When Apple releases the new iPhone 15 Pro this fall , it could offer a significant jump in performance and power efficiency than the preceding few models . That ’s because of the A17 chip , which is almost certain to utilize a new 3 nm chip - making process that is significantly faster and more effective than the current 5 nm process .
And it could be a while before any other bit do close . According toDigiTimes , Apple is going all - in on 3 millimicron for the iPhone in 2023 , reportedly snatching up TSMC ’s “ entire initial 3 nm supply . ” Apple is a antecedence client for TSMC , and it pays a premium to get first dibs on raw manufacturing process technology – priorreportshave said that TSMC charges $ 20,000 per wafer , which typically succumb several hundred chips .
It ’s not unusual for Apple to grab all , or nearly all , of the initial supply of a new process technology out of TSMC . We do n’t have it away how big “ initial supply ” is or how long Apple ’s order will last , but as we ’ve seen in other years , Apple will almost sure enough be the only caller with a mass consumer product using this manufacturing applied science for several months .
Apple ’s order sets up the company for a 3 New Mexico A17 Bionic chip in the iPhone 15 Pro as well as the Mac ’s M3 CPU that will likely arrive in former 2023 or early 2024 . The move to 3 nm is an melioration over the current enhanced 5 nm process that increases the electronic transistor density significantly and allows for more and more powerful processing cores , more cache , moreeverythingwhile get a lower exponent demand . So we could see parachuting in execution that are more than the distinctive growth from year to yr . Apple first go to a 5 nm process with the A14 chip in the iPhone 12 .
The new 3 micromillimeter A17 Bionic will in all likelihood be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro , with the iPhone 15 using the 5 nm A16 Bionic , which will further differentiate the pro and non - pro phones . On the Mac side , there ’s a chance Apple could make the jump to the 3 millimicron M3 at an October event , thoughrecent reportsclaim the first M3 Macs would n’t arrive until 2024 . We ’re also wait Apple plan to send a new15 - in MacBook Airthis spring as well as a new Mac Pro , both of which would belike stick with the 5 nm M2 - serial chips .
According to reports from TSMC , the gain from the 3 nm chips arebigger than expected . That would be welcome tidings to iPhone and Mac buff , who were somewhat thwarted by theA16andM2 .
Apple is n’t the only company moving to 3 nanometre . Qualcomm and MediaTek will make 3 nm chipping eventually , but not in time for any 2023 Android earpiece . Intel plans to do 3 micromillimetre , too , but it will be at least another year before it makes the move , grant to DigiTimes .
