2y ago

Apple to Buy TSMC's Entire Supply of 3nm Chips for 2023

www.macrumors.com

Apple to Buy TSMC's Entire Supply of 3nm Chips for 2023::Apple will receive all of TSMC's first-generation 3-nanometer process chips this year for upcoming iPhones, Macs, and iPads, according to...

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2y ago

Apple to Buy TSMC's Entire Supply of 3nm Chips for 2023 | MacRumors

www.macrumors.com /2023/08/29/apple-buys-all-3nm-tsmc-chips-2023/

27 comments

We need more fabs. Entire world's supply of 3nm blown on iPhones
- In this case it's not truly a result of limited fab availability.
  TSMC has two main variants of their 3nm node. The original one, that Apple is using, is N3B. It has worse yields, so TSMC started work on another variant, N3E. N3E has much better yields but will not be ready until late 2023 or early 2024. Everyone else besides Apple opted to skip N3B and go for N3E. Apple, with their very consistent release cadence, didn't want to wait for N3E. So Apple — and only Apple — is using N3B.
  Thus, we have:
  (1) TSMC only has one 3nm node in 2023: N3B.
  (2) TSMC only has one customer for N3B: Apple.
  (3) TSMC will never have any other customer use N3B, and have no incentives to build capacity beyond what is needed now.
  It's effectively tautological that their entire 3nm allocation will be sold exclusively to Apple in 2023.
  
  So wait a few years before buying a new phone, I'd what your saying?
- The issue is that the US doesn’t own all of the relevant patents, just most of them. It’s hard to apply US anti-monopoly laws against a company based in the Netherlands that primarily sells its products to Korea and Taiwan. All the US can do is threaten to pull the EUV-LLC patents that the department of energy developed.
Sounds like there isn't anyone able to use the 3nm technology anyhow so not sure how big of a deal it is.
I do wish they weren't tied to Apple technology but if they're ahead of the game they're ahead of the game.
- My understanding is essentially Apple has enough money on hand and foresight of product demands that they can do things like tell a supplier that they’re going to buy everything well in advance and secure those deals before other manufacturers are willing to commit. Presumably, there’s nothing to stop Samsung from going to TSMC and saying they want to buy all the capacity for 2024, except that Samsung doesn’t feel confident about matching Apple’s sales volume on those upcoming products.
  I’ve also heard Apple will also fund expansion of their suppliers when needed. If someone makes a thing that Apple wants but doesn’t have the capacity to meet Apple’s volume, Apple will provide what they need to increase capacity, along with providing commitments to purchase enough product that the manufacturer is taking on minimal risks from the expansion.
  
  (Also, Samsung makes their own chips.)
  Example holds up better with Google (for Pixel line).
  
  Yep, it's hard to hate on Apple in this case when they're just more prepared and willing to commit.
Apple ad, remove
- It’s tech news. Even if you don’t like Apple products, their buying the entire node affects everyone else.
  
  And it is also an ad
Apple doing apple things. Nothing to see here. Money can buy happiness and you can buy the new iPhone 15, releasing soon.
Fun fact, the X-nm naming convention doesn't actually describe the size of the process. It comes from traditional scaling predictions that described a 70% scaling every 2 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_nm_process

27 comments