Future Apple Silicon Macs Will Reportedly Use 3nm Chips With Up to 40 Cores

The Information's Wayne Ma today shared alleged details about future Apple silicon chips that will succeed the first-generation M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max chips, which are manufactured based on Apple chipmaking partner TSMC's 5nm process.

m1 pro vs max feature
The report claims that Apple and TSMC plan to manufacture second-generation Apple silicon chips using an enhanced version of TSMC's 5nm process, and the chips will apparently contain two dies, which can allow for more cores. These chips will likely be used in the next MacBook Pro models and other Mac desktops, the report says.

Apple is planning a "much bigger leap" with its third-generation chips, some of which will be manufactured with TSMC's 3nm process and have up to four dies, which the report says could translate into the chips having up to 40 compute cores. For comparison, the M1 chip has an 8-core CPU and the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips have 10-core CPUs, while Apple's high-end Mac Pro tower can be configured with up to a 28-core Intel Xeon W processor.

The report cites sources who expect TSMC to be able to reliably manufacture 3nm chips by 2023 for use in both Macs and iPhones. The third-generation chips are codenamed Ibiza, Lobos, and Palma, according to the report, and it's likely they will debut in higher-end Macs first, such as future 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. A less powerful third-generation chip is also said to be planned for a future MacBook Air.

Meanwhile, the report says the next Mac Pro will use a variant of the M1 Max chip with at least two dies, as part of the first generation of Apple silicon chips.

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Top Rated Comments

BootsWalking Avatar
46 months ago
Intel Alder Lake reviews are out today ('//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhI9tLOg-6I') - about as fast as AMD's current chips but use twice the power of AMD, which itself uses at least twice the power of M1s. Intel's HQ should make for a nice museum.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blazerunner Avatar
46 months ago

Intel Alder Lake reviews are out today ('//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhI9tLOg-6I') - about as fast as AMD's current chips but use twice the power of AMD, which itself uses at least twice the power of M1s. Intel's HQ should make for a nice museum.
Why are so many of you hellbent that Intel folds? Is your fanboyism so great that you actually want a monopoly? Do you not remember what lack of competition looked like for Intel? Consumers lost for years.

You really want that to happen again?
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomtad Avatar
46 months ago
M1 PLAID
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bsamcash Avatar
46 months ago
In the future computers will get faster and more efficient!? ?
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
46 months ago

THUD!

(Intel just dropped the mic)
Does it count as dropping the mic when the person holding it drops dead?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
46 months ago
Nice! Take your time Apple. The chip shortage is really affecting everyone globally.

It also looks like it is “GAME OVER” for Intel. Apple has moved on ?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)