TSMC Demos Next-Gen Chip Technology to Apple Ahead of 2025 Debut - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

TSMC Demos Next-Gen Chip Technology to Apple Ahead of 2025 Debut

by

TSMC has already demonstrated prototype 2nm chips to Apple ahead of their expected introduction in 2025, the Financial Times reports.

apple silicon 1 feature
Apple is said to be closely aligned with TSMC in the race to develop and implement 2nm chip technology, which will surpass their current 3nm chips and associated nodes in terms of transistor density, performance, and efficiency. 2nm chips are expected to be integral in underpinning future Apple silicon chips, as well as next-generation data center and artificial intelligence technology. Test results for TSMC's "N2" 2nm prototype chips have already been showcased to Apple and several other key TSMC clients as plans for upcoming chips begin to solidify.

In a separate report, DigiTimes points out that Apple is a key player in TSMC's battle against Samsung and Intel to bring 2nm chips to market, with no sign of the close relationship between the two companies waning. Apple reportedly has no plans to reduce its ‌3nm‌ or 2nm chip orders from TSMC before 2027 at the earliest.

Apple was the first company to utilize TSMC's ‌3nm‌ technology with the A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the company is likely to follow suit with the chipmaker's N2 chips. TSMC's production of 2nm chips is slated to begin in 2025, with their first appearance in Apple devices likely to follow soon after.

Tags: Apple Silicon Guide, DigiTimes, Financial Times, TSMC

Popular Stories

iphone fold text

iPhone Fold Production Pushed Back, But Fall 2026 Launch Still on Track

Monday April 13, 2026 1:44 pm PDT by
Production on the iPhone Fold is behind schedule, but the device is still slated to launch in fall 2026, reports DigiTimes. The site says that production has been pushed back by "roughly one to two months," but Apple has not communicated any launch delays to suppliers. Apple is still planning for a 2026 launch, which suggests a tighter production schedule. Apple planned to begin iPhone Fold...
Read Full Article • 80 comments
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Report: iPhone Memory Costs Set to Quadruple by 2027

Wednesday April 29, 2026 3:14 am PDT by
Memory could account for as much as 45 percent of an iPhone's component costs by 2027, up from around 10 percent today, according to a JPMorgan analysis cited by the Financial Times ($). Apple buys memory for roughly 250 million iPhones a year and has historically been one of the largest customers in the category. But Apple has reportedly now gone from a position where it could set terms to...
Read Full Article • 109 comments
iOS 27 on iPhone 17 1

iOS 27 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday May 2, 2026 8:43 am PDT by
Apple is expected to unveil iOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on June 8, and there are already many rumored features and changes for iPhones. The first developer beta of iOS 27 will likely be available immediately following the keynote, and a public beta typically follows in July. Following beta testing, the software update should be released to all users with a compatible iPhone in...
Read Full Article • 93 comments

Top Rated Comments

TheDailyApple Avatar
TheDailyApple
31 months ago
At this rate they‘ll have to start shrinking the atoms
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
W
What's a computer?
31 months ago

I can't tell if you're trying to be funny? The 2nm refers to the transistor width, and there are billions of transistors in such a chip. The 2nm measurement is accurate, not marketing.
Erm... no. According to the IEEE, the "2 nm" node anticipated for 2025 refers to a transistor size ranging from 12 nm to 45 nm. Features smaller than 12 nm aren't expected any time in the foreseeable future:
https://irds.ieee.org/editions/2021/more-moore
The IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a reliable source.
Wikipedia says 45 nm, which may be the most relevant for CPUs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_nm_process
Edited to add: @oneMadRssn pointed out that the measures I cited above, such as "12 nm" and "45 nm", are technically the _gate_ sizes, which are smaller than the _entire_ transistor. Anyway, a feature 2 nm across would be 9 silicon atoms across, resulting in a device too unreliable to use at any temperature, even if manufacturing were perfect.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yvan256 Avatar
Yvan256
31 months ago
Cue all the "My new M3 Mac that I haven't bought yet is already out of date" comments.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
oneMadRssn
31 months ago

I can't tell if you're trying to be funny? The 2nm refers to the transistor width, and there are billions of transistors in such a chip. The 2nm measurement is accurate, not marketing.
Eh, 2nm is getting to the point of impossible if it means the entire transistor. A silicon atom is 0.13nm diameter. This would mean the entire transistor is 15 atoms wide. That's not technically impossible, but it's pretty darn close.

Also, not all transistors are the same size. A modern SoC will have dozens of different transistors types on it, of varying sizes. So measuring the smallest transistor doesn't really mean much if most of them are larger.

Rather, my understanding is that since about 65nm, TSMC has switched from measuring the size of the transistor to the width of the gate, or the width of the channel; which is a smaller subcomponent of the transistor. But having a gate width of 15 silicon atoms is more believable, since that means the entire transistor would be roughly twice as wide. And it tells you a bit more about the tech, since knowing the smallest feature size is still useful for the larger transistors on the die.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Z
Zest28
31 months ago

I can't tell if you're trying to be funny? The 2nm refers to the transistor width, and there are billions of transistors in such a chip. The 2nm measurement is accurate, not marketing.
2 nm don't actually refer to any physical dimension of the transistor. Its just a marketing term.

5nm from Samsung and 5nm TSMC are not the same at all, nor is 10nm from Intel vs 10nm from TSMC.

Intel was even trying to pass on their 10nm chips as "7nm" due to how TSMC defines it's nanometers.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
Sim2032
31 months ago
To build on some of the answers others have given, node procession as a numerical value really is a marketing exercise at this point. The underlying progression still generally refers to efficiency and to a lesser extent transistor count, but the technologies that get there aren't a simple shrinking anymore. Areas such as 3D packaging and all around the gate designs used to reduce leakage (and thus boost efficiency) are just some of the technologies involved.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments
Related Apple News: Travel | Opinion | Health | Motoring | Mac