No longer 3nm! iPhone 18 is said to be the first to use TSMC’s 2nm process
Investment firm GF Securities stated in a report that the A20 chip equipped with the iPhone 18 series will be manufactured using TSMC’s third-generation 3nm process N3P. In response, analyst Jeff Pu refuted this, saying that the A20 chip is based on TSMC’s 2nm process, and the news that Apple uses 3nm can be ignored.
It is reported that TSMC has started trial production of the 2nm process. The project is carried out at the Baoshan factory in Hsinchu. The initial yield is 60% and mass production is expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
Morgan Stanley previously released a report stating that TSMC’s 2nm monthly production capacity will increase from this year’s 10,000 trial production scale to about 50,000 pieces in mass production in 2025. Since it takes time to increase production capacity and improve yield, the A19 series processors of Apple’s iPhone 17 series in 2025 may not adopt the 2nm process, but will be upgraded to the N3P process of the 3nm family.
According to information disclosed by TSMC, the 2nm process can reduce power consumption by 24%-35% at the same voltage, or improve performance by 15%. The transistor density is 1.15 times higher than the previous generation 3nm process. The improvement of these indicators is mainly due to TSMC’s new all-around gate (GAA) nanosheet transistors, as well as N2 NanoFlex design technology collaborative optimization and some other enhancements.
In terms of price, it is reported that the price of TSMC’s 2nm wafer exceeds 30,000 US dollars, and the current price of 3nm wafer is about 18,500 to 20,000 US dollars, and the price gap between the two is obvious. Semiconductor industry insiders predict that due to the high price of advanced process, manufacturers will inevitably pass on the cost pressure to downstream customers or end consumers.
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