Tim Cook to Attend Opening Ceremony of TSMC’s Arizona Plant, Significant Development for Apple
According to a brand-new study released today, Apple will employ US chips produced at the TSMC facility in Arizona, with around a third of the chips produced going to the iPhone manufacturer. In addition, rather than the initially reported 5nm goals, the plant’s capabilities will be increased to 4nm devices. The fact that Tim Cook is reportedly going to a TSMC event on Tuesday seems to confirm the long-standing predictions that Apple would be a significant customer.
Apple will use about a third of the output as production gets underway […] Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has previously told employees that his company plans to source chips from the Arizona plant. He’s scheduled to attend the event next week.”
According to a recent Bloomberg article, Apple CEO Tim Cook will attend a ceremony on Tuesday to officially make things official.
In a typical context, the term “processors” would refer to the CPU chip, in this instance Apple’s A-series and M-series main processors for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Current studies indicate that neither facility would possess the sophisticated skills required for this.
TSMC Inaugurates Second Arizona Facility Amid High Demand
The construction of a $12 billion chip manufacturing facility in Arizona was announced by the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) back in 2020.
It is still unknown if the factory would produce Apple processors. Apple actively lobbied for plant subsidies, indicating that this was the intended course of action. Others questioned this since the proposed 5nm technology would be behind Apple’s curve for its A-series and M-series CPUs by an excessive amount. The facility may instead employ a 4nm process, according to a subsequent claim, although this would still be behind Apple’s rumored intentions to transition to 3nm a year before manufacturing is set to begin.
Later, TSMC confirmed plans for a second 3nm factory, however, it is again anticipated that Apple will have switched to 2nm manufacturing by the time this one opens. Apple would be a client, but only for less complex semiconductors, according to a prior Bloomberg story. The second Arizona facility would mostly be for PR reasons, so Apple can claim to be utilizing US-made chips, the report said.
Regional tensions between China and Taiwan and America’s willingness to support the company’s expansion are primarily responsible for TSMC’s decision to rapidly expand into the United States.
