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Tag: apple

  • Apple has started designing 2nm chips for future iPhone models

    Apple has started designing 2nm chips for future iPhone models

    An Apple employee on Linked In  is supposedly the source of a new report that claims Apple has started designing chips that will be built using TSMC’s next-gen 2nm process node. Leaked slides published on the Korean website gamma0burst and posted via a tweet on “X” by leaker Revegnus the heavily redacted Apple slide refers to older 5nm chips such as the A15 Bionic, 3nm chips such as the A17 Pro, and a future 2nm chipset.

    As the process node used to build a chip “shrinks” in size, the features of the chip get smaller including the transistors allowing more of them to fit inside a chip. That is important because the higher a chip’s transistor count, the more powerful and/or energy-efficient that chip is. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are currently the only smartphones powered by a 3nm chip.

    Later this year, Apple is expected to use 3nm application processors (AP) for all four iPhone 16 models. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus could be powered by the 3nm A18 Bionic AP while the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will sport the more capable A18 Pro AP. Both components will be built using TSMC’s second-generation N3E 3nm node.

    SMC is supposedly planning to start production of 2nm chips during the second half of 2025 with the foundry churning out 1.4nm chips in 2027. Apple is expected to be the first company to obtain 2nm chips. The latter should deliver 10% to 15% performance upgrades at the same power or use 25% to 30% less power running at the same speed when compared to 3nm chips.

    Apple is TSMC’s top customer which is why it is usually able to be the first to receive chips made by TSMC using its latest process node. Apple will need to make some design changes in order to take advantage of TSMC’s 2nm node which will feature Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors instead of the currently used FinFET transistors.

    Using horizontal nanosheets placed vertically, GAA transistors allow the gate to surround the channel on all four sides reducing current leak and increasing the drive current. This results in stronger electrical signals between the transistors improving the performance of the chip. Back in December, TSMC showed off a prototype 2nm chip to both Apple and Nvidia.

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  • Netflix starts forcing grandfathered subscribers to stop paying Apple

    Netflix starts forcing grandfathered subscribers to stop paying Apple

    In 2018, Netflix stopped accepting payments for new subscriptions through the App Store, forcing new subscribers and those returning after a brief hiatus to pay Netflix through its website. It has been six years since Netflix allowed such subscribers to pay for their service through the App Store. This way, Netflix could avoid paying Apple its 15% to 30% cut on in-app transactions that go through Apple’s in-app payment processing platform.

    Netflix representative Momo Zhao told The Verge that all “members on the basic plan who were using an iTunes method of payment” now must pay Netflix directly for service using a credit card or a debit card. Those who signed up for Netflix before the video streamer stopped allowing users to subscribe through the App Store were able to hold on to a good deal for years and continued to pay each renewal period through Apple.

    Netflix has allowed grandfathered subscribers to continue to pay each month through the App Store, but that is about to change. As one “X” subscriber wrote in a tweet, “Netflix stopped working with Apple Pay and didn’t inform me. Now I’m locked out of my $9.99 a month price I had paid for years and I had to get charged $31 until I get a refund through Apple.”

    If you’re in the same shoes as the person who posted the above tweet, you’ll have to pay $5.50 more a month for the same plan you were paying $9.99 a month for or pay $3 less per month for the privilege of having your streaming interrupted by ads. No matter which plan you choose, you’ll be paying Netflix directly.

    To reiterate, if you are a long-time Netflix subscriber and have been paying through the App Store to maintain your Netflix subscription, be on the lookout for an email from the video streamer that says that if you want to remain a Netflix subscriber, you will have to stop paying your bill through Apple. And you might be paying a little more or a little less each month for Netflix service depending on whether you can live with ads running on the videos you’re watching.

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  • Apple suppliers need 103,000 workers in Vietnam this year

    Apple suppliers need 103,000 workers in Vietnam this year

    U.S. tech giant Apple’s contract manufacturers in Vietnam plan to hire over 103,000 workers this year, mostly for their factories in northern Bac Giang Province.

