According to EE Times reports, Apple in order to produce A17 Bionic and M3 chips, has booked 90% of TSMC’s 3nm process wafers. However, the yield of this advanced process is currently only 55%, which means that nearly half of the wafers are substandard and can not be used for Apple’s products.
According to reports, Arete Research senior analyst Brett Simpson believes that TSMC and Apple have reached a special agreement where Apple only pays for qualified wafers instead of paying standard pricing. Standard wafer prices could be as high as $17,000 per wafer (currently about RMB 122,000) but TSMC will probably only start implementing this business model for Apple in the second half of 2024.
The 3-nanometer process is one of the most advanced chip manufacturing technologies available, improving chip performance and efficiency, and reducing power consumption and costs. Apple plans to launch the A17 Bionic and M3 chips using the process, the former for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. TSMC expects to be able to produce 100,000 3nm wafers per month by the end of 2023 to meet Apple’s demand. However, with a yield of only 55%, only 55,000 wafers will be available. Apple will only pay the standard wafer price if the yield reaches 70% , but that reportedly won’t happen until the first half of 2024.
There are also rumors that Apple could move to using TSMC’s alternative 3nm process, N3E, in 2024, which is said to have better yields and lower production costs. However, this could also result in lower performance for the A17 Bionic and M3 chips, so Apple hasn’t made a decision yet.
