Apple's First 3nm Chips for MacBook Pro Expected to Enter Production This Year
Another report today claims that TSMC plans to begin volume production of 3nm chips later this year for use in upcoming MacBook models and other products.
"Backend firms are upbeat about demand for the upcoming MacBook chips, which will be built using TSMC's 3nm process technology, with production set to kick off later this year, according to industry sources," reads a paywalled preview of a DigiTimes report.
TSMC is unlikely to generate substantial revenue from 3nm chip production overall until at least the first quarter of 2023, according to DigiTimes.
This information lines up with a report last week from Taiwan's Commercial Times, which said TSMC would begin production of 3nm chips for Apple by the end of 2022. That report claimed that Apple's first 3nm chip may be the M2 Pro chip for Macs and added that the A17 Bionic chip in next year's iPhone 15 Pro models would also be a 3nm chip.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the M2 Pro chip to be used in the next 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, and in a new high-end Mac mini that would replace the current Intel-based configuration. Gurman believes that Apple plans to announce multiple new Macs at an October event, but it's not entirely clear if this would include new MacBook Pro and Mac mini models or if Apple will wait to announce its first Macs with 3nm chips in 2023.
The entire M1 series of chips and the standard M2 chip are built on a variation of TSMC's 5nm process. Apple's transition to 3nm chips would unsurprisingly result in improved performance and power efficiency in upcoming Macs and iPhones, as Apple seeks to preserve its performance-per-watt lead over competitors like Intel.
Popular Stories
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device.
Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year.
Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report.
The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader.
Vapor chamber technology is already used...
