TSMC Delays Mass Production Of 3nm Chips

The coming year will be exciting for the further development of processor designs. TSMC, the world’s largest contract manufacturer for semiconductor products, has had to adjust its plans to build 3-nanometer chips slightly, according to insider reports.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC for short, recently announced that the first steps had been taken to manufacture the new 3-nanometer processors. With this new, more compact design, the next leap in performance for CPUs is expected. Meanwhile, however, the online magazine DigiTimes reports that TSMC had to adjust the previous schedule for the production changeover. However, reasons were not given in the report. But there is no question of any problems. It just means that mass production is now targeted for the end of 2022. That would be a slight shift backward in contrast to the information leaked so far.

The consequence of the slight delay would be fatal for some buyers of TSMC products because they would now have to correct all previous plans. It is expected that Apple will be one of the first major buyers of the new 3-nanometer processors.

Apple’s first major customer?

According to the rumor mill, Apple plans to launch its first devices with 3nm chips from TSMC by early 2023 at the latest, including Macs with M3 chips and later iPhone 15 models with A17 chips. As usual, moving to a more advanced process will result in improved performance and energy efficiency, which will enable higher speeds and longer battery life for future Macs and iPhones.

More cores for M3

Due to the more compact design, the upcoming Apple M3 chips could then have up to four chips, which could enable CPUs with up to 40 cores. In comparison, the M1 chip has an 8-core CPU, and the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips have 10-core CPUs.