A17 Bionic, M3 SoCs To Be In Ample Supply As TSMC Said To Prep A 45,000-Wafer Output In March for Its 3nm Technology

wccftech.com:

Apple should have little problem obtaining a healthy supply for its A17 Bionic and M3 chipsets for future products, as TSMC is said to be working at maximum capacity in an attempt to fulfill orders for its lucrative client. Just yesterday, we reported that the California-based giant is said to have secured the entire 3nm supply from its Taiwanese partner, with the latter said to increase wafer output from March.

Despite the higher costs involved in producing 3nm wafers, a paywalled report from DigiTimes spotted by MacRumors states that TSMC’s foundry has scaled up production capacity at a slow but gradual pace, with a monthly output expected to reach an impressive 45,000 wafers from March. The percentage of A17 Bionic and M3 orders was not present in the report, but given that Apple sells iPhones in higher quantities, the majority of those wafers will be dedicated to mobile phones.

TSMC announced the mass production of its 3nm process back in December 2022, so an early start will mean that Apple will have a plentiful supply of chips for a wide range of products slated to be announced in the second half of 2023. These products will include the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which will exclusively feature the A17 Bionic, while newer MacBook models expected to launch in the fourth quarter will sport the new and improved M3.

The 3nm process could focus more on power savings instead of improved performance, as TSMC’s cutting-edge technology is said to bring an energy efficiency uplift of 35 percent. This statistic would suggest that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max could offer a substantial boost in battery life thanks to the A17 Bionic’s properties, though we would still like to see a noteworthy performance jump