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Apple Mobile Processors Are Now Made in America. By TSMC

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Apple Mobile Processors Are Now Made in America. By TSMC

[Exclusive] The iPhone maker is set to be the first client of TSMC's
new Arizona fab

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Tim Culpan
Sep 17, 2024
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Apple Mobile Processors Are Now Made in America. By TSMC

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Good Evening from Taipei,

TSMC's first Arizona chips are now in production, and Apple is ready
to be the first cab off the rank with mobile processors made using
the foundry's 5nm process.

Apple's A16 SoC, which first debuted two years ago in the iPhone 14
Pro, is currently being manufactured at Phase 1 of TSMC's Fab 21 in
Arizona in small, but significant, numbers, my sources tell me.
Volume will ramp up considerably when the second stage of the Phase 1
fab is completed and production is underway, putting the Arizona
project on track to hit its target for production in the first-half
of 2025.

 
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These A16 chips are made with the same N4P process as TSMC uses for
the A16 produced in Taiwan, I am told. Confusingly, N4P is sometimes
called a 4nm node and sometimes 5nm, but it's part of the broader 5nm
family of processes -- TSMC calls it an enhanced version of 5nm. Call
it 4nm if you like, I won't correct you.

"The Arizona project is proceeding as planned with good progress,"
Nina Kao, a spokeswoman for TSMC told me. She declined to comment on
clients or products made at the facility.

Tell people about the exclusive news you're reading right now, and
where you heard it first.

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This is a BFD. TSMC Arizona is the marquee project of the US
government's $39 billion CHIPS for America Fund under the CHIPS Act.
Six months ago, I thought Apple might tap Arizona for a
less-consequential chip like the H-series used in AirPods. I was
surprised when I heard it was the A16. The fact that they went for
the most-advanced chip they could manage on US soil, in terms of both
technology and volume, shows Apple and TSMC want to start big.

(I believe there may be other products also in production at TSMC
Arizona, but I don't have much information on them. If you do,
contact me here.)

Currently TSMC is achieving yields in Arizona that are slightly behin
d what's enjoyed back home in Taiwan (basically, neck and neck). Most
important, though, is that improvements are moving so rapidly that
true yield parity between Taiwan and Arizona is expected to be
reached in coming months.

I can't tell you which Apple device these A16 chips will go into. One
possibility is that they're slated for one of the upcoming iPads,
though perhaps not the iPad Mini since Mark Gurman believes they're
to be launched around October. Another likelihood is the next
iteration of the iPhone SE, which makes sense since it's supposedly 
based on the iPhone 14 which uses the A16 processor and is expected
next year.

Normally, media outlets will pad out their reportage with lots of
background and history. I'll leave it here. That's the scoop: Apple's
A16 mobile processors are in production at TSMC on American soil, and
that choice of product is hugely significant.

Note to media: yes, you can cite or sum this report. But proper
credit is required with a link to this page (you know that I know the
rules). Something like: "independent journalist Tim Culpan reported."
Thanks

Please do subscribe. It's free, for now, but if I ever put up a
paywall then this is the type of work that would hide behind it.

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        Yourself
        11 hrs ago

        Out of India and China putin supportive countries (directly
[https] or indirectly) it's a good thing

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        William Valmont
        17 hrs ago
 
[https] Fantastic!

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