In a series of tweets on Friday, well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the upcoming 2022 MacBook Pro may not make it to TSMC’s 3nm chips in time. Earlier this week, he mentioned that the 14/16-inch MacBook Pro with the new 5nm processor will move into volume production in the fourth quarter of 2022, while the 3nm chip will contribute significant revenue to TSMC in the first half of 2023.
The rumor is that the 2022 MBP will be in production in the second half of the year with an upgraded M2 Pro / M2 Pro Max chip.
Ming-Chi Kuo’s opinion conflicts with other reports that have suggested that the “2022 MacBook Pro will have a 3nm chip”.
But given the analyst’s solid history of breaking news and providing solid arguments, the latest news is quite believable.
According to it, TSMC’s 3nm chip production cycle is about 4 months. On that basis, if TSMC starts mass production in September, 3nm chips will not be available until January 2023 at the earliest.
In addition, in a tweet earlier this month, Kuo also cited TSMC’s official financial projections, which show that 3nm chips will start contributing significant financial revenue to the company in the first quarter of 2023.
While the new report doesn’t match the tone of outlets like DigiTimes, it’s also true that articles from outlets like Commercial Times don’t outline a specific start date for 3nm chips.
The reports only mention that Apple will be the first company to use 3nm chips and that 3nm chips will move into production in September — both of which are still in line with Ming-Chi Kuo’s predictions.
