Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens Wu Yanzu in South China for the delivery of clues! CTOnews.com, July 16: Apple has ordered 90% of TSMC's 3-nanometer process wafers to produce A17 Bionic and M3 chips, according to EE Times. However, the current yield of this advanced process is only 55%, that is, nearly half of the wafers are substandard and cannot be used in Apple products.

According to reports, Brett Simpson, a senior analyst at Arete Research, believes that TSMC and Apple have reached a special agreement that Apple only needs to pay for qualified wafers instead of standard pricing. Standard wafers may cost as much as $17000 per chip (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 122000 yuan), but TSMC may only start implementing this business model for Apple in the second half of 2024.

3nm process is one of the most advanced chip manufacturing technologies at present, which can improve the performance and efficiency of the chip and reduce the power consumption and cost. Apple plans to launch A17 Bionic and M3 chips using this process, the former for iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. TSMC expects to be able to produce 100,000 3nm wafers a month by the end of 2023 to meet Apple's needs. However, when the yield is only 55%, only 55000 wafers can be used. Apple will only pay the standard wafer price when the yield reaches 70%, but it is reported that this will not happen until the first half of 2024.

In addition, there are rumors that Apple may switch to TSMC's other 3nm process, the N3E, in 2024, which is said to have better yields and lower production costs. However, this may also lead to a decline in the performance of the A17 Bionic and M3 chips, so Apple has not made a decision yet.

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