Apple should have little problem obtaining a healthy supply for its A17 Bionic and M3 chipsets for future products, as TSMC is said to be working at maximum capacity in an attempt to fulfill orders for its lucrative client. Just yesterday, we reported that the California-based giant is said to have secured the entire 3nm supply from its Taiwanese partner, with the latter said to increase wafer output from March.
Qualcomm and MediaTek may not have access to any 3nm chip supply, but TSMC said to launch its N3E process for more clients
Despite the higher costs involved in producing 3nm wafers, a paywalled report from DigiTimes spotted by MacRumors states that TSMC’s foundry has scaled up production capacity at a slow but gradual pace, with a monthly output expected to reach an impressive 45,000 wafers from March. The percentage of A17 Bionic and M3 orders was not present in the report, but given that Apple sells iPhones in higher quantities, the majority of those wafers will be dedicated to mobile phones.
TSMC announced the mass production of its 3nm process back in December 2022, so an early start will mean that Apple will have a plentiful supply of chips for a wide range of products slated to be announced in the second half of 2023. These products will include the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which will exclusively feature the A17 Bionic, while newer MacBook models expected to launch in the fourth quarter will sport the new and improved M3.
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will directly succeed the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max and will feature the 3nm A17 Bionic
The 3nm process could focus more on power savings instead of improved performance, as TSMC’s cutting-edge technology is said to bring an energy efficiency uplift of 35 percent. This statistic would suggest that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max could offer a substantial boost in battery life thanks to the A17 Bionic’s properties, though we would still like to see a noteworthy performance jump compared to the A16 Bionic.
As for the M3, Apple could take two routes with its design for future MacBooks. Either it could increase the power rating, thereby giving that ‘mega’ performance jump over the M2 while marketing the same battery life, or focus more on unrivaled endurance on a single charge. We are unsure of the path Apple intends to take, but we do know that the technology will once again be a step ahead of the competition in the mobile SoC race. Qualcomm may have better supply access to TSMC’s N3E process, but for now, it and companies like MediaTek are out of luck.
The post A17 Bionic, M3 SoCs To Be In Ample Supply As TSMC Said To Prep A 45,000-Wafer Output In March for Its 3nm Technology by Omar Sohail appeared first on Wccftech.
