Apple is getting all set to announce a trio of products this week, all of which will likely feature the M5, the company’s newest SoC that will replace the M4. Not a whole lot is known about the silicon, as the unboxing video of the iPad Pro only provided some brief differences between the two tablet generations, and all this time, we assumed that the M5 would use TSMC’s newest 3nm ‘N3P architecture, the same one used for the A19 and A19 Pro. Sadly, a new report claims that, like the M4, Apple will re-purpose the older 3nm ‘N3E’ technology.
The decision to stick with the older lithography could be due to TSMC’s previously reported price hike, with Apple’s M5 also having no competition in its weight class
A report from Commercial Times provides a boatload of details regarding various Apple Silicon, including the M6 that is scheduled to be unveiled late next year and could be the company’s first 2nm SoC to power MacBooks. We now turn our attention to the M5. Strangely, with the Cupertino firm and its competitors like Qualcomm and MediaTek all having shifted to TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3P’ process, with even the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite sporting the same technology, it makes little sense for the M5 to be an entire generation behind.
However, TSMC was reported to have introduced a price hike to its 3nm N3E and 3nm N3P wafers, with each unit carrying a $25,000 and $27,000 figure. Given that M5 Pro and M5 Max are not expected to launch until the beginning of 2026, it might be prudent for Apple to stick with an older manufacturing process to save costs. Then again, given the California-based titan’s launch habits, we could be looking at just another typo from the report, as these mistakes often happen.
The new report could have been a typo concerning the M5’s lithography, given that Apple always sticks with cutting-edge processes for its chipsets
Our guess is that Commercial Times made a grave error in reporting about the M5’s lithography, and we have two reasons to support our claims. For one thing, irrespective of how much you blame Apple for not adopting the newest standards, the one thing we cannot point our fingers at the trillion-dollar firm is leveraging cutting-edge technologies. Remember when it unveiled the A17 Pro, followed by the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max?
All four chipsets were fabricated on TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3B’ process, and it is a version that Qualcomm and MediaTek steered clear of, choosing to launch the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Dimensity 9300 on the 4nm ‘N4P’ node instead. The tape-out costs for the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max were estimated to be $1 billion alone, so our assumption is that Apple spares no expense when it wants its in-house silicon to use the best available lithography.
In short, the M5 being mass produced on the older ‘N3E’ process would look out of place, and since Apple has already launched the A19 and A19 Pro on the newer 3nm ‘N3P’ process, chances are that the M4’s successor will receive the same treatment.
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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