    Foxconn, Apple’s biggest supplier, needs 15,000 workers for its plants in the Dinh Tram and Quang Chau industrial parks (IPs) in the first half of the year, and 12,000 in the second.

    New Wing Interconnect Technology, a Foxconn subsidiary based in the Van Trung IP, will hire 27,000 workers this year, including 6,000 in the next two months.

    Fukang Technology, another Foxconn unit with a plant in the Quang Chau IP, needs 13,600 more workers this year.

    Another Apple supplier, Luxshare-ICT, plans to hire 47,300 workers at its plants in Quang Chau and Van Trung IPs.

    It will hire 200-300 people a month in February and March before increasing it to 7,000-9,000 after June or July when it expects to receive more orders.

    All these factories require workers aged 18 to 40 who have graduated high school and are in good health.

    Foxconn is even willing to take in applicants who have only completed the sixth grade.

    All the companies will pay a basic salary of VND5 million (US$203.8), social insurance contributions and other benefits, according to Nguyen Van Hue, director of the Bac Giang Province Job Center.

    They usually attract and retain workers mainly through other benefits such as housing rent and meal allowances and overtime work, which take workers’ incomes to VND8-9 million a month, he said.

    Factories simultaneously hiring en masse makes it difficult to find enough people quickly, he said.

    In contrast to the mass layoffs early last year, factories are trying to maintain their workforces this year since they have massive orders.

    “Many companies’ human resources personnel have even traveled to small villages in the northern mountains and central region to hire people, and ask existing employees to introduce relatives and friends.”

    Bac Giang has over 7,600 businesses that employ around 306,000 workers.

    Its real estate market has been thriving for the last five or six years and several industrial zones have been built or expanded.

    Business upscaling and a surge in new orders has led to soaring demand for labor here.

    Foxconn has been present in Vietnam since 2007 when it established plants in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces before expanding to several other northern provinces.

    It is a critical cog in Apple’s supply chain.

  • Apple Pay is down for some users forcing them to pay for purchases like a Luddite

    Apple Pay is down for some users forcing them to pay for purchases like a Luddite

    Some social media users are complaining that they are unable to use contactless payment system Apple Pay to ring up a transaction using a Chase credit card. On Apple’s System Status page, it notes that Apple Pay is undergoing some maintenance at the moment and adds that some users in Maryland may have issues with the feature. However, the problem appears to be preventing Apple Pay users from hearing that satisfying “ding” indicating that their credit card has been accepted in other states as well.

    Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge stating that his Chase card was declined when using Apple Pay. Patel noted that when he called Chase, the bank told him that the problem is an “unexpected Apple Pay upgrade” which matches the reason for the issue posted by Apple on the System Status page. Other Thread users weighed in complaining about the same problem including one poor (and possibly hungry) iPhone user who wrote, “Yup, Chase Apple Pay declined getting my baguette and vegan cheese.”

    Considering that the weekend is usually prime time for shopping, we wonder whether Apple should have performed the maintenance on Apple Pay during a time when shoppers are less likely to be tapping their iPhones on POS (point of sale, not what you thought the abbreviation stood for) machines. For example, at 1 am PST (4 am EST), most Americans are sleeping and charging up their iPhone units.

    If this is a problem that happens to you today whether you are shopping in Maryland or Massachusetts, or anywhere else in the U.S., there is the perfect workaround but only if you are up to doing this. Once your Apple Pay payment is declined, follow these directions precisely:

    • Put your iPhone in your pocket.
    • Reach into your other pocket and remove your wallet.
    • Open the wallet and remove the Chase card that is connected to Apple Pay.
    • Run the card through the POS terminal like you might have done years ago before Apple Pay was launched.

    If this happened to you today, we’re sure you were sweating and trying hard to remember how you paid for purchases made before October 20th, 2014 when Apple Pay launched. But those with a memory of a bygone era have been able to pay for their purchases today by simply using their Chase credit card without bringing Apple Pay into the picture. Or, you could pay for your purchases with cash.

