50%
Plausible
The A20 and A20 Pro will be Apple’s first 2nm chipsets to grace the industry, but according to the latest rumor, it won’t be long before the Cupertino giant unveils its first 1.4nm SoC, the A22 Pro. In fact, the new silicon is said to arrive after the announcement of the company’s 20th-anniversary iPhone.
TSMC is aggressively building its 1.4nm facilities to accommodate the raging demand, with Apple likely seizing the first batch of A22 Pro
Shortly after commenting on the arrival of the advanced AirPods Pro models, which will be equipped with cameras in 2027, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has said that the A22 Pro, scheduled to launch in 2028, could be Apple’s first 1.4nm chipset. Based on this timeline, the A21 Pro will remain on TSMC’s 2nm node, with the possibility that the California-based giant moves to the slightly improved ‘N2P’ process, which is slightly better than the N2 iteration utilized for the A20 and A20 Pro.
There’s no confirmation on whether the standard A22 will be fabricated on TSMC’s 1.4nm process, but the Taiwanese semiconductor behemoth is hard at work building billion-dollar facilities to accommodate its customers. Based on previous estimates, TSMC has already invested a jaw-dropping $49 billion in the construction of four production sites.
Given the amount of cash Apple has on hand, it shouldn’t have a problem footing the bill, but the total is going to be steep, as each 1.4nm wafer belonging to TSMC is estimated to cost $45,000. In the future, if you learn that the A22 Pro is exclusively used for this manufacturing process and not the A22, this will be why.
Fortunately, there will be a boatload of benefits of gravitating to this technology, with TSMC’s 1.4nm process, also known as the A14 or Angstrom, promising between 10-15 percent higher performance or up to 30 percent lower power consumption compared to the 2nm technology. This is because TSMC will pack denser gate-all-around (GAA) transistors,
News Source: Mark Gurman
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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