There is a fair amount of uncertainty surrounding which lithography Apple intends to employ for its future iPhone lineup. A recent report mentioned that the technology giant will transition to TSMC’s 2nm process for its A-series of chipsets for the iPhone 17, but one analyst believes otherwise. He claims that the iPhone 18 family will be treated to cutting-edge silicon, and even then, not all models will be given preference to this technology due to the high costs that will eventually be incurred.
The iPhone 17 will not feature Apple’s cutting-edge 2nm chipsets, as the company will stick with 3nm SoCs, but mass produced on TSMC’s ‘N3P’ node
On X, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has provided an update concerning Apple’s plans for the iPhone 17 and iPhone 18 series. He states that for next year’s models, the Cupertino firm will leverage TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3P’ process, which is the third iteration of the Taiwanese semiconductor giant’s advanced node. Apple took advantage of the 3nm ‘N3B’ variant for the A17 Pro, followed by the ‘N3E’ process for the M4, A18, and A18 Pro.
For the A19 and A19 Pro, which are already said to be in development, future buyers who have specifically skipped the iPhone 16 purchase to wait patiently for the iPhone 17 launch next year may be disappointed to learn that Apple will stick with the 3nm technology. Fortunately, it is fair to say that the N3P version will definitely improve over N3E. One reason why Apple could be reluctant to switch to 2nm chipsets for the iPhone 17 lineup so quickly is high wafer costs.
The processors for 2025 iPhone 17 models will be made by TSMC's N3P process/3-nanometer technology. The processor for 2026 iPhone 18 models is anticipated to use TSMC's 2-nanometer technology. However, due to cost concerns, not all new iPhone 18 models may be equipped with a…
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) September 19, 2024
Earlier this year, we reported that each 3nm wafer costs $20,000, so one can immediately summarize that the switch to 2nm will probably be too high for Apple to consider. It is unlikely that with the iPhone 18 release in 2026, those costs will dramatically reduce, but Apple could work out some proposition with TSMC. Even if a positive outcome materializes, Kuo is of the opinion that not all iPhone 18 models will feature a 2nm A-series SoC because these will be expensive to mass produce.
News Source: Ming-Chi Kuo
