Apple to Bring 2nm Chips to iPhone 18 as TSMC’s Yields Climb Past 70%

TSMC’s initial supply of 2nm chipsets will go to Apple and will likely power next year’s iPhone 18 series. Last year, it was reported that the Cupertino tech giant would be TSMC’s first customer for the N2 process node, given how it is currently the chipmaker’s largest client.

TSMC Leads the 2nm Race, May Push for Mass Production by Year’s End

Taking to X, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that this year’s iPhone will likely skip the N2 process node, sticking with 3nm for another year. Apple first brought the N3 (3nm) to 2023’s iPhone 15 Pros, which allowed it to “reinforce” its market lead. With TSMC’s yields improving, the company is expected to move to 2nm soon.

Kuo reported that TSMC’s 2nm yields hit an industry-leading 70% three months ago and have since climbed even higher. Compare that to Samsung’s ~30% and Intel’s 10% (18A) and the gap becomes widely evident. This high yield is expected to help push mass production in the second half of this year.

Apple’s devices are said to usually start mass production a few months before launch, and with TSMC’s progress on N2, next year’s A20 Bionic could adopt 2nm. Of course, this claim is purely based on analytical information and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The key highlight about 2nm is simply how efficient it is. Early reports have indicated that it would bring 25%–30% efficiency gains alone, coupled with close to a 15% performance boost. But, it would also come at a hefty cost, which is why it can be reasonable to assume that even next year, the 2nm chips may only make it to the Pro models.

This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.