TSMC's $12 billion chip plant currently under construction in Arizona will begin producing 4-nanometer chips as soon as it opens in 2024 thanks to urging from Apple and other companies, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
The plant had originally been planned to start with production of 5-nanometer chips, but with Apple and other companies increasingly looking to source components from the United States, TSMC has upgraded its plans so the facility will be able to supply more cutting-edge chips.
TSMC previously said it would make 20,000 wafers per month at the Arizona facility, although production may increase from those original plans, the people said. Apple will use about a third of the output as production gets underway.
Apple and other major tech companies rely on TSMC for their chipmaking needs, and the change means they'll be able to get more of their processors from the US. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has previously told employees that his company plans to source chips from the Arizona plant.
The new plans are scheduled to be announced in Phoenix next Tuesday with President Joe Biden, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Apple CEO Tim Cook expected to be in attendance, along with AMD CEO Lisa Su and Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
In addition to the 4-nanometer production facility, TSMC will reportedly officially announce plans for a second phase involving an adjacent facility that will produce even more advanced 3-nanometer chips, a development that was revealed last week by TSMC founder Morris Chang.
Apple's latest chips are manufactured on a 5-nanometer process, and moving to more advanced processes should result in significant improvements in performance and power efficiency. Apple has been rumored to be using 4nm and 3nm processes for some of its upcoming M-series and A-series chips for use in Macs, iPads, iPhones, and other products.
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