What you need to know
- TSMC is the supplier of Apple's iPhone chips and Apple silicon for the Mac and iPad.
- The company has announced plans to start making 2nm chips by 2025.
- The tiny form factor will deliver "significant" improvements in performance and power efficiency.
Apple's supplier of iPhone and Apple silicon chips has announced it plans to start making 2nm chips by 2025, in what could be a major upgrade for the iPhone, iPad, and the Mac.
As Nikkei Asia reports, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, better known as TSMC, has announced plans to start making 2nm chips by 2025. From the report:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. says it will begin production of ultra-advanced 2 nanometer chips by 2025, putting fresh attention on the race to develop cutting-edge semiconductor technologies following similar announcements by Samsung Electronics and Intel.
The 2nm tech is based on "nanosheet transistor architecture" the company says will deliver "significant improvements in performance and power efficiency." 2nm will be the next big thing after 3nm that is currently in development and set to debut later this year. To give you an idea of the leap in 2025 performance, Apple's current best iPhone, the iPhone 13, uses TSMC's 5nm architecture, and there is conflicting word on whether iPhone 14 will retain this or move to the 4nm process.
TSMC will be hoping to compete with offerings from both Intel and Samsung that will help power rival Android devices and Windows laptops and desktops. As noted, TSMC supplies chips not only for Apple's iPhones but also for its best iPads, best MacBooks, and its desktop maps including the new Apple silicon chips. That means users across the spectrum of Apple's product family can expect to benefit.
Apple's most recent chip innovation comes in the form of the M2 Apple silicon chip, which powers a new M2 MacBook Air and M2 MacBook Pro (2022). It boasts a 20% performance improvement over the previous M1 generation, and early leaked benchmarks suggest the new MacBook is very much the powerhouse Apple has promised.
Tiny powerhouse
The all-new M2 chip powers the thinnest MacBook Air yet.
