Apple will be releasing the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro series later this year with a number of upgrades, such as the much-anticipated Type-C.
Apple has now confirmed that it will be TSMC’s first customer for the 3nm process, with products including M-series chips and A17 chips. Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to come with Apple’s next-generation A17 bionic chip, based on TSMC’s latest-generation N3 process.
According to what is known so far, the N3 is TSMC’s first generation 3nm process and still uses FinFET structured devices. According to TSMC, compared to the N5 process, the N3 logic density increases by about 60%, or 30%-35% lower power consumption at the same speed, and supports the innovative TSMC FINFLEXTM architecture.
Last year the Taiwanese media pointed out that TSMC’s 3nm foundry offer was as high as $20,000 and with frequent news these past few months that Apple is TSMC’s sole 3nm customer, foundry costs have risen significantly.
Earlier today Arete Research analyst Brett Simpson revealed that TSMC’s 3nm process currently has a 55% yield and is expected to improve by 5 percentage points per quarter. TSMC is currently doing its best to produce enough 3nm chips to meet Apple’s demand, but demand is still outstripping supply.
According to tipster Revegnus, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro will cost around 20% more to produce compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, and the standard iPhone 15 model will cost around 12% more.
This news has already caused concern among netizens overseas, and according to a series of sources, Apple is likely to raise the pricing of the iPhone 15 series later this year, at least for the two Pro models with the A17 chip.
