Tech giant Apple and Intel will be the first adopters of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s next-generation chip production technology ahead of its deployment, possibly next year, as reported by Nikkei Asia.
Apple and Intel are testing their chip designs with TSMC’s 3-nanometer production technology, the report added, citing several sources briefed on the matter. The commercial output of such chips is expected to start in the second half of next year, Nikkei Asia said.
Nanometer refers to the width between transistors on a chip. The smaller the number, the more advanced the chip, but also the more challenging and expensive they are to build. The most advanced chip production tech being used for consumer products today is TSMC’s 5-nm technology, which is used for all iPhone 12 processor chips.
According to TSMC, 3-nm technology can increase computing performance by 10% to 15% compared with 5-nm, while reducing power consumption by 25% to 30%.