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  • Apple Podcast bug means no new episodes for some titles although there is a simple workaround

    Apple Podcast bug means no new episodes for some titles although there is a simple workaround

    Remember Apple’s television ads for the iPhone 3G? The ad would tell you, regardless of any problem you need a solution for, “There’s an app for that.” When you think about it, for any subject matter that you have an interest in, there’s a podcast for that. And if you are an iPhone user, you probably use the Apple Podcasts app. But until recently, the app had a serious problem that was preventing users from listening to the latest episodes of certain Podcasts stored in the user’s library.

    The bug prevents the latest episodes for affected podcasts from showing up as these episodes will not automatically be downloaded. This means that these podcasts won’t appear in the Up Next queue. If the user knows that a new episode for a podcast he/she follows has dropped, the episode can be discovered by looking for the new episode in the app’s search tab. But many podcast app users rely on getting alerted by the app whenever a new episode is ready and thanks to the bug, this is not happening.

    It’s unknown exactly how many podcasts are affected by the bug but complaints on social media seem to indicate that the problem is widespread. And there is the aforementioned workaround. Open the Apple Podcasts app and after tapping the Search tab on the bottom right of the screen type in the name of the podcast you want to hear the latest episode of and tap the blue “search” bar next to the space bar on the virtual QWERTY keyboard. Press the Episodes filter above the search results (which is also below the search bar) and the latest episode will be on the top of the list. Just press the play button on the right of the listing to hear it.

    You might not have to do this much longer because some users say that they are now getting new episodes automatically sent to their Apple Podcasts app. If so, that’s good news. If not, try the workaround until your Podcast app is working perfectly again. By the way, if you don’t have the app on your iPhone, click on this link to download it from the App Store.

  • Apple is compelled to remove Home Screen web apps from iOS in the EU due to the DMA

    Apple is compelled to remove Home Screen web apps from iOS in the EU due to the DMA

    What many thought was a bug has turned out to be a move made on purpose by Apple as the latter will not allow web apps on the iOS Home Screen in the European Union. On its Developer support page, Apple notes that the EU’s Digital Market Act (DMA) requires it to allow users to select a browser that doesn’t use Apple’s WebKit browser engine for the first time. Because of this, Apple said that it had to remove the Home Screen web apps.

    Apple says Home Screen web apps on iOS are built on WebKit and they “align with the privacy and security model for native apps on iOS.” This is important and Apple goes on to say, “That integration means Home Screen web apps are managed to align with the security and privacy model for native apps on iOS, including isolation of storage and enforcement of system prompts to access privacy impacting capabilities on a per-site basis.

    However, without this isolation and enforcement, malicious web apps could read data from other web apps and even use their permissions to access the user’s camera and microphone without his or her consent. Browsers could also install web apps without the consent or awareness of the user.

    Apple adds, “Addressing the complex security and privacy concerns associated with web apps using alternative browser engines would require building an entirely new integration architecture that does not currently exist in iOS and was not practical to undertake given the other demands of the DMA and the very low user adoption of Home Screen web apps. And so, to comply with the DMA’s requirements, we had to remove the Home Screen web apps feature in the EU.”

    Apple adds, “EU users will be able to continue accessing websites directly from their Home Screen through a bookmark with minimal impact to their functionality.” The tech giant also was forced to remove support for Home Screen web apps on Safari in the EU because the DMA requires equality for all browsers. Since third-party browsers can’t have Home Screen web apps, neither can Safari.

    The absence of Home Screen web apps in the EU was first noticed with the release of iOS 17.4 beta 2. The changes will come to all iOS users in the 27 member EU states once iOS 17.4 is released in the first week of March.

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  • Apple takes a long time to remove fake app posing as a popular password manager

    Apple takes a long time to remove fake app posing as a popular password manager

    Imposter app LassPass posing as the popular password manager LastPass has been removed from the App Store one day after the creators of the original app issued a warning against it.

