TSMC Reportedly 'On Track' to Begin Volume Production of A14 Chips for iPhones Despite Pandemic - MacRumors
Skip to Content

TSMC Reportedly 'On Track' to Begin Volume Production of A14 Chips for iPhones Despite Pandemic

TSMC is "on track" to begin volume production of 5nm chips in April, despite "recent speculation" indicating that the foundry had been requested by Apple to defer production of A14 processors by one or two quarters, according to DigiTimes.

a14 bionic clean
A paywalled preview of the report claims that TSMC's manufacturing lines remain fully booked for 5nm chips amid the current pandemic.

TSMC has been Apple's exclusive supplier of A-series chips since 2016, and its chips have gradually become smaller as it continues to refine its manufacturing process, benefitting performance, battery life, and thermal management on iPhones.

Apple plans to introduce four high-end iPhone 12 models with 5G support in the fall, including one 5.4-inch model, two 6.1-inch models, and one 6.7-inch model, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Due to the ongoing pandemic, however, there have been conflicting reports on exactly when Apple will unveil its latest iPhones.

Tag: TSMC
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
HomePod mini and Apple TV Sage

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch

Sunday March 22, 2026 6:33 am PDT by
Apple has unveiled nine new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other...
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...

Top Rated Comments

motm95 Avatar
78 months ago
5nm is incredible, and I'm sure the A14 chip will be an improvement, but the transition back to a Qualcomm modem chip may be even more important.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
78 months ago
but the iPhone 12 is going to be late. No wait- it's going to be on time. No wait- it's going to be late. No wait...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HappyIntro Avatar
78 months ago

Why is it so hard just to skip this year iPhones we’re in a pandemic
Because millions of people are going to want to buy them. Shutting down production also causes more people to lose their jobs, so those workers stop spending, which causes more people to lose their jobs, etc., etc.

The best way to make the economic mess caused by the pandemic much worse is for people to slam their wallets shut in some knee-jerk manner.

Those that have the money and want the product, by all means purchase...I know I'm going to buy my son a new phone for his graduation present.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EugW Avatar
78 months ago
In 2020, I’m in for an A14 iPhone and an A14X iPad Pro, both with Qualcomm 5G.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
78 months ago

I am pretty sure most will defer their purchases this year. People will only buy if their phones break. We still don’t know when this whole Covid-19 pandemic will be over. Apple is really underestimating the gravity of the situation.
I don't think Apple is underestimating the situation. Each iPhone takes time for development and production, even if they cancel the project today a lot of work has already been done.
Sales will be really low this year compared to 2019, I think Apple is quite aware of that. But even selling in lower volumes is better than skipping a new iPhone and don't sell anything at all. Maybe they'll postpone some features to 2021 to boost upgrades, but they made an agreement with Qualcomm for 5G to have it on the 2020 iPhone so I bet we'll see at least a 5G model this year.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SpitUK Avatar
78 months ago
I am really looking forward to a flagship 6.7" iPhone this year :)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)