Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Apple's main chip supplier, will begin the mass production of 3nm chips this week, according to MacRumors.
On Saturday, the semiconductor company said that it would hold a ceremony this coming Thursday, December 29, to mark the beginning of mass production using the 3nm process.
According to reports, the 3nm chips could be first used in the much-anticipated M2 Pro chip that is expected to power the upcoming MacBook Pro and Mac mini models.
TSMC Will Hold a Ceremony to Mark the Beginning of 3nm Mass Production
According to Taipei Times, the ceremony on Thursday will mark the placing of the final beam at its Fab 18 in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan, Taiwan.
TSMC said that it would also detail its upcoming plans for expanding 3nm production at the facility in the coming years. Currently, the fab is mass-producing chips using the 5nm process.
The company does not typically hold a ceremony to mark the beginning of commercial production of new technology.
According to analysts, the ceremony possibly aims to announce the company's intention to keep on using Taiwan as a hub for research and development (R&D), and production. This is despite the company's overseas investments.
In the past weeks, there had been speculations that TSMC could possibly relocate its production as well as its R&D centers to the US.
The rumors began circulating after the company said on December 6 during a tool-in ceremony for its 12-inch wafer plant in Phoenix, Arizona, that it would increase its initially planned $12 billion investment to $40 billion.
The increase in investment is due to the planned creation of a 3nm fab by 2026, in addition to its planned 4nm plant, which is due to be completed by 2024.
The speculations further intensified after TSMC sent a large group of Taiwanese engineers to support the Arizona plant. It raised investors' fears that it could undermine the company's base in Taiwan.
Read Also: Apple Finally Accepts TSMC Chip Price Increase - Will it be for iPhone 15?
TSMC Plans to Develop 2nm Chips
TSMC is also developing a more advanced 2nm process. In connection, it plans to build a 2nm fab in Hsinchu, with mass production set to start in 2025.
The 3nm process uses 16nm fin field-effect transistor technology. This is a 3D transistor structure that lets a chip run faster using the same amount of energy or run at a similar speed on reduced power.
Chips that are made using the said technology are 10 to 15 percent faster and 25 to 30 percent more energy-efficient than those produced with the 5nm process.
According to analysts, it is expected that Apple and Intel would place orders for chips made with the company's 3nm process.
Currently, Apple uses TSMC's 4nm process in the A16 Bionic chip that can be found in the iPhone 14 Pro series. However, the tech company is expected to jump to 3nm as soon as early next year.
According to new reports in August, the upcoming M2 Pro chips would be the first to be based on the 3nm process.
The said chip is expected to debut first in the updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros early next year. Likewise, users could possibly see it in updated Mac Studio and Mac mini models.
Related Article: Apple Analyst Says TSMC Will Start "M2 Pro" Chip Mass Production Later This Year