    Apple prides itself on keeping the App Store safe by performing numerous safety checks before approving an app. It does seem to have a higher bar for security than its immediate competitor. That doesn’t mean it’s doing a perfect job of keeping the App Store safe, as the latest incident shows.

    What makes the oversight feel particularly worrisome, though, is that LastPass is a service people use to store logins and passwords for various platforms. A fake copycat app designed to trick people into revealing their master password could give the bad actors behind it access to every or most apps a person uses.

    The app in question, LassPass, had a name resembling the original app and copied LastPass’s branding and interface.

    There were some telltale signs that it was a fake that many users quickly noticed, such as misspellings and a different publisher. It also had only one rating, whereas the legitimate app has more than 52 thousand. All of the reviews for it also noted that it was a deceptive app.

    LastPass created a blog post on February 7 to warn its users against the app, which was removed from the App Store on February 8. According to the analytics platform Appfigures, the app has been on the platform since January 21. TechCrunch reports.

    It’s not known how many people fell for the app, but it can be assumed that it failed to attract many downloads, as it never made it to any of Apple’s Top Charts.

    If you have LassPass on your iPhone, not only should you delete it, but also change your LastPass password.

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  • Apple announces big changes coming in March to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the EU

    Apple announces big changes coming in March to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the EU

    Apple is making big changes in the European Union, which will allow, among other things, iPhone users to sideload apps from third-party app stores. From the start, the late Steve Jobs intended to prevent iPhone users from sideloading apps on the iPhone for security reasons. Apps from third-party app stores are installed without Apple checking them out to see if they are security risks; apps downloaded from the App Store have been vetted for malware and other malicious behavior, although sometimes developers with evil intentions can get an app through.

    Developers will also be able to choose alternative payment platforms to handle in-app transactions in the EU across all of Apple’s operating systems including, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The commission that Apple will take on in-app purchases that it processes through its own in-app payment platform, the so-called Apple Tax, will be reduced in the EU from the 15%-30% range seen in the rest of the world, to 10%-17%. Apple won’t see a dime from in-app transactions completed through alternative payment platforms.

    The 27 member countries of the EU benefit from the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) which forces Apple to make these changes in this market. Another change being made by Apple will show users a new “choice screen” the first time they open Safari in iOS 17.4 or later. While EU iPhone users can already change their default browser away from Safari, the new “choice page” will bring to their attention that they can choose a default browser and include a list of third-party browsers to help them make that change immediately.

    Apple makes it clear that it doesn’t like being forced to put up the “choice screen” because it means “that EU users will be confronted with a list of default browsers before they have the opportunity to understand the options available to them. The screen also interrupts EU users’ experience the first time they open Safari intending to navigate to a webpage.”

    The company also said, “Inevitably, the new options for developers’ EU apps create new risks to Apple users and their devices. Apple can’t eliminate those risks, but within the DMA’s constraints, the company will take steps to reduce them. These safeguards will be in place when users download iOS 17.4 or later, beginning in March…” One of the changes Apple is making in the EU will bring additional malware protections that will prevent iOS apps from launching if they are discovered to contain malware after being installed on a user’s device.

    Changes are coming to iOS in the EU as well. EU iPhone users can choose a third-party contactless payment app to replace Apple Pay and select an alternative app marketplace as their default to replace the App Store.

    Apple Fellow Phil Schiller said, “The changes we’re announcing today comply with the Digital Markets Act’s requirements in the European Union, while helping to protect EU users from the unavoidable increased privacy and security threats this regulation brings. Our priority remains creating the best, most secure possible experience for our users in the EU and worldwide. Developers can now learn about the new tools and terms available for alternative app distribution and alternative payment processing, new capabilities for alternative browser engines and contactless payments, and more. Importantly, developers can choose to remain on the same business terms in place today if they prefer.”

    Apple says that all of these changes will take place in March with the release of iOS 17.4 in the region.

