for new iPhones and other devices from TSMC in the first half of June, according to sources speaking to DigiTimes. In addition to year-on-year growth ...

Apple could adopt the 2nm process for its iPhone and Mac chips as early as 2025 as the company's main chip supplier, TSMC, has set in motion a plan to produce that process in the early parts of that year, DigiTimes reports. All of Apple's latest chips feature the 5nm process, including the A15 Bionic in the iPhone 13 series and the entire M1 Apple silicon line. According to a new DigiTimes...

Apple chipmaking partner TSMC says it will be ready to move its 3nm chip process to volume production in the second half of this year, putting it on track to supply Apple with the next-generation technology in 2023 (via DigiTimes). "We expect the ramp of N3 to be driven by both HPC [high performance computing] and smartphone applications," said Wei during an April 14 earnings conference call....

Samsung and Oppo are planning to transition to custom silicon chips to rival Apple's A-series chips in the iPhone, according to recent reports. Earlier this year, Chinese smartphone brand Oppo launched its first custom silicon chip, the MariSilicon X image processor, in the Find X5. Now, the company's chip design team is developing an application processor (AP) and an entire custom System on ...

Demand for consumer electronics like smartphones and PCs is slowing due to continued geopolitical uncertainties and new COVID-related lockdowns in China, according to TSMC Chairman Mark Liu. TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, is one of Apple's main suppliers, responsible for the A-series and M-series chips that go in Apple devices. Liu's comments were delivered at the...

The iPhone 14 could offer better battery life and feature Wi-Fi 6E connectivity thanks to a new 5G chip, supply chain sources claim. Taiwan's Economic Daily News reports that TSMC has obtained all of Apple's orders for its 5G radio frequency (RF) chips for the ‌iPhone 14‌ lineup, taking over from Samsung. The chips, likely related to Apple's selection of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 modem, are...

Apple was granted 2,541 patents in the United States last year, surpassed by only six other companies, IFI Claims reports. In its rankings of the top 50 U.S. patent assignees in 2021 (via Patently Apple), IFI Claims Patent Services shows that Apple was granted 250 fewer patents in 2021 compared to the previous year, a nine percent decrease. Even so, Apple moved one place up the rankings in...

Apple's strict environmental goals are putting pressure on the company's global supply chains, DigiTimes reports. In a paywalled report, ‌DigiTimes‌ claims that Apple's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 is putting pressure on its supply chain, with major suppliers such as TSMC scrambling to meet the company's demands. Sources speaking to ‌DigiTimes‌ said that TSMC was making slow...

TSMC plans to begin commercial production of chips built on its 3nm process in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. The full report has yet to be published, so no additional details are available at this time. Apple is expected to release its first devices with 3nm chips fabricated by TSMC in 2023, including Macs with M3 chips and iPhone 15 models...

Intel is looking to develop a closer relationship with TSMC, Apple's largest and most important chip supplier, to avoid possible clashes with the Cupertino tech giant over TSMC's 3nm chip production, according to DigiTimes. Yesterday, we reported on TSMC beginning pilot production of its ‌3nm‌ process that will eventually be used in future Apple silicon Macs. Apple currently uses a 5nm...

Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC has kicked off pilot production of chips built on its 3nm process, known as N3, according to Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes. The report, citing unnamed industry sources, claims that TSMC will move the process to volume production by the fourth quarter of 2022 and start shipping 3nm chips to customers like Apple and Intel in the first quarter of...

Apple's main chip manufacturing partner TSMC will beginning producing Apple's first in-house 5G modem chips for the iPhone in 2023, according to a report from Nikkei Asia. The move, which has been under development for several years and enhanced by Apple's 2019 acquisition of the majority of Intel's modem business, will allow Apple to shift away from Qualcomm as a supplier for the important chips ...

Apple will debut its rumored custom-designed 5G modem in 2023's iPhone models and the component will not be integrated into the device's A-series chip, DigiTimes reports. In paywalled report published earlier today, sources speaking to ‌DigiTimes‌ said that 2022 will be the last year when Qualcomm supplies all of the modems in ‌iPhone‌ models. Thereafter, iPhones are expected to begin...

Apple has managed to ramp up chip orders for its new iPhone 13 lineup by reducing equivalent orders for the older-generation iPhone models that the company still sells, according to a new DigiTimes report. Apple has scaled down its chip orders for older-generation iPhones, while ramping up wafer starts at TSMC for its iPhone 13, the sources said. Apple has also not made any changes to its chip ...

Apple will need to pay more for the chips in its devices and may pass rising costs on to its customers, according to sources speaking to Nikkei Asia. TSMC, Apple's main chip supplier, is in the process of increasing its prices following wider inflation in the industry caused by the global chip supply shortage. The company's planned price rises are said to be the most substantial chip price...

The most important TSMC factory that manufactures Apple's chips destined for next-generation iPhone and Mac models has been hit by a gas contamination, according to Nikkei Asia. The factory, known as "Fab 18," is TSMC's most advanced chipmaking facility. TSMC is Apple's sole chip supplier, making all of the processors used in every Apple device with a custom silicon chip. Industry...

Apple chip supplier TSMC is planning to manufacture chips with a 2nm fabrication process by 2024, according to Nikkei Asia. TSMC plans to build a new factory on 50 acres of land for two-nanometer chips in Hsinchu, Taiwan, scheduled to begin manufacturing operations in 2024. Construction has been cleared to begin in early 2022, with equipment being installed in 2023. For context, if Apple...

Apple chip supplier TSMC has confirmed that it will begin mass production operations at its new factory in Arizona in 2024, Nikkei Asia reports. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu announced that the company's $12 billion factory in Phoenix, Arizona, which is currently under construction, will begin mass production in the first quarter of 2024. While the 2024 timeframe had previously been rumored by Bloom...

Apple is set to receive supply priority status from pure play foundry TSMC for iPhone 13 chip orders going into the third quarter of 2021, as the Taiwanese partner grapples with orders for automative and other device chips amid a supply shortfall, according to DigiTimes. TSMC is also set to ramp up its output for the upcoming iPhone series in the third quarter, the sources indicated.Other chip ...

Apple supplier TSMC is preparing to produce 3nm chips in the second half of 2022, and in the coming months, the supplier will begin production of 4nm chips, according to a new report from DigiTimes. Apple had previously booked the initial capacity of TSMC's 4nm chip production for future Macs and more recently ordered TSMC to begin production of the A15 chip for the upcoming iPhone 13,...