Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek hop on TSMC's 3nm roadmap

Last week, chip manufacturer TSMC released its roadmap for leading-edge process nodes that feature 3nm (N3) and 2nm (N2) chips. These chips are bound to land in smartphones of the future, with the iPhone 15 probably receiving a 3nm SoC, while Samsung is aiming for 2nm in 2025.

According to sources at the TSMC factories, major clients such as Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek are starting to queue up for 3nm process capacity, which means they’re hopping on the company’s roadmap for the aforementioned 3nm and 2nm nodes.

The smaller the node, the more transistors can be put on a chip, making it more powerful, while shrinking the footprint and increasing efficiency. TSMC also announced that it will start shipping 3nm chips to clients in 2023, and that’s the timeline Apple, Qualcomm and Samsung are all aiming for.

The latest rumors from tech experts and analysts point toward 4nm chips for the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max (the A16 Bionic, to be exact), while the lower-tier models will rely on the older A15 bionic.

Apple is one of TSMC’s biggest clients with $17 billion projected revenue for 2022 from the Cupertino company alone.

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