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  • Apple supplier Goertek to set up $280M Vietnam subsidiary

    Apple supplier Goertek to set up $280M Vietnam subsidiary

    Apple supplier Goertek plans to invest US$280 million to set up a new subsidiary in Vietnam as it seeks to expand in the Southeast Asian market.

    To be based in the northern province of Bac Ninh, it is likely to manufacture headphones, smart watches and virtual reality and augmented reality electronics products, the Chinese company said in a recent filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

    It hopes to “use local resources in Vietnam to enhance the company’s overall competitiveness.”

    It has been in Vietnam for 10 years with subsidiaries Goertek Vina and Goertek Technology Vina.

    In 2022 the latter reported revenues of $2.5 billion and a net profit of $191 million.

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  • Apple celebrates the New Year in Japan with free gift card promo and engraved AirTag trackers

    Apple celebrates the New Year in Japan with free gift card promo and engraved AirTag trackers

    Apple is currently running a gift card promotion in Japan while also offering a specially engraved AirTag that celebrates the upcoming Year of the Dragon. Celebrating the New Year is always a big deal in the country with businesses shutting down for a few days and some firms, like Apple, offering special promotions on their products. Like it did last year, Apple plans on rewarding purchasers of its devices in Japan with a free gift card. Last year, the value of the gift cards ranged between $30 and $240 depending on the item purchased.

    This year, the length of the New Year promotion in Japan is being doubled to four days from two days previously. The promo will be running in Japan from January 2, 2024, to January 5, 2024. The typical gift card is valued at 11,000 Yen and will be handed out to buyers of the latest third-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 models. Keep in mind that 11,000 Yen sounds like a huge chunk of cash but converts into $77 US only.

    The first 50,000 AirTag purchasers will get a special “Year of the Dragon” AirTag. If you want one, you’re going to have to visit an Apple Store since buyers using the Apple Store app will not be able to receive a “Year of the Dragon” AirTag item tracker. Last year’s AirTag deal delivered an engraved “Year of the Rabbit” item tracker for the first 30,000 units purchased.

    Apple used to have a cool promotion in Japan during this time of the year called “The Lucky Bag.” The company would stuff a few bags with products and slap a greatly discounted price tag on them. Consumers spent $300 for their bag and didn’t know which one of the four available they would receive. The value of these bags ranged from $640 to $1,280 in the 2015 promotion.

    That year each Lucky Bag had an Apple TV, a special New Year’s edition of the mophie powerstation, a pair of Beats PowerBeats2, an iTunes gift card valued at $8, and an Incase ICON Slim Pack backpack. The most desired bag also featured an 11-inch Apple MacBook Air and other accessories, including a limited edition Power Support Air Jacket. Another bag, believed to be worth $1,070, replaced the MacBook Air with a 16GB Apple iPad Air 2. Another bag worth approximately $814 had a 16GB Apple iPad mini 3 inside while the most widely received bag carried a 16GB Apple iPod touch inside.

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  • Lowe’s finally adds support for Apple Pay

    Lowe’s finally adds support for Apple Pay

    The second-largest hardware chain in the U.S. has finally decided to support Apple Pay. For those who don’t know what Apple Pay is, it is the mobile payment service that allows an iPhone user to select a credit, debit, or prepaid card from the Wallet app and tap the phone against a POS machine to complete a transaction at a retail store.

    You don’t have to fumble for your wallet to grab your credit card, especially when you’re bundled up to stay warm in the bitter cold, and you don’t have to worry about your card’s information being stolen by a skimmer placed inside a card slot by a criminal. It’s just so darn convenient and it costs you nothing to use it. Apple collects .15% of the value of every transaction rung up with Apple Pay. That means that on a $100 transaction, Apple earns the princely total of 15 cents.

    But this is a volume business after all and with so many people using Apple Pay, the service is expected to generate $4 billion in revenue for Apple this year which is more than double the $1.9 billion that Apple Pay raked in for Apple in 2022. Earlier this year Apple promoted Apple Pay with a series of ads. And now, after a long absence, Lowe’s is adding Apple Pay support to its 2,100 retail locations in the U.S.

