Apple supplier expects to start production of 3nm chips as soon as 2022

Apple supplier expects to start production of 3nm chips as soon as 2022

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This year, TSMC started its chips with its 5nm process node. The first smartphones released with a 5nm chip were the Apple iPhone 12 series with the A14 Bionic chipset. Apple also has this chip that the iPad Air (2020). The 5nm A14 Bionic has a transistor density of 134 million transistors per square mm, compared to 89.97 million transistors per square mm on the 7nm A13 Bionic. The transistor count for the A14 Bionic is 11.8 billion compared to 8.5 billion transistors for the A14 Bionic. The additional transistors found in the A14 Bionic make it a more powerful exporter and more energy efficient than the A13 Bionic.

The A16 Bionic may be the first chip built on the 3nm process node

Android phone makers have their own 5nm chips to use with the Snapdragon 888 or the Exynos 2100. Not only are both manufactured using the 5nm knot, they are both manufactured by Samsung foundry. The pass announced Samsung Galaxy S21 series uses both chips, depending on the region where the device is purchased. Meanwhile, it Digitimes reported today that TSMC will begin production of its 3nm chips this year with the production of the volume during the second half of next year. Speaking at the foundry’s quarterly earnings report on Thursday, TSMC CEO CC Wei said: “Our N3 technology development is well under way. We are seeing a much higher level of customer engagement for both HPC and smartphone application at N3 compared to N5 and N7 at a similar stage. ‘

If TSMC follows this roadmap, we should see the iPhone 14 line become the first devices manufactured by Apple with chips manufactured using the 3nm process knot. The first type of chip is the A16 Bionic. Last November, TSMC completed the plant structure for its 3 nm plant in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP). TSMC originally planned to start the 3 nm trial production at the end of 2020. But the global pandemic has forced TSMC to push it back by one year.

Instead of spending $ 20 to $ 28 billion this year on capital expenditures as estimated by analysts, TSMC says this range will be higher at $ 25 to $ 28 billion. The complexity of the technology required to build 3 nm chips is one of the reasons for the higher spending. TSMC is also thriving in cash by purchasing EUV lithography equipment. Extreme ultraviolet lithography is used to etch thin stripes on a wafer. These are the patterns that determine the placement of transistors within a chip. Since billions of transistors are used in each slide, these lines should be as thin as possible and this is where the EUV Lithography machine comes into play.

TSMC will use FinFET transistors for its 3nm chips, while Samsung will switch from FinFET to GAA (gate-all-around). For 2 nm, TSMC will use a GAA design. Samsung reportedly spent about $ 116 billion to develop its 3 nm integrated circuits. We could see in early 2024 that mass production of 2nm chips was starting.

The remark by Intel co-founder Gorgon Moore, known as Moore’s law, called for the transistor density to double every two years, and over the past few years we have not seen the industry fully comply with this law. And now that 2pm is within reach, the question is whether Moore’s law will be able to continue. Foundries have been working on the use of alternative materials that can improve chip performance and energy consumption beyond 2 nm. Just as EUV helped keep Moore’s Law valid after the 10nm process node, something new could be found to keep Moore’s Law alive.

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