Apple is likely already designing chips based on TSMC’s 2nm process

According to an Apple employee on LinkedIn, Apple is already designing chips using TSMC’s next-generation 2nm manufacturing process. The information, originally captured by Korean website gamma0burst and shared by leaker Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) on X (Twitter), appears in a heavily redacted slide that purportedly lists the employee's work on past and current projects at Apple.

The unedited portion of the slide reads: "TS5nm, TS3nm, working on TS2nm," which are believed to refer to the different manufacturing processes Apple has chosen for past, present and future chips. Terms like "3nm" and "2nm" refer to the specific architecture and design rules used by TSMC in its family of chips. The reduction in node size is equivalent to a reduction in transistor size, so more transistors can be installed on the processor, resulting in increased speed and power efficiency.

There are rumors that TSMC has begun developing more advanced 1.4nm chips, which are expected to be available as soon as 2027. Apple is said to want to reserve initial manufacturing capabilities for TSMC's 1.4nm and 1nm technologies. For comparison, a human hair is about 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide.

Last year, Apple's iPhones and Macs used 3-nanometer chips, an upgrade from the previous 5-nanometer model. After switching to 3 nanometer technology, the iPhone's GPU speed increased by 20%, the CPU speed increased by 10%, and the neural engine speed increased by 2 times. The Mac also had similar improvements.

Apple is believed to be the first company to receive chips manufactured by TSMC's future 2nm process, which is expected to go into production in the second half of 2025. The 2-nanometer manufacturing process, also known simply as "N2," is expected to be 10% to 15% faster at the same power consumption, or 25% to 30% lower at the same speed, compared to chips made with the supplier's 3nm technology.

TSMC is building two new factories to meet the needs of 2-nanometer chip production, and a third factory is awaiting approval. The Taiwanese fab giant is undergoing a multibillion-dollar revamp, and Apple will need to change chip designs to accommodate new technologies. Apple is a major customer of TSMC and is often the first to receive new chips from the company. For example, Apple acquired all of TSMC's 3-nanometer chips in 2023 for use in iPhones, iPads, and Macs.