TSMC

Apple was instrumental in TSMC setting up chipmaking plants in the US – not just by offering to be the first customer, but also in lobbying for the CHIPS Act funding that persuaded the company to proceed.

The Taiwanese company takes extreme precautions to protect the secrecy of its chipmaking processes, even for the somewhat older chips made in Arizona, but BBC News was given a very rare tour of the facility …

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the company is “excited” to be the first customer of TSMC’s Arizona chip plants. He made the comment as the company started construction on its third US plant.

TSMC says that the addition of the third plant makes the project the largest single foreign investment in US history …

Apple chipmaker TSMC says that it will make chips with a sub-2nm process size for the first time ever in 2028, and that the development of 1.4nm chips will allow for greater AI capabilities.

The iPhone maker is generally first in line for the company’s most advanced chipmaking capabilities, so we can expect the chips – slightly confusingly dubbed A14 – to debut in 2028 iPhones …

TSMC’s first US chip plant took significantly longer to build and begin production than was forecast, but the company says that future plants will proceed at a significantly faster pace. This will enable US-made chips for somewhat newer Apple devices.

But former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is dismissive of the initiative, suggesting that it will be of little help in enabling the US to be a global player in the chip business …

According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s A20 chip should adopt TSMC’s 2nm process for the very first time. This means that next year’s iPhone 18 models should all take the leap to a next-generation chip architecture. Previously, it was unclear whether or not all iPhone 18 models would adopt 2nm tech.

President Trump last month attacked the bipartisan CHIPS Act, seeking to dismantle it, and a new reports says that the White House now appears to have started work on doing so.

A chipmaker’s industry association – whose members include TSMC – held a call in which they expressed concerns about the impact on their plans for new US plants …

Yesterday’s TSMC announcement of a $100B investment in the US was notable for its lack of any specifics – including whether any of the money had been announced previously.

But a new investment note suggests that it could even represent a backwards step when it comes to making Apple chips in the US …

Last week, Apple announced plans for $500 billion of investment in the US economy over the next four years. Now, key partner TSMC looks set to make its own pledge. Per The Wall Street Journal, TSMC is committing $100 billion to US manufacturing expansion in the next four years, with a formal announcement coming this afternoon.

TSMC agreed to build a series of chip plants in the US, with Apple a key customer, using subsidies provided by the bipartisan CHIPS Act. Trump has now called the Act “ridiculous” and wants to renege on the promised funding.

If he followed through on the threat, it could throw into doubt the viability of the US chipmaking plants, and lead to cancellation of TSMC’s expansion plans …

TSMC is a major Apple partner, producing chips for its many hundreds of millions of new devices each year. But per the company’s founder, there was once a time when Intel got a shot at iPhone chip production, and failed to impress.

Apple has recently ramped up its US chip production in Arizona, but TSMC’s CEO says you shouldn’t expect the latest and greatest chips to be US-made any time soon. Here’s why.

The first US plant to make A-series chips for Apple devices is expected to begin mass production as early as this quarter, says a new report.

It implies that test production by TSMC has already begun, with Apple said to be in the final stage of verifying the chips produced in Arizona …

A full half of the jobs created by the first TSMC Arizona chip plant have been filled by workers from Taiwan, despite the company receiving up to $11.6B worth of grants intended in large part to generate US jobs.

The original headline news of Apple chips being made in the US by American workers has seemed less and less impressive over time …

Although Apple typically follows a two year cycle with process nodes, with the 7nm and 5nm processes lasting two years each – it seems highly likely that Apple is about to use the 3nm process for a third year in a row with the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup. There are a number of reasons for this, which we’ll be delving into.

Things haven’t exactly been going to plan with TSMC’s Arizona chip plants, but the company is claiming that the second plant could be making 2nm chips in the US as early as 2028. Previously announced plans talked only of 3nm chips by this date.

However, the Taiwanese government acknowledges that 2nm chip production in Arizona could be delayed to 2029 or 2030 …

TSMC’s Arizona plants will enable Apple chips for older devices to be made in the US for the first time, but things haven’t exactly been going to plan.

The latest development is that a group of the company’s US workers have filed a lawsuit accusing the Taiwanese company of ‘anti-American discrimination’ …

The US Commerce Department is carrying out an investigation into whether Apple chipmaker TSMC breached US sanctions against China by supplying smartphone and AI chips to Huawei. The probe was in part driven by Huawei’s surprising ability to resume competing with iPhones.

Update: A new report today says that TSMC reported itself to the US government based on its own suspicions about an order.

Apple A16 chips are now being made in TSMC’s US chipmaking plant in Arizona, according to a new report. It’s said that while yield rates are lower than those achieved in Taiwan, they are very close to hitting the same standards.

The big mystery, however, is why Apple would want to make new A16 chips. Which new product might use them … ?

We heard back in July that Apple chipmaker TSMC was running ahead of schedule on trial production of 2nm chips expected to debut in next year’s iPhone 17 – and a new report reiterates this.

However, it highlights the challenges involved with this ultra-small process, and says that TSMC cannot manage it without help …

Reports of the iPhone 17 having a 2nm chip in the two Pro models have been disputed by a leaker with a respectable track-record. They say that Apple’s first 2nm processor will instead be used in the iPhone 18.

Citing inside information they claim to have about TSMC’s forecast production capacity, they suggest that 2nm chips won’t enter production until the end of 2025 – which would be too late for the iPhone 17 …

Apple chipmaker TSMC is beginning trial production of 2nm chips, set to be used in the iPhone 17 Pro and other Apple devices from 2025.

The test run begins next week, significantly earlier than expected …