Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen kkkkkkkkkayd for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, September 14, the Nikkei News quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Apple's goal is to become the first company to use TSMC's latest chip manufacturing technology 3nm iterative version of N3E process next year, and plans to use it in some iPhone and Mac computers, which also means that TSMC's basic 3nm process N3 is indeed as unpopular as rumored in the industry, with very few customers.

The A17 mobile processor currently under development by Apple will be mass-produced using TSMC's N3E chip manufacturing technology and is expected to be available in the second half of next year, according to three people familiar with the matter. They say the A17 will be used for high-end products in the iPhone line scheduled for release in 2023.

CTOnews.com has reported that TSMC has previously stressed that the next generation of 3nm mobile processor nodes will soon be put into mass production, and some industry insiders have speculated that it will be September, but TSMC has yet to hear from it.

The CEO of TSMC said, "N3E will further expand our N3 series to improve performance, power and yield. We have observed that the customer participation of N3E is very high, and mass production is planned for about a year after N3, or about this time next year."

According to a report in Taiwan's "Industrial and Commercial Times", after the completion of technical research and development and trial production of TSMC's 3nm (N3) process, it is expected that the number of films will begin to rise sharply in the second half of the third quarter, and the monthly number of films in the fourth quarter will reach the level of thousands, starting to enter the stage of mass production.

Qualcomm's next generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip is obviously unable to use 3nm process, but is still manufactured by 4nm process. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip is expected to use 3nm process.

Later, the leaked TSMC PPT showed that the yield of the new N3E process was higher than expected, with an average 256Mb SRAM yield of about 80 per cent for N3E and about 80 per cent for mobile devices and HPC chips. The industry believes that the mass production time of N3E process will be advanced to 23Q2, and it will become the main mass production force of new products by major manufacturers next year.

From the previous planning, N3E, as an extension of TSMC's 3nm family, will have better efficiency, power consumption and quality rate, and will provide a complete support platform for smart phones and HPC-related applications in the 3nm process era. The N3E process will go into mass production in the second half of 2023, and Apple and Intel will be the two main customers.

However, most of the industry reports that Intel's order has been postponed to 2024, so next year only Apple will be a major customer of TSMC's "enhanced" 3nm mobile chipset production node, which means that the N3E may eventually be used in the A17 processor.

Judging from the intelligence and expectations of previous whistleblowers, the Apple iPhone 15 Pro specification is expected to be as follows: 3nm A17 processor, 6x periscope zoom camera, Type-C interface.

CTOnews.com warns that there are rumors that Apple will continue the processor difference between iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro on the iPhone 15 series, and next year's result may only be the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro with the A17 chip of 3nm technology, while the regular version is still the A16 chip of N4.

Therefore, according to TSMC's N3E production plan, according to industry insiders, Apple will become "the main customer of TSMC's 3nm process manufacturing in 2023, and the contract factory is expected to complete considerable 3nm chip orders for multiple customers in 2024".

As a result, the first models to use TSMC's new 3nm chips are likely to fall on Apple's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

In addition, the Industrial and Commercial Times reported that the core design of Apple's new M3 SoC has been launched and will be released as early as the second half of 2023.

Apple's M3 chip, code-named "Malma", will be mass-produced on TSMC's N3E architecture. N3E is said to be an improved variant of N3 process, which is also 3nm. Compared to N5, N3 can provide up to 15% performance improvement and up to 30% energy efficiency improvement, and N3E will further widen these differences.

Expand reading: "TSMC N3E process yield exceeded expectations, leaked PPT shows an average yield of more than 80%."

"revelation: next year's Apple iPhone 15 / Pro will be equipped with A16 / A17, continuing differentiation tactics."

Report: Apple's first 3nm chip for MacBook Pro is expected to go into production this year.

"it is reported that Apple has launched the core design of the M3 chip: code name Malma, using TSMC N3E enhancement process."

"it is reported that the A17 of Apple iPhone 15 / Pro and the M3 chip of Mac will adopt TSMC 3nm process."

"it is reported that the first launch of Apple iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max chip A17 uses TSMC enhanced 3nm."

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