    This is a shrewd move by Lowe’s and an attempt to take some business away from the number one hardware chain in the U.S. since Home Depot does not support Apple Pay. Another huge retailer that doesn’t support Apple Pay is Walmart. Eight years ago we told you when the largest discount retailer in the states launched its own mobile payment service imaginatively titled Walmart Pay.

    Using Walmart Pay requires you to install the iOS or Android version of the Walmart app on your phone. Earlier this year Kroger tried to apply some pressure to competitor Walmart by accepting Apple Pay for the first time starting last April.

    It would be quite a big deal for Apple if Walmart were to add support for Apple Pay like Lowe’s did because, eventually, continued growth for Apple Pay will have to come from the addition of more retailers, especially those huge chains that previously held back support for the service.

    If you’re like me, there is that feeling when Face ID verifies you and that “ding” goes off indicating that your payment via Apple Pay has been accepted. And we have no doubt that Apple loves that sound too since it means more money, albeit in nickels and dimes, is being added to its coffers.

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  • The delayed collaborative Apple Music playlist surfaces in iOS 17.3 beta 1

    The delayed collaborative Apple Music playlist surfaces in iOS 17.3 beta 1

    Worried about abuse and spam, Apple removed the collaborative Apple Music playlist feature from iOS 17.2. With the collaborative playlist, friends and family members can make changes to your playlist including the addition/deletion of songs, and the reordering of the list. In “Now Playing,” the same friends and family members can react to a particular song using an emoji. Apple reportedly pushed back the release of the feature to an unknown date next year.

    The collaborative Apple Music playlist still might not be available to all iPhone users with an eligible device until 2024 when the final version of iOS 17.3 is released. But for those who install iOS 17.3 beta 1, the feature is available now. Whether Apple keeps the collaborative Apple Music playlist on the final version of the update is unknown. Heck, Apple could even decide to remove it from iOS 17.3 beta 2.

    By default, only the person who created the playlist, which is the device owner, will be able to add songs to the playlist. However, the feature will allow the device owner to make a change in settings that will allow others to decide what the tunes on the playlist should be and in which order they should play. And if someone out there is sick of a particular tune on the playlist, it can be removed.

    Still, if you’d like to check it out while you can now, you can join the Apple Beta Program by going to beta.apple.com, or by clicking on this link. Sign up for the Beta program and once you do, go to Settings > General > Software Update and you’ll see a line on top of the screen for Beta Updates. Tap on that line and press on iOS 17 public beta to receive the update.

    Keep in mind that beta releases are not stable and if a feature you need every day is affected, you might have to erase the beta which will wipe your phone. If you have a backup saved, you can get your data back by installing the backup. Frankly, if having the collaborative Apple Music playlist is not important to you, you might as well wait to see if it survives to the final version of iOS 17.3 which will probably be sometime next month.

  • Apple reveals discount pricing feature for subscriptions in the App Store

    Apple reveals discount pricing feature for subscriptions in the App Store

    A post on the Apple Developer website reveals that a new “contingent pricing” feature will be available in the App Store. The subscription gets its name because customers can be given a discount on a subscription contingent on them having an active subscription to another publication. That discount will continue to be offered every month as long as the customer remains subscribed to both magazines.

    Here is what Apple told developers on the website: “Contingent pricing for subscriptions on the App Store — a new feature that helps you attract and retain subscribers — lets you give customers a discounted subscription price as long as they’re actively subscribed to a different subscription. It can be used for subscriptions from one developer or two different developers. We’re piloting this feature and will be onboarding more developers in the coming months.”

    Apple says developers should start planning how they will work contingent pricing into their App Store pricing strategies. A link on the website will allow developers to sign up to receive a notification from Apple in January, when the company will inform developers of more details related to “contingent pricing.”

