Apple plans to adopt the first generation 3nm chip on iPhone 16 in 2024
Two days ago, the new flagship processor Tianji 9200 was officially released, which has significantly improved both in power consumption and performance, successfully surpassing Apple's A16 processor. The next step is to release the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 processor, which is similar to the Tianji 9200, or even better. The advantages of Apple's processor are gone. Recently, it was revealed that Apple is developing 3nm chips, which will be officially launched next year.
Recently, it has been disclosed that Apple plans to use TSMC's 3-nanometer chipsin the iPhone 16 series in2024, that is,. The lower priced iPhone 16 models may use the first generation of 3-nanometer chips in 2024.
The news comes from a report from Morgan Stanley published by the Economic Daily, in which TSMC's 3nm expansion plan was discussed. According to the report, TSMC, a chip wafer manufacturer, plans to reduce the production capacity of its cutting-edge nodes from 80000 wafers per month to 60000 wafers. Most of them will be used by Apple for iPhone chips in 2024.
This is because TSMC has prepared several different kinds of 3nm processes for customers like Apple, and each iteration is better than the previous one. Assuming that the company's plan to launch four new iPhones will not be affected,the lower priced iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus may use the SoC produced in batch by the first generation of 3nm process, while the "Pro" series may jump to the second generation process that saves more power.
It is said that Apple will use TSMC's second generation 3nm process to mass produce M3 and A17 bionics. These two chips are expected to be launched next year, but Apple may retain the new manufacturing process of A18 bionics until 2024. Of course, all this depends on whether TSMC can continue to produce enough wafers every month without encountering production obstacles, because Qualcomm and MediaTek and other customers also want to use this technology for their own mobile chips.
Although Tianji 9200 processor and Snapdragon 8 Gen2 processor are very powerful, once Apple releases a new 3nm processor, these two processors are not enough. According to the current situation, it is very likely that A17 will adopt the 3nm system, but the formal experience may wait until 2024.
