Next Year's iPhone 17 Unlikely to Feature TSMC's First 2nm Chip

Reports that next year's iPhone 17 will adopt TSMC's next-generation 2nm process are "fake news," a reputable source of accurate predictions about Apple's plans claimed on Monday.

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According to a post by Weibo user "Phone Chip Expert," the 2nm process won't go into mass production until the end of 2025. The account holder, who claims to have 25 years of experience in the integrated circuit industry, including work on Intel's Pentium processors, suggests the iPhone 17 will therefore still use TSMC's 3nm process.

"The 2nm process won't be mass-produced until the end of 2025, so the iPhone 17 definitely can't catch up," read a machine translation of Phone Chip Expert's post. "It won't be until the iPhone 18 that a 2nm processor will be used."

"Anyone who has seen the capacity planning chart will know that this is yet another report from an unscrupulous media outlet," added the user, commenting on an article by Zhitong Finance that repeated claims recently made by Taiwanese newspapers based on "industry sources."

TSMC plans to begin volume production of 2nm chips next year, but multiple reports out of Taiwan suggested that the company had been accelerating the process ahead of schedule to secure a stable yield for mass production. Apple is TSMC's main client, and it is typically the first to get TSMC's new chips. Apple acquired all of TSMC's 3nm chips in 2023 for iPhones, iPads, and Macs, for example.

The 2nm fabrication process, also known simply as "N2," is expected to offer a 10 to 15 percent speed improvement at the same power or a 25 to 30 percent power reduction at the same speed compared to chips made with the supplier's ‌3nm‌ technology. The A17 Pro chip in Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models is manufactured with TSMC's first-generation 3nm process, known as N3B. Apple's M4 chip, which recently debuted in the new iPad Pro, uses an enhanced version of this ‌3nm‌ technology.

Code in iOS 18 has confirmed that all four iPhone 16 models are set to use Apple's next-generation A18 chip, based on TSMC's N3E process. N3E is TSMC's second-generation 3nm chip fabrication process, which is less expensive and has improved yield compared to TSMC's first-generation 3nm process.

The Weibo user contesting claims that 2nm will be ready for the iPhone 17 has a track record of accurate predictions. Phone Chip Expert was the first to reveal that the iPhone 7 would be water-resistant and that the standard iPhone 14 models would continue to use the A15 Bionic chip, while the more advanced A16 chip would be exclusive to the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models. These forecasts were later confirmed by multiple credible sources and were proven correct when the products were released.

More recently, Phone Chip Expert was the first source of information about Apple developing its own AI server processor using TSMC's 3nm process, targeting mass production by the second half of 2025.

Related Roundups: iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air

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Top Rated Comments

senttoschool Avatar
9 months ago
It's Macrumors' fault for even reporting the original article.

If the reporter had done any basic research, he/she would have known that TSMC N2 is scheduled for 2H 2025 and that hasn't been changed for a long time. If TSMC is able to move N2 up 7-8 months, they would have told investors in a investor call which they need to do since they're a public company.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SmugMaverick Avatar
9 months ago
I mean, none of this matters because iOS doesn't even push these chips to their limits.

Give me more RAM ffs, so sick of reloading apps and safari on a £1000+ device every time I either look at an email or lock my phone for 1 minute.

Cheap Tim.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
9 months ago

I mean, none of this matters because iOS doesn't even push these chips to their limits.

Give me more RAM ffs, so sick of reloading apps and safari on a £1000+ device every time I either look at an email or lock my phone for 1 minute.

Cheap Tim.
Good news is when Apple can’t improve in other ways that’s when they add more ram
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
senttoschool Avatar
9 months ago

I mean, none of this matters because iOS doesn't even push these chips to their limits.

Give me more RAM ffs, so sick of reloading apps and safari on a £1000+ device every time I either look at an email or lock my phone for 1 minute.

Cheap Tim.
It does. AI applications are bottlenecked by slow chips now.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hovscorpion12 Avatar
9 months ago
What is the fascination with die sizes. Everyone puts sooo much stock into N3E. N3B, 2nm, 3nm. 0.1nm. does it really make that much of a difference. I remember when users didn't care at all about the SoC.

Now "Oh M4 Max has to to have "X" nm die or its over."
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
9 months ago

it’s not cheap Tim. the ram options are there to buy.
It’s cheap Tim for not including more RAM as base specs

RAM is dirt cheap
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)