    In explaining exactly what “contingent pricing” is, Apple writes, “For example, you might offer Ocean Journal premium subscribers the opportunity to subscribe to Mountain Climber for a discounted price of $4.99/month instead of the regular $5.99/month. Customers pay the discounted price as long as they remain Ocean Journal subscribers.”

    While Apple is writing to developers, the tech giant does explain how customers will be able to find publications in the App Store that offer “contingent pricing.” Apple says that customers will find the discounted pricing in a publication’s App Store listing, off-platform marketing channels, and planned placements in the App Store.

    Apple says that it will help developers manage the implementation of “contingent pricing” by offering customers “a seamless redemption and purchasing experience” based on the contingent price proposition the developers will provide.

    Obviously “contingent pricing” isn’t going to be available to App Store customers until sometime next yeear.

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  • TSMC shows off 2nm chip prototype to Apple

    TSMC shows off 2nm chip prototype to Apple

    TSMC is the largest foundry in the world and Apple is its biggest customer. Apple was able to reserve most of TSMC’s initial 3nm production for the A17 Pro chipset which is being used to power the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. To keep things simple, just remember that as the process node number gets lower, the transistors used by a chip get smaller in size which means that more of them can fit into the small space inside an SoC. The higher a chip’s transistor count, the more powerful and/or energy-efficient it is.

    Looking at the iPhone as an example, the iPhone 11 series was powered by the 7nm A13 Bionic which carried 8.5 billion transistors. The 3nm A17 Pro has 19 billion transistors. And since it takes a few years to build the fabs and order the machinery needed, we’ve known for some time that TSMC is working toward 2nm chip production. Apple has already had a chance to check out 2nm prototypes built on TSMC’s N2 node. The report noted that another huge TSMC customer, NVIDIA, also was able to view the 2nm prototype chip.

    TSMC previously said that it would start 2nm volume production in 2025 and in a statement to The Financial Times, the company said that it is “progressing well and on track for volume production in 2025, and will be the most advanced semiconductor technology in the industry in both density and energy efficiency when it is introduced.” Assuming that there are no delays, the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max could be the first Apple handsets to be powered by a 2nm application processor (AP), possibly the A19 Pro.

    At 2nm, TSMC will debut its new Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors which cover the channel on all four sides reducing current leaks and delivering gains in power efficiency. Samsung Foundry already uses GAA with its 3nm production.

    Speaking of Samsung Foundry, the latest word is that Qualcomm will be switching from TSMC to Samsung to produce the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 AP in 2025. Qualcomm left Samsung Foundry in 2022 after the latter reported low yields building the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. TSMC took over to produce the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and has had the business ever since, although that seems likely to change in 2025. Samsung Foundry’s yield is about 60% for the most basic of 3nm production. The yield is expected to drop when building APs for smartphone.

    At a 60% yield, 40 out of every 100 dies cut from a wafer fails to meet quality control. And since the foundry’s customers are usually responsible for the cost, yield is a major factor when determining which foundry a chip designer does business with.

    Samsung says that it is ready for 2nm production. “We are well-equipped to set up for SF2 mass production by 2025,” Samsung said. “Since we were the first to take the leap and transition to GAA architecture, we are hoping the progress from SF3 to SF2 will be relatively seamless.” While Apple and NVIDIA were able to get a look at their future, TSMC is putting together the final list of its 3nm and 2nm clients according to DigiTimes.

    Intel is also looking to grab some contract business away from TSMC and Samsung Foundry. Intel’s next-gen 18A node (1.8nm) could take process leadership away from the pair and it is offering chip design firms free test production. Intel could shake up the market. Longtime TSMC customer AMD said in July that it would “consider other manufacturing capabilities.”

    Leslie Wu, chief executive of consulting firm RHCC, said that companies looking to manufacture their chip designs using a 2nm node might start having their chip production spread across multiple foundries. With the concern about China invading Taiwan always something to worry about, Wu said, “It’s too risky to rely on TSMC solely.” Yet Apple has been relying solely on TSMC for years.

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