TSMC is looking to begin commercial production of chips built on its 3nm process in Q4 quarter of 2022, according to the latest report from DigiTimes. The report adds that the initial capacity will be equally shared by Apple and Intel.
An earlier DigiTimes report said that TSMC started pilot production of N3 chips at its Fab 18 in southern Taiwan earlier this December. A report from earlier this year said that Apple and Intel have started testing chip designs with 3nm process technology.
Apple’s 2nd gen and 3rd gen processors are said to be built on TSMC’s 5nm and 3nm process tech respectively, and they are expected to outperform the equivalent future chips from Intel.
The 2nd generation of Apple’s desktop processors will reportedly use two dies that will allow more cores to be packed into a single chip. They will be built on an enhanced version of TSMC’s 5nm process and is expected to next MacBook Pro models and other Mac desktops in 2022.
TSMC is also said to make 5G modems for iPhones from 2023. Apple is said to be using TSMC’s 5nm chip production to design and test-produce the 5G modem, but it will use 4nm technology for